Jessica & Mary Lee visit - October 7-11

In the first week of October, we had some very exciting guests!! Molly's sister, Jessica and her wife, Mary Lee came to visit.  By the time they reached us in Belgium, they had already had a whirlwind tour of Europe, including stops in Paris, Cinque Terre and Florence.  They arrived on Friday afternoon for a full weekend in Belgium!  On Friday night, we hit up our favorite restaurant to take guests for typical Belgian fare (Mampoko).  While they have a small printed menu, most of the offerings are on a chalkboard and change daily.  We all had a delicious meal, but Jessica won the award for best with her order of Farm Chicken (better than City Chicken!).  From dinner, we wandered back through the city center to catch the Grote Markt at night, an amazing site to see.  After a stop at the Elfde Gebod (another common stop for visitors) to try another Belgian beer, we headed home to rest up for our day of exploring Antwerp!  

On Saturday, after fueling up with a good breakfast, we headed out to show Jess and ML our city!  Since it was Saturday, we had to make a stop at the market to check out what was on offer.  Luckily we did because we found the man selling homemade stroop waffles!  Stroop waffles are a delicious waffle cookie sandwich with honey in the middle that comes from the Netherlands.  We each got a stroop waffle and a cappuccino (for €2.50 no less!) and it was fabulous!  From there, we walked the city and saw the sites with plenty of stops for snacks, coffee and beers in between.  We really enjoyed spending a day together and catching up.  After a slightly difficult search for dinner (Its getting cold, which reduces restaurant space without terraces, requiring reservations) we ended up at one of our favorites for fish and chips.  We rounded out the night by trying Jenever and stopping at the Filou cafe for Filou beers (another fabulous Belgian brew).  Tyler ordered a tea at the Filou cafe and it came with a small tiramisu on the side, we will definitely be back, we are suckers for a free sweet treat!  

Stroop waffels and coffee

Hangin' at the Filou Bar

On Sunday, we decided to venture to another city in Flanders, so we headed to Gent, the city often over looked for Bruge.  Gent is a the fourth largest city in Belgium and has a large university.  While we had visited once before, we saw new sites with our visitors.  We even tried a typical Gentse gummy that we had never dared to try before, cuberdones.  We decided they are cuberdon'ts but now we know!  We toured three churches in Gent and Jess and ML toured the castle before we headed back to Antwerp for ML and Tyler's fancy birthday dinner thanks to Momma Smartt!!!!  We went to the Zoute Zoen and had a fabulous meal.  Tyler had a 5 course meal while Jess and Molly opted for the sissy 3 course version.  And ML struck out on her own and went a la cart, a successful yet confusing decision.  We all really enjoyed our meals and Jessica and Molly were super happy that they got to be included in the birthday shenanigans!  

Gent

Street art in Gent

On Monday, poor Tyler had to go to work while the girls continued to have fun throughout Belgium.  With a slightly later start to the day, we headed to Brussels to see the capital.  We toured the Grand Place, saw Mannekin Pis, ate chocolate and stopped for a frituur lunch as part of our adventure.  They will have to come back to Belgium because the frituur we chose definitely did not have the best frites in Belgium.  We headed back to Antwerp with a stop for groceries to have a home cooked meal.  Before we could finish out our day, Jessica HAD to try a Belgian waffle.  The verdict...she liked it!  A few more stops for souvenirs and our legs were done.  We stayed in and had a nice salad for dinner to detox from the weekends overload of sweets and foods!     

Brussels

Molly LOVES frites

And Jessica LOVED the waffle

Jessica and ML were flying back to the US from Amsterdam on Wednesday, so on Tuesday we took the train to Amsterdam, again leaving Tyler behind to work.  We took the early train to maximize our day in the city.  Since we were toting luggage, we made a b-line for the hotel to get rid of it.  Jess and ML had picked out a very nice hotel right next to the Albert Cuyp market.  Molly had been to AMS a few times but has never visited the market.  Though it was a bit early for all the stalls to be set up, we wandered through the market.  Since we had that detox salad, we couldn't resist the poffertjes (tiny pancakes).  Though we didn't know it at the time, the poffertjes are made by a father-son team that has been at the Albert Cuyp market since 1987!  (http://www.poffertjesalbertcuyp.nl/Over/)  They were so tasty, they rivaled the waffle and stroop waffle we had earlier in the trip... I realize in writing this post how many breakfast treats we had...there is also a small possibility I didn't discuss them all.  As we were finishing our walk through the market, it started to rain and we found solace in a cafe for a cup of coffee to warm us up and fight off the sugar rush.  With the rain dying down, we headed to the Museumplein and the Vondelpark to explore the green spaces of Amsterdam.  The Vondelpark is huge with all types of activities and walking paths.  After wandering around, we decided to head to the Jordaan district to find lunch and explore.  We ate at a typical Dutch Brown cafe, where Jessica and Mary Lee finally tried bitterballen.  In the afternoon, we took a canal tour and explored the center area of Amsterdam.  Before we knew it, it was time for Molly to catch the train back to Antwerp.  As always, we loved getting to spend time with our visitors and see new sites and eat new treats in our region.  We hope Jess & ML find a way to come back and visit again!

