Week 31 November 9 - 15

It was a very special weekend in Antwerp: Sinterklaas arrived!  Since we are from a land where Santa Claus rules this season, we had a bit of catching up to do to understand what the heck was going on.  What follows is our interpretation of what we could piece together in our level 1 Dutch understanding and reading Wikipedia articles.  We apologize for any inaccuracies.

So, Sinterklaas is the celebrated figure of the holidays in the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France.  Much like Santa Claus, his origins are based on Saint Nicolaas.  However, Sinterklaas' modern day traditions are different in many fascinating ways.  Sinterklaas is a Turkish bishop who lives in Madrid, Spain.  We still don't know why, but hey, why not pick a nice place to live.  He spends the year preparing to bring gifts to all the children that have behaved well.  Just like Santa's elves, Sinterklaas has many helpers called Zwarte Piet (Black Pete).  These black-face servants help Sinterklaas prepare for his annual gift-giving trip by making sweets, keeping the book on which children have been good or bad, and just generally helping keep the whole operation moving.  Now, coming from a land where black-face is considered very offensive, it was quite shocking to see many folks running around as such.  It seems there is a growing contingent of the population here that are rallying against further inclusion of Zwarte Piet in the traditions, but most folks seem just accept him as a non-offensive part of the lore.  At any rate, Sinterklaas starts really gearing up at the start of November.  In fact, they start a daily "news" show that documents his preparations, and they even coordinate activities in the schools to match the show.  It seems Sinterklaas is kind of a forgetful old man and Zwarte Piet is always having to save him from himself.  For example, this year the they went to start up the boat in Spain, but Sinterklaas couldn't find the boat keys.  Then he got them lost in the fog on the ocean.  Both times Zwarte Piet always helped the old guy get back on track.  Finally, the big weekend is here, and Sinterklaas arrives to town.  He pulls into the port and rides his white horse into town (the same white horse he rides when he delivers gifts).  We were present at his arrival in Antwerp, and he drew quite the crowd.  After pausing to chat with many children and hand out sweets, Sinterklaas made his way to the town hall to address the public.  He opened his book and read many instances of children who had been very bad this year.  Each time, Zwarte Piet would have to politely correct Sinterklaas on his misreading of a passage or tell him to read a bit further because in fact all of these examples were of children being GOOD not bad.  In the end Sinterklaas came to the conclusion that "There are no naughty children this year!"  Everyone cheered because that means that from now until December 5 (Sinterklaas' birthday), children can set their shoes by the window at night and Sinterklass/Zwarte Piet will leave them treats in their shoes.  Now, if you have been a naughty child this year, instead of getting treats in your shoes, Zwarte Piet will stuff you in a sack while you sleep and kidnap you to Spain for the rest of the year (a bit harsher than coal in your stocking...).

Sinterklaas' crew dusting before he makes his appearance

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet!

It is always such a pleasure to experience new cultural traditions.  It was so wonderful to see that no matter the differences in the way we celebrate, we all have reason to enjoy getting together as family and watch the joy on children's faces at this time of year.

Week 30 November 2-8

We are a little behind on blog posting so we will be playing catch-up with a couple of posts this weekend.  Last weekend we went to Madrid for a short visit.  Our friend Victoria was in Madrid for two weeks for work, so we trekked down to spend time with her while getting to visit a new city AND country!  We flew down on Friday afternoon and were there just in time for Spanish dinner time.  We walked to Plaza Mayor and had dinner outside on the square.  We enjoyed our first of many Iberian ham and cheese plates.

Palacio de Comunicaciones lit up at night

Puerta de Alcalá

Friends!

