The story of the origins of the name Antwerp.
4.01.2005
3.27.2005
Old Holland and then on to London...
We spent today going to the equivalent of Old World Wisconsin (or Colonial Williamsburg if that helps). The attraction was a group of buildings making up an example of life in the netherlands in the 1700's. My batteries died and I didn't have back-ups. Jon's memory stick reader failed too so we've got few pictures. We did of course find batteries in time to get the obligatory shot of Jen and I in the humongous wooden clogs. We also went to Zaanse Schaans (pronounced Sahnsa Shahns) which had some windmills and more period pieces. very cool but, by the time we got there we were pretty wiped from the indoor and outdoor museums in Enkhuisen (Engkhoussen).
The day ended with dinner at Asia Palace. The best cashew chicken or sweet & sour chicken I've had plus too much wine.
We're making the trek from The Netherlands to London, England. Thanks to some great planning, we have to grab a train from Leiden, NL at 4:16 AM to Rotterdam, NL. Then we take a bus from Rotterdam Centraal Station to the Rotterdam Airport. We get in to London at 7:30 AM and will be staying within a stones throw of the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.
That's it for now, gotta be up in 5 or so hours to make our train.
Oh yeah and last night was daylights savings in european time zones.
The day ended with dinner at Asia Palace. The best cashew chicken or sweet & sour chicken I've had plus too much wine.
We're making the trek from The Netherlands to London, England. Thanks to some great planning, we have to grab a train from Leiden, NL at 4:16 AM to Rotterdam, NL. Then we take a bus from Rotterdam Centraal Station to the Rotterdam Airport. We get in to London at 7:30 AM and will be staying within a stones throw of the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.
That's it for now, gotta be up in 5 or so hours to make our train.
Oh yeah and last night was daylights savings in european time zones.
3.26.2005
So much to blog so little time...
Our timeline:
Sunday
Getting in, getting settled. (See Touchdown)
Monday
Walking tour of Leiden. Leiden is a, formerly walled in, city with cobblestone streets. Jen and Jon had a walking tour book that highlighted 40 points of interest from the centuries old churches (pic) to the modern hospital.
Tuesday
Wrapping up the walking tour.
Wednesday
A short trip to Amsterdam. We got started late and left early. It's a bustling metropolis that left you feeling harried. We came back to go to Market (Markt) with Jon. The 6-10 block walk was the longest since his appendix removal. At Market we got fries with mayo and fries with sate` sauce. (pic)
Hugh (from Ireland) went with us to "Sideways" the Academy award winning comedy.
Thursday (Donderdag)
A day trip to The Hague (Den Haag). Just a ten minute train ride from Leiden is the home to the government of Holland. A bigger city than Leiden yet smaller than Amsterdam. We followed another walking tour through the streets of The Hague. (pic)
When we got back we went out to east at Cojico, a mexican restraunt next to Jon and Jen's place. We the hooked up with them and Simon (their Dutch teacher) at the Harmonie Bar.
Friday
Trip to Antwerp (Belgium). St. Catherines Cathedral is a deceivingly large church that reaches 400+ feet twowards the sky. Antwerp is a harbor town with lots of sites to see, very much a New York City feel, if New York was around form the 9th century. We decided to eat at Pizza Hut. Walked in the door and there was a terrible odor. Jen then reminded us what the smell was, dead mice. We high tailed it down the street to a more traditional pizzeria. While we were there a bachelorette party came in.
Got to run .... More later ....
Sunday
Getting in, getting settled. (See Touchdown)
Monday
Walking tour of Leiden. Leiden is a, formerly walled in, city with cobblestone streets. Jen and Jon had a walking tour book that highlighted 40 points of interest from the centuries old churches (pic) to the modern hospital.
Tuesday
Wrapping up the walking tour.
Wednesday
A short trip to Amsterdam. We got started late and left early. It's a bustling metropolis that left you feeling harried. We came back to go to Market (Markt) with Jon. The 6-10 block walk was the longest since his appendix removal. At Market we got fries with mayo and fries with sate` sauce. (pic)
Hugh (from Ireland) went with us to "Sideways" the Academy award winning comedy.
Thursday (Donderdag)
A day trip to The Hague (Den Haag). Just a ten minute train ride from Leiden is the home to the government of Holland. A bigger city than Leiden yet smaller than Amsterdam. We followed another walking tour through the streets of The Hague. (pic)
When we got back we went out to east at Cojico, a mexican restraunt next to Jon and Jen's place. We the hooked up with them and Simon (their Dutch teacher) at the Harmonie Bar.
