Belgium & Netherlands - Antwerp

Compared to quaint Bruges, Antwerp had an element of grandeur, though both were equally elegant. Again, all the Christmas markets really added to the atmosphere. I was really glad we were travelling during the Christmas period :) It's just gave me such a wonderful feeling! And of course we indulged in some of the goodies - like this fabulously sinful cherry & whipped cream waffle! (I didn't eat the whole thing on my own lah!)












The symbol for Antwerp is a shining A! Probably cos Antwerp is famous for its diamond industry. We went to check out the diamond museum, which gives all the background on mining diamonds, polishing, cutting, and interestingly, even on the cultural aspect of it - a significant part of their collection featured hip hop icons, and bling-bling style jewellery! :) And yes, Jon's Mr T was featured! :)










Even though it's one of the largest cities in Belgium, it was really quite small. From almost anywhere in the heart of the city you could see the tower of the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Cathedral. Of course there are some places in the outskirts that you need to take public transport to get to, but it really isn't all that far.










We walked the promenade on the first day, and it reminded me of New York! :) For reason it felt like I was looking over to New Jersey. Anyway, once you turn around and see the cathedral you'll be promptly reminded that you're in Antwerp.



















The Grote Markt was a real highlight. It was cosy yet grand. Cosy because the square isn't very large, plus there was a large crowd at the Christmas market; grand because the buildings around the square are topped with gold statues - St George killing the dragon, an eagle, some soldiers, etc - and they gleam gloriously in the sun :p












We went to check out the fine art museum to see the work of Pieter Paul Rubens, the darling son of Antwerp. The museum was quite compact, and we managed to cover the collections that we wanted to see :) I found that although Rubens was the main highlight, I thought some of Jacob Jordaens' work was more impressive. Dramatic and emotive, I felt his paintings really leapt out at you, and you could almost see the figures moving.






















Antwerp is known for its shopping, so we wandered through the shopping area as well. There was this shoe shop that the Lonely Planet hailed as the best shoe shop in Belgium, so of course I had to check it out. But, oh man, it's not a place for shoppers like me. Each pair was around 400 Euros or so, some much more! So it was a look, even touch, but not bring home kinda place. Can't really remember the name of the shop, I don't see a point! ;)












Check out this knife holder we saw in one of the shop windows! Poor man...so hated...










I also had a go at being a Paparazzi! An animal paparazzi that is. I stalked a dog through a section of the shopping district! It was HUGE. I was trying to take a nice photo of him, but he kept moving! So at one point I was literally running after the dog trying to get a shot of him. The best shot I got was a silhouette of him, but you can really see how big he is. If he stands on his hind legs he'll tower even over Jon!










One shop we came across had the most interesting shop sign I've seen! IKKS had it's sign mounted on a wall that had water flowing down it. But on top of that, streams of water were flowing into the alphabets which were hollowed out like buckets. So every now and then when the letters filled up with water, they would tip over and the water would splash out into the drain below. Each letter tips at different times because of the different sizes of the alphabet-buckets. I managed to catch a photo of the before and after, take a look!










Another quirky place we went to see was the street called Cogels Osylei, famed for the diverse architectural styles. At some point the residents there decided to each out-do one another in how weird and wonderful their houses could be. As a result on that street alone you can find anything from Art Deco to Gothic, fanciful to just fantasy! All elements like stained glass, turret roofs, sculptures, balconies, mosaic..you name it, it's probably somewhere on that street. Some houses even have names like 'The Sunflower' or 'Morning Star'. Quite an interesting walk down from one end to the other just ogling at the houses.
























Well, how can I end off Antwerp without mentioning the food? It was excellent! The best find in the city - stoemp! Stoemp is belgian mashed potatoes, which are incredibly smooth, and usually have some sort of vegetable mixed in. You can choose to have carrots, leek, cabbage, etc., in your stoemp. The first night we had dinner at Eethuisje De Stoemppot, famous for their stoemp. It's served in mounds, and the stoemp is so good that many people have seconds (which is a lot!), or order it over and above their main course! We also tried traditional Belgian beef stew, which was again wonderful!












Second night, we went to a restaurant called the Walrus, also known for it's good food. And again we were not disappointed! We tried horse steak, and it really does taste different from beef, lamb, chicken, etc. It's flavourful, but not overpowering. More subtle than lamb, more complex than beef. Yummy. And of course, more stoemp!












And to top it all off, beer! We tried Westmalle Duvel and had some Hoegaarden, which somehow does taste better there :)

Belgium & Netherlands - Bruges

Attention all foodies! GO TO BELGIUM!

Truly, our trip to Belgium was a gastronomic tour! It was freezing cold, some days dropping to -6 degrees! So once the sun goes down, you just want to hide in a warm restaurant and have some warm hearty food. And warm hearty food we got! Amsterdam on-the-other-hand doesn't have so much of a food culture, and even the Lonely Planet reflects that. In the food section in the Belgium Lonely Planet, the list of Belgian specialties go on and on; for the Amsterdam edition, there really wasn't much mentioned at all. Any cuisine that was mentioned was not Dutch. Highlights were Indonesian food, Italian food, etc.

