Tim Tam and Patty: Belgium Chocolate and Beer!

After an amazing 4 days in Belgium we made it back to Deventer safe and sound and wet as we got caught in a thunderstorm on our way to the train station.
   But to start off on our adventure to Antwerpen, Belgium on June 18, 2012. We boarded the train at 11:44am to head to Roosendaal to transfer onto another train to Antwerpen. We arrived in Antwerpen Centraal Station at 3:30pm. We ventured around Antwerpen as Anneke was working until 6:00pm. We walked down by the pedestrian shopping mall and stepped into a store where the famous chocolatier, Dominique Persoone (Shock-o-latier) made large figures and even a chocolate dress for Miss Belgium. His work was absolutely breath-taking and we even saw a worker creating a character from Spongebob Square Pants. After we walked to Anneke and Stefaan's home where they let us stay for 3 nights. Anneke made a delicious spaghetti supper for all of us and then we enjoyed each other's company outside underneath a heater. :)
    On June 19, 2012 we started our day by jumping on the train to Brugge, Belgium. We got in Brugge around 12:30pm. We stopped at a grocery store to buy some food and then carried on our walk through the city. We saw the beautiful churches and the market square. We saw the St. John's Hospital that is one of the oldest preserved hospital buildings in Europe and it is absolutely beautiful. After we continued towards "De Halve Maan Brewery" (The Half Moon Brewery) where we enjoyed a 45 minute tour of a 6 generation family run brewery and enjoyed one of their unfiltered prize winning beers. During the tour we went into this room to look at their small collection of beer glasses. FACT: Belgium has 1500 different beers and EACH beer has its own glass! That's a lot of beer glasses! After we wanted to go to the Chocolate Museum but we got there just as it was closing at 5pm. But Tam will be adding that to her list of return to Europe as she really wanted to go and see the history of chocolate. Yum :) So we continued down the main street towards the train station and made a stop at Choco-holic to buy some bon-bons since Anneke adviced us that we had to try the chocolate. Well that was some delicious tasting advice!
    On June 20, 2012 we toured around Antwerpen and we used the bikes to get to Het Steen Castle. Now that was an experience for Tam since she hasn't rode a bike in years. But we made it! Tam trailing behind Patrick. After we walked through the castle we continued towards Grote Markt (Large Market) and saw the beautiful Catherdral of Our Lady! What a magnificent building! We continued on our walk pass the Fashion Museum, Ruben's House, Museo and Diamond Lane! Now that is a lot of diamonds on one street and EXPENSIVE! We then walked back to Anneke and Stefaan's as we were going Geocaching with Anneke in a nice neighborhood of Antwerpen. This neighborhood used to be the poorest neighborhood and was home to many artists that spruced the neighborhood up. Now the neighborhood is one of the most expensive areas to live in. The series of questions we had to find took us on a lovely walk around this neighborhood and at the end point we stopped to enjoy a "bolleke" and figure out the final co-ordinates to find the geocache. The geocache was hidden in a "bush" but Tam didn't realize that they were brandnetels and Tam was wearing shorts. So when she came out her legs were starting to develop some tiny bumps and were very itchy and Anneke developed some on her arms as she was wearing pants. So unfortunately we had to give up on the geocache. After we headed to a restaurant where we enjoyed supper with Anneke and Stefaan and got to enjoy some typical Belgium food. After we went home to enjoy a nice cup of tea or coffee outside under the heater and visited until 12:30am.
     Yesterday we were up at 7:30am as Stefaan and Anneke both had to work and we wanted to say goodbye and thank you for the amazing time in Antwerpen and opening their home to us. Anneke and Stefaan, thank you so much for the amazing time in your home. We thoroughly enjoyed the visits and getting to know you both. We had a fantastic time. After we got up and started our day as we were headed to Wijchen to enjoy a barbecue with Jesse and his family. We departed from Antwerpen at 1:00pm as we made a tour down the Pedestrian Shopping Mall to pick up some treats before heading to the barbecue. We were on the train arriving in Den Bosch when Jesse texted us saying he was arriving into Den Bosch also. We called Jesse and said we were on the same train as him so we continued onto Wijchen together. It was very nice to meet Cor, Hanneke, Paul and Jesse's girlfriend Lobke. It was an amazing evening with a dutch barbecue and an fantastic visit. Thank you for the great night! As we walked to the train station to head back to Deventer we got caught in a rainstorm and by the time we reached the train station we were soaked to the bone and had an 1.5hour ride on the train. Monique was waiting for us when we arrived and we made it home around 10:50pm. What an amazing experience in Belgium!