Friday
Trip to Antwerp (Belgium). St. Catherines Cathedral is a deceivingly large church that reaches 400+ feet twowards the sky. Antwerp is a harbor town with lots of sites to see, very much a New York City feel, if New York was around form the 9th century. We decided to eat at Pizza Hut. Walked in the door and there was a terrible odor. Jen then reminded us what the smell was, dead mice. We high tailed it down the street to a more traditional pizzeria. While we were there a bachelorette party came in.
Got to run .... More later ....
3.20.2005
Leiden Trip - Touchdown
We got off the plane and it hit us pretty quickly that we were in a foreign country. Just the little details like seeing english as the second language on signs as such. Seeing signs and advertisements completely in dutch.
After claiming our bags we walked over to customs. "Have you anything to declare?" asked one customs officer, "No." He motioned us forward, "D'où voyagez-vous?" asked the next customs agent. "Excuse Me?" I replied. "Where are you travelling from?" Oh. That I can answer. Chicago. He gave us a nod and we walked through the doors to find Jen waiting for us. We hopped on a train and were on our way to Leiden. It was a 15 minute train ride but it flew by really fast as we were discussing our trip to that point and how Jon was doing. We were to visit him at 2:30 that afternoon.
We walked from the train to their apartment a ten minute walk, with suitcases, through cobblestone streets and brick sidewalks. Jen quickly pointed out the bike racks near the train station (Centraal Station). There were hundreds of bikes in the racks. You won't understand this unless you see it for yourself but, everyone rides a bike here. If you have longer than a 10-15 minute walk you are riding a bike, or taking a train. Don't get me wrong, there are cars but they are easily outnumbered 5-1 by bikes and pedestrians on an average road.
After arriving at the apartment and getting situated we made our way out to lunch. De Brasserrie (or the B.L.T. place for Tim) is a great little restaurant. We took a stroll down Shopping Street (Haarlemerstraat) to kill time and then went to tour the inside of a Netherlands hospital, oh and to see Jon. He had an appendicitis attack and needed emergency surgery. He was at the desk in his room when we go there. obviously sore but, in fair shape for one day removed from surgery.
Surprisingly, he came home later that evening. Jen went back to get him and left us with a collectiong of Family Guy DVDs. They got home around 8:00PM and brought friends, Evy and Boss (Bas). Boss is dutch and Evy i couldn't quite placed although I knew she was European, right? Nope, she's from Texas. D'oh, I don't feel so bad because she said she's been bouncing around Europe so long she is forgetting how to speak english. We ate traditional pizza from some local place, very thin crust and almost no cheese. After the pizza we were re-energized so I played Midnight Club on the PS2. Then we went to sleep.
After claiming our bags we walked over to customs. "Have you anything to declare?" asked one customs officer, "No." He motioned us forward, "D'où voyagez-vous?" asked the next customs agent. "Excuse Me?" I replied. "Where are you travelling from?" Oh. That I can answer. Chicago. He gave us a nod and we walked through the doors to find Jen waiting for us. We hopped on a train and were on our way to Leiden. It was a 15 minute train ride but it flew by really fast as we were discussing our trip to that point and how Jon was doing. We were to visit him at 2:30 that afternoon.
We walked from the train to their apartment a ten minute walk, with suitcases, through cobblestone streets and brick sidewalks. Jen quickly pointed out the bike racks near the train station (Centraal Station). There were hundreds of bikes in the racks. You won't understand this unless you see it for yourself but, everyone rides a bike here. If you have longer than a 10-15 minute walk you are riding a bike, or taking a train. Don't get me wrong, there are cars but they are easily outnumbered 5-1 by bikes and pedestrians on an average road.
After arriving at the apartment and getting situated we made our way out to lunch. De Brasserrie (or the B.L.T. place for Tim) is a great little restaurant. We took a stroll down Shopping Street (Haarlemerstraat) to kill time and then went to tour the inside of a Netherlands hospital, oh and to see Jon. He had an appendicitis attack and needed emergency surgery. He was at the desk in his room when we go there. obviously sore but, in fair shape for one day removed from surgery.
Surprisingly, he came home later that evening. Jen went back to get him and left us with a collectiong of Family Guy DVDs. They got home around 8:00PM and brought friends, Evy and Boss (Bas). Boss is dutch and Evy i couldn't quite placed although I knew she was European, right? Nope, she's from Texas. D'oh, I don't feel so bad because she said she's been bouncing around Europe so long she is forgetting how to speak english. We ate traditional pizza from some local place, very thin crust and almost no cheese. After the pizza we were re-energized so I played Midnight Club on the PS2. Then we went to sleep.
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