On Saturday, we got serious about exploring Madrid.  First, we headed to a small cafe for breakfast (Café de la luz).  This cafe had a set breakfast menu where you got a coffee, a toast (toppings including goat cheese, tuna, and ham to name a few), a piece of cake (carrot, cheese, or chocolate) and fresh squeezed OJ.  It was a delicious and lovely (and healthy... we are pretty sure) way to start the day!  From there we went on a scavenger hunt for a giant Darth Vader head.  Madrid was hosting a promotion for the new Star Wars movie called "Face the Force", and there were 8 different Star Wars related helmets around the city.  The one we felt we HAD to see was Darth Vader (we later ended up seeing a Storm Trooper as well).  After some quality time and pictures with Darth, we continued our exploration of Madrid and wandered through the Parque de Montaña.  We saw the Temple de Debod, a temple given to Spain from Egypt and the Plaza de España with a famous statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

Cake for breakfast. The Spanish do it right.

Palacio Real and Catedral de la Almundena in the distance

We had been wandering with the ultimate aim of reaching the Royal Palace.  When we arrived there, the line was relatively short line.  We decided we had to go inside and see the opulence on display.  It was amazing!  We have a few pictures but throughout most of the rooms, no photography was permitted.  Even the rooms they used solely as dressing rooms had gold leaf  and porcelain walls.  After the palace, we headed to the Mercado de San Miguel for lunch.  This huge market was full of different stalls where you could buy various snacks and drinks.  We tried sangria, ham sandwiches, pizza, cheese, fruit and croquettes.  It seems the Mercado is a popular weekend hangout for the locals because it was incredibly crowded!  After lunch, we walked more of Madrid and explored the shopping street Gran Vía (also a popular destination on a Saturday) and then headed back to the hotel for a siesta!  We had tapas for dinner to round out the busy day.

Royal Palace selfie

This must be the least valuable ceiling fresco in the Palacio Real because they let you take a picture of it

Royal Palace selfie 2.0!

Spaniards getting their market tapas on

Plaza Mayor

On Sunday, we again had a delicious breakfast before heading to the Prado art museum.  The museum was full of famous artworks from artists such as Goya, El Greco, Rubens, Velázquez, and Raphael to name a few.  For you non-Antwerp residents, Peter Paul Rubens was a famous painter here in the early 1600's.  He was born in Antwerp and his house is now a museum here.  The Spanish King Philip IV was a big fan of Rubens' work and commissioned many pieces, many of which are displayed today in the Prado.  It is kind of funny that we live in his hometown, but we saw more of his artwork in Spain than we have here!
It was a LONG museum visit (if you don't know: museums are not Molly's strong suit).  So after LOTS of art and someone getting in trouble for touching something, it was time to go...  We went to Los Gatos (more tapas) but it was very crowded so we got sandwiches and snacks and took them with us to Parque de Retiro to eat lunch in the park.  This was our second park in as many days, and we were  really delighted by the amount of green space in such a large metropolitan city.  Retiro's size and scope were very reminiscent to Central Park in New York.  It was a beautiful day so we wandered through the park and came upon the Crystal Palace, a building made almost entirely of glass.  It was once used as a greenhouse but is now used for art exhibits.  After a break at a cafe on the lake in the park and more tapas and cava for dinner, we only had one more stop to complete our adventure in Madrid: we had to try churros and chocolate.  We went to a famous churros place that was open 24/7 and ordered the only dish they offer: churros and chocolate.  The chocolate is like Spanish hot chocolate, basically a more delicious Hershey's syrup.  They were delicious, but our eyes were definitely more ambitious than our stomachs could handle, and we ended up giving our leftovers to a very happy man on the street.  We headed home early Monday morning.  We had a great time visiting with Victoria and getting to explore the beautiful city of Madrid.  We are excited and hopeful for more Spanish adventures in the future!

Breakfast at Restaurante Tandem

Tapas at Los Gatos

Crystal Palace makes for a wild pano

Crystal Palace selfie

Out on the lake in NOVEMBER. Can't beat the weather in Spain.

