We jumped right back into work after landing back in Belgium on Monday morning. Our hopes of fighting off jet lag by getting back on our normal schedule worked pretty well (except for Tyler falling asleep in a meeting). We were lucky to have two visitors the weekend after we got back to Europe. Becca and her mom, Vicki, came to Europe for vacation and spent their last few days in Antwerp with us! They arrived Thursday evening to a delicious take out Chinese meal. We had our Dutch exams that evening so we weren't able to show them a proper evening out in Antwerp. But, Chinese food is always good. We left them to do our dishes and relax while we took our exam. After a trip to the town hall for new residence cards on Friday morning, we all headed to Bruges for a visit. We had been once before, but it was fun to go back with Becca and Vicki to see the "Venice of the North." We wandered some of the streets until we got to the Halve Maan brewery where we stopped for Belgian beers and a delicious lunch. After lunch, we walked around the town square and on the shopping street. All the walking and historical buildings led to a cute coffee shop for our afternoon break. After coffee and a little more exploration, it was time to head back to Antwerp because we had reservations for a delicious dinner of mussels. We ate at the Roden Hoed for dinner, famous for their many different preparations of mussels and other seafood. Becca, Vicki, and Tyler all had mussels prepared in various ways. Molly stuck to fish because a whole 1.2 kg pot of mussels is too much for her to handle. It was a great end to our day, and after everyone had eaten their fill of mussels and drank their Belgian beers we headed home with full stomachs.
Our first stop on Saturday morning was the Waffel Factory. When in Belgium, a waffle is a must! We decided a waffle was the best way to start out our day of Belgian 'delicacies'. After breakfast, we explored the Grote Markt, the riverfront and Starbucks along with stops for souvenirs and shopping. For our mid-morning snack, we tried more Belgian foods and had frites with sauce and bitterballen at one of our preferred frituurs. By this time, all of the chocolate shops were open so we stopped for tastes and more souvenirs! We explored more of Old Town Antwerp and headed toward the Saturday Market. At this point we were all pretty exhausted and headed inside to warm up and drink some beer. The rest of the day was spent visiting together and eating pizza. Early Sunday morning, Becca and Vicki had to head back to Amsterdam for their flight back to the US. We are so glad they were able to come visit and see our adopted country. It is always fun to host friends and family!
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| Becca, Vicki & Molly |
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| Becca is such a creeper |
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| Bruges |
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| Becca & Tyler |
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| They missed each other! |
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| A LOT!!! |
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