Fast, wet, marvellous and delicious.

Trip Start Nov 30, 2012

Trip End Dec 30, 2012

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Flag of Belgium Antwerpen, Vlaams Gewest, Belgium
Saturday, December 22, 2012

Today it was Belgium's turn to host me as their guest. We took the high speed train from Rotterdam Central Station to Antwerp Central Station. The train, called the FYRA, travels at a speed of 250 K's per hour so it only took 25 minutes to travel the distance.