Week 29 - October 26- November 1

We cannot believe it is November already!  Sorry for the lack of posts but we have been busy, but not always with the most post worthy activities.  Since we last posted, Tyler got another year older and wiser.  We went to a new hot dog restaurant in town to celebrate.  The following weekend, was a 3 day weekend with the Monday off for All Saints Day.  And we planned a full schedule!  Saturday started with a full day of Antwerp American football.  There is a club league of about 10 teams throughout Belgium, and the Antwerp Club hosted a scrimmage between the 4 top teams.  Since Tyler knows more than the average Belgian about the rules of American Football, and he knows how to press the record and stop buttons, he got volunteered to act as the official videographer of the tournament.  A fellow American sat in the tower and called the game over a loudspeaker.  The teams really appreciated the semi-professional atmosphere the announcing and recording created around the game.  The Antwerp Diamonds played hard, but lost in the championship to the Brussels' Tigers.    

A little taste of America for Tyler's Birthday!

Up in the tower

Football!

On Sunday morning, we opted for a spur-of-the-moment trip to Amsterdam for a night.  It is a 2 hour drive from Antwerp, and we still had not yet been so we decided to put an end to that.  We stayed at a hotel across the harbor from Amsterdam in a cool up-and-coming hipster-type area.  To get into Amsterdam, we just had to take a free 15 minute ferry ride to the central station.  It was fun to ride with the commuters on a Monday morning and get an appreciation for the importance of the nautical travel in The Netherlands.
We arrived around noon on Sunday, and we headed for lunch based on a recommendation from the hotel.  It was a really cool restaurant made out of old shipping containers.  It didn't look like much on the outside, but the inside had a comfy and rustic aesthetic, and of course the food was delicious.  When we arrived to the city, there was a huge curtain of fog  over everything so we weren't sure we would be able to see much.  Luckily, while we were eating lunch, the fog began to burn off, and we could see Amsterdam across the harbor by the end of lunch.  After lunch, we headed over to the city and explored Old town Amsterdam (read: cool old buildings overtaken by the Red Light District and "coffee shops").  We weren't loving the seedy vibe at first but as we explored more and headed out of the very center of town, the majesty of Amsterdam started to appear.  After some further exploration on foot, we headed to the Anne Frank House/Museum.  This historic site makes the most of a small space that contained such a powerful story.  The exhibits are tasteful and succinct, with relevant video footage throughout the rooms.  The poignancy builds throughout the tour with the final rooms leaving a lasting impact.

After the museum, we were hungry for dinner and set out on a search for something delicious.  A fun Argentinian themed place did the trick. After dinner and a walk through the dark, misty canals, we headed back to the hotel.

Shipping container restaurant

A container neighborhood.

So many bikes!

The bookshelf passageway to the hidden annex at the Anne Frank house

On Monday morning, we headed to the ferry and stopped at a lovely pastry and coffee shop (real coffee).  We walked to the Van Gogh museum only to find a HUGE line.  We hadn't purchased tickets ahead so we decided to forgo the museum as not to waste our limited time standing in line.  Instead, we went to the Heineken Brewery for the Heineken Experience tour.  We have both been on numerous brewery tours but this is one of the best we had experienced.  It started with a museum like history of the company and headed through a short brewery review that is typical of all brewery experiences.  After that, there was a corny 4D "ride" that reviewed the brewing process before heading into a tasting room, where they told us about the attributes of the beer and allowed us to taste!  Usually this is where brewery tours end but this one had additional exhibits of bottling, advertising history and various games that could be played.  At the end you received two more beers to enjoy in their bar area.
After the brewery tour we headed for lunch at a tasty soup shop where the workers did not enjoy our feeble attempts at the Dutch language.  The only way to learn is to PRACTICE, something we will both certainly remember when people struggle with English in the US.  After lunch, we wandered the streets and a few shops before heading home.  It was a brief visit but we are glad to have gotten a taste of Amsterdam.  With it being so close, we will definitely be back again!  

The Royal Palace

The flower market