What can Brown do for you?

Den Haag - October 2

We have decided to change the naming of the blog since we are totally making up the week numbers at this point.  Names will now be more subject based with dates included. Now that you are all caught up on our naming conventions....

In early October, under the ruse of a crafty street market for Christmas present shopping, Molly convinced Tyler to make a day trip to Den Haag (The Hague).  Den Haag is only a 1.5 hour drive from Antwerp which makes for an easy day trip.  Den Haag is home to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court which means lots of UN involvement.  All of the international activity makes the city very interesting to tour.  English is even more prevalent than the rest of the Netherlands and Belgium, which is impressive.  We did a walking tour of the city to explore which included the Peace Palace (home of the International Court of justice).  We had lunch at a delicious cafe (Bij Hem) and headed to the street market for Christmas shopping.  Unfortunately, the street market had been cancelled due to the rainy, grey weather!  It was the whole purpose of the trip but we had a great day anyway.

Bij Hem - www.bijhem.eu

Peace Palace

Week 71 August 22-28

To close out our summer adventures, we had three awesome guests come to visit: Amy, Brendan and Amy's dad, Glenn.  They had started their adventure in London before taking the train to Brussels.  Molly met them in Brussels on Thursday afternoon for a peek around the capital.  We started at the Delirium Cafe so that everyone could have their first taste of Belgian brews before exploring the city park and getting free entry into the Palace.  After wandering around the city a bit, we decided to head back to Antwerp so we could meet up with Tyler for dinner.  To experience authentic Belgian Mussels and Frites, we took our guests to the Elfde Gebod for dinner.  We have posted about this strange gastropub before with its large collection of religious icons, and we have taken several guests there for a drink.  But this was our first time trying the food.  Its hard to say if they live up to their claim of "Best Mussels in Town," but we were all pretty pleased with our meals.  To finish the evening, we enjoyed a night cap on the Grote Markt to take in the beauty of Antwerp after dark.  On Friday, we started our day the Belgian way with waffles and coffee.  Then we began our typical Antwerp tour with a stop at the grocery to buy beer and chocolate as souvenirs.  In the afternoon, we all headed to the De Koninck city brewery to take the tour and sip on samples in the tasting room.  De Koninck is the local Antwerp brewery that has been around for nearly 200 years, but just recently renovated and opened for tours.  It was a engaging self-guided tour, and we were able to sample three of their beers at the end.  We closed out their time in Belgium with dinner at a typical Belgian brasserie (Mampoco - probably our favorite spot in Antwerp) and a drink on a terrace.

The brewery

The tasting room

Beer samples from De Koninck

Early Saturday morning, we all piled in the car for our drive to Disneyland Paris!   We arrived at our hotel around lunch and after checking in and eating, we went to the station to take the train to Paris for the rest of the day.  At this point Glenn took over as tour guide, and he showed us around like a pro (5/5 on Trip Advisor).  We popped out of the metro station right at the Arc de Triomphe.  We are sure that this comment gets made quite frequently, but the size of this monument took us off guard.  Seeing it on TV just doesn't prepare you for the scale.  After staring in awe for a while, we decided to mosey down the Champs-Élysées.  We popped in a few shops and ate some ice cream as we strolled the famous, crowded street.  The weather was the warmest it had been all summer, so the heat was starting to wear us down.  We weren't sure what we were looking for, but The Petit Palaise called to us.  It turns out that with a free entry you can see the entire art collection there and enjoy the lovely air conditioning.  After about an hour of appreciating the art, we were ready to go back out into the heat.  We strolled along the Seine just enjoying being in the city.  Eventually, our stroll started to take purpose, and we directed ourselves towards the Eiffel Tower.  Seeing as it was late afternoon, we also thought it would be a good idea to get a snack.  All the bars along the river seemed truly over-priced, so we opted for stopping at a grocery on the way to the Tower.  We picked up the essentials (baguettes, cheese, wine) and sat happily in the shade of the Tower to relax and replenish.  After our snack break, we approached the Tower.  The long lines and prices deterred us from making the ascent, but we had fun taking pictures and appreciating the monument.  From there, a quick metro ride took us to The Louvre.  We did not go in, but enjoyed the sites in the waning hours of sunlight.  By this point, we all had sore feet and were hungry for dinner.  After days of Belgian and French cuisine, we decided to go ethnic with a nice Thai spot in the Latin Quarter.  It had been a long day, but we made our walk to the train station just a few blocks longer in order to catch a glimpse of the Notre Dame Cathedral at night.

