Week 4 May 4-May10

Our post is a bit late this week.  We have had a crazy busy week.  Monday and Tuesday we had culture training.  Basically, this was an overview of the Belgian culture versus culture in the US to make sure we don't act like complete idiots.  We really enjoyed the woman who taught the class, and she was helpful in telling us more practical things about living here like the best grocery stores, and best budget travel tips, which was Molly's main concern!  On Tuesday we finished early and took our second big trip to IKEA to finish furnishing our house.  If you haven't felt the near-death thrill of rolling a mattress on a dolly in 20 mile per hour wind gusts, don't seek it out  The thing quickly became an uncontrollable padded missile.  At any rate, we had to hire a taxi/moving van to bring everything back to the apartment.  The driver was a true gent and helped us carry all our new furnishings upstairs! Pause for a quick "it's different in Europe fact:" the ground floor (what we call the FIRST floor in America) is floor ZERO in Europe.  So we are never sure what floor we live on, and we constantly confuse the heck out of delivery men.  By Friday (and around 15 total hours in IKEA), we had our bedroom, a guest bed, and a couch setup, so we are officially living in Europe!

Our timing was perfect as this weekend, we got our first visitor, JARED!  He was in Belgium for a conference for work, and he came early to hang out with us.
Friday, Molly picked Jared up at the airport and promptly took him to a chocolate factory to eat our weight in various types of chocolates, a perfect way to fight off jet lag.  Then it was off for lunch in Antwerp and exploration.  Exploration led to our favorite new watering hole: Dogma.  Hand crafted cocktails in a rustic yet modern setting, but you can only have one (all your wallet will allow).

Antwerp Town hall at night

Jared's here!

Het Elfde Gebod (The Eleventh Commandment bar)

Jared wasn't sure he should be drinking with all the religious statues

On Saturday, we headed up to Bruges.  A quick 1.5 hour drive from Antwerp, Bruges is referred to as the Venice of the North.  It is a beautiful walled city, with many medieval buildings and canals.  Bruges was lucky enough to be fairly untouched during both World Wars, so the experience is one of stepping back in time.  Of course we had to visit the largest brewery in town: De Halve Maan.  It has been open in the same location since 1564.  There is something special about eating and drinking in a place where people  have done the same for over 450 years. We explored Bruges until it got a bit too rainy and cold, and we headed back to Antwerp.  We had waffles for dinner and went to a bar called the Kulminator.  They are revered for having every type of beer you want.  It was cool but also kind of like being in your hoarder grandmothers kitchen.

De Halve Maan brewery

Bruges

Jared's glamour shot

Bruges Town hall

A canal boat tour in the rain

Canals

Medieval doors are a little small

On Sunday, we walked to the north side of Antwerp headed for the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS).  Many of the streets look similar in the city center, even those containing the Red Light District, which we accidentally discovered on Sunday morning.  It was an educational 2 minute detour which one would not expect to experience at 11 AM on a Sunday.  Needless to say, we will probably navigate around that area next time.  We didn't actually go to the museum, we just went to the top of it (it is 10 floors, which is very high for Antwerp).  It gives great views of the city and its FREE!  After the museum we happened upon a food festival so we decided to have lunch.  Tyler got to have some BBQ which was a major win for him!  It was a little different, being on an Italian roll and with lettuce but BBQ all the same. It was a beautiful day so we headed to Westmalle Abbey to visit our first Trappist beer location.  There are only 11 Trappist beers in the world (meaning beer brewed in monasteries by Trappist Monks) and 6 are in Belgium.  We plan to eventually see them all.  Since the beer is brewed inside the monastery, you can't really visit the inner workings but they had a cafe and we were able to sit on the patio and try the beers and eat the cheese they make there as well!

MAS museum

Antwerp from the 10th floor

That's a swimming pool floating on the river

Westmalle Monastery 

Westmalle grounds, it was beautiful