Anyway before I get to into all that. Our itinerary for the trip was:

Day 1 (20 Dec): London - Bruges
Day 2 (21 Dec): Bruges
Day 3 (22 Dec): Bruges - Antwerp
Day 4 (23 Dec): Antwerp
Day 5 (24 Dec): Antwerp - Amsterdam
Day 6 (25 Dec): Amsterdam
Day 7 (26 Dec): Amsterdam
Day 8 (27 Dec): Amsterdam - Antwerp
Day 9 (28 Dec): Antwerp - Brussels - London

It was one of the more relaxing trips we've had in that we didn't squeeze a lot of activities into one day but really took our time. Partly cos it was winter where the days are short and the weather cold. Normally our backpacking trips are in spring and we'd start early and stay out all day long (which can be quite late in the longer spring days), and often stay out in the night too. On this trip, especially the freezing cold days like those in Bruges, we even went back to the room for a short while in the afternoon to just thaw out for a bit :) I guess it also didn't help that I was feeling under the weather, having brought my flu and cough with me over from Singapore.

--- Bruges ---










Bruges is a quaint, small town that can easily be covered within a day. But taking it slowly has its pleasures, especially with the many Christmas markets at the various squares! It was really Christmassy. Think cold weather, stalls decorated with lights, steam wafting from the hot drinks stalls, sausages stands, and waffle shops. And in the centre of it all, an ice skating rink! Add to that some misty fog, and music! Yes, the centre of Bruges has music piped throughout the town :) So you feel like you are living a soundtrack! It's really lovely, and adds so much to the atmosphere of the place.





















When in Belgium, of course you think of chocolates. And one of the must-see sights in Bruges was ChocoStory - a museum telling the story of chocolate! Everything from how and where it is grown, how the cacao beans are harvested, how the by-products are obtained, to making of the chocolate, and tracing the evolution of chocolate packaging. And to top it all off, there was a chocolate making demonstration where we got to try some freshly made chocolate! And they were really heavenly! The shell was just the right thickness and hardness, so that when you bit into the choclate a lovely 'crack' can be heard, and then you taste the sweet praline inside. Mmmm...mmm...












Actually we got to eat the yummy demo chocolates twice. We joined the demo after it had already started, and got a chocolate at the end. Thinking that we missed out on quite a lot, we decided to wait for the next round to start again. Only after the second demo began did we realise we actually didn't miss very much. We didn't intend to take the demo chocolate again, but the lady making them insisted. (Actually I think it's more because she can't be seen to not be offering it to us, and of course we won't say no right?) =)

We also did a 'Chocolate Walk' on the second day in Bruges. It's a walking tour around town and the highlights are chocolate shops where you can exchange coupons to try chocolates and other chocolate products like chocolate gin (which is fantastic!). I like the family run shops cos they are more personal and friendly. There was one couple we met who ran a pair of shops which were side by side. One sold chocolate, one sold alcohol. The chain shops we walked into had staff who were rude or stuffy. Sign that they are doing too well and it was getting to their heads.












The second day in Bruges was particularly pretty as everything was covered in frost! The trees were white, the canals were frozen over and dusted with icing sugar..everything looked so beautiful! Such a picturesque day! It's amazing how different everything looks when there is frost. And it's amazing how quickly the frost disappears. The third day everything was back to normal and totally un-frosty!











































































The room itself was very cosy, and even had a small sitting corner. And the views out of the window made you feel like you were very much living in the local neighbourhood - which we were! The B&B is also the home of the owners, and is located in a residential area. It was beautifully decorated! The lady of the house has wonderful taste, quirky and refined. And she always looked very well put together.




























We had 2 really good dinners in Bruges. The first night we tried meat fondue and traditional Belgian rabbit stew. We had thought that meat fondue was meat that you dip in cheese. But it turns out that it's raw meat that you cook in hot oil flavoured with herbs. In that sense the term 'meat fondue' is a misnomer cos for choclate fondue you dip things in chocolate, and cheese fondue you dip things in cheese. This should be called 'oil fondue' instead! Anyway it was yummy all the same. The stew too! And everything was 'eat all you can'. They refill the meat, the veg, the chips, and even my stew!












Dinner on the second night was of the classic Belgian dish - mussels and chips! And also something called 'eel in green'. It was the specialty of the restaurant, and another Belgian specialty. Turns out the 'green' is some jelly-like herb sauce. Not too bad. The eels were surprisingly less fishy than I expected considering that Japanese unagi is very fishy. The mussels were cooked in beer with other vegetables and herbs, and was very good! Such a huge bowl too! We had a bowl of tomato soup more for me, cos I had a stuffy nose and was feeling sick, so wanted something hot to warm me up.














Besides Belgian food, we were trying out some of the many many Belgian beers. The interesting thing about Belgium is that they always serve the beer in the correct glasses...so if you order Westmalle, the beer will be served in a Westmalle cup! And prior to Belgium, I had not seen beer glasses in the shape of goblets. The other difference that Jon noticed was that Belgians serve their beer with a very thick layer of foam..approximate an inch thick! There's even a marker on the glass for where the foam must begin!












One of the bars we went to in Belgian on the top 5 bars to go to in Belgium! Very much a beer institution in Bruges, and Belgium as a whole :)












That certainly isn't the end of the beer, food, and sights in Belgium! More up next, in Antwerp!