Arc de Triomphe

Molly, Amy, Brendan and Glenn

Selfie photo bomb

Getting artsy

Sunday was another early start so we could get to Disneyland as soon as the doors opened.  It was fun to enjoy the magic of the park and interesting to see the differences between the version we know from the States.  We hit the highlights of both parks and too soon it was time for us to start the drive back.  Amy, Brendan, and Glenn still had another day in Paris, so it was also time to say goodbye.  They were a wonderful group of visitors.  We were grateful to show off Antwerp to them and to get to experience a new European destination together.  We had a great time and were sad to see them go.  Until next time!    

Disneyland Paris!

The castle and another selfie photo bomb

The biggest cotton candy we have ever seen

     

Week 69 August 8-14 Lux

In mid August, we made the adventure to Luxembourg for a quick weekend trip.  This was a milestone trip for such a small country; it was Molly's 30th country visited.  After we had visited so many countries and Molly realized she was close to 30, it became a mission to visit 30 countries by the age of 30.  Mission complete!  But our trip was not only a quick drive across the border to accomplish the task, we visited Luxembourg City and went on a lovely hike in the Luxembourg wilderness.  

After work on Friday, we piled in the car and slogged through the Brussels traffic to arrive at our hotel just outside the main part of Luxembourg City.  We were late arriving and we were starving!  Instead of venturing out to find a restaurant, we decided to have a quick bite at the hotel restaurant... worst idea ever.  It was certainly the worst meal we have had since moving to Europe.  European restaurants are pretty reliable for an OK meal wherever you are... but this one was bad.  We went to bed a little discouraged about the start to our weekend adventure, but things brightened quickly the next morning when the hotel front desk informed us that the buses in Luxembourg City are free on Saturdays!  We decided to forgo the expensive hotel breakfast and head to the city center for a meal.  We found a nice cafe with a great cappuccino and breakfast bagel sandwiches (Coffee Lounge).  After breakfast, we began our exploration of the city.  Lux City is a really cool city with tons of green space and a large pedestrian only area.  Although the city is relatively small, it is interesting to explore as it is set on a plateau that drops into the river, with many ancient walls and castle ramparts scattered throughout.  We hit up the tourist information center for a city map and started their suggested walking tour.  We walked past the palace and their Notre Dame (one of Molly's favorite alters so far).

Lux City Saturday Market

The Palace

Notre Dame

  We ended up in the ravine around lunch time and stopped at a German restaurant.  We had a leisurely lunch with a few beers on the patio in the beautiful weather before continuing our stroll through the city.  Next up were the Bock casemates, a series of tunnels in the side of the hill that were used for defences.  They were last used in WWII as a bomb shelter for up to 35,000 people.  They are now open to the public.  We did not participate in the paid part of the tour as they seemed a bit overcrowded with everyone was taking a break from the heat, but we did explore a bit.  When we headed back into the center of town, they were having a festival of street performers.  We stopped and watched a few strange performances before heading for a pizza dinner.  This dinner was MUCH better than the evening before except we had some language issues... our French is terrible.  After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for our early hike the next morning.

A view of the casemates

We like Lux City!

Street performers

On Sunday, we got up early to head to Echternach in the area of Luxembourg called "Little Switzerland".  We did a small piece of the 112km Mullerthall trail that runs throughout this region.  We left Echternach and hiked straight up out of the city to be rewarded with some amazing views.  As the trail was a loop, we hiked half, stopped at a natural amphitheater for lunch and then made the return.  After our 7.5 mi hike, we were pretty tired, but not so tired as too avoid walking into the city center to find ice cream before hoping in the car back to Belgium.  We really enjoyed our time in Luxembourg and since it is a short 2-3 hour journey, we plan to go back and explore more of their hiking trails.

A view of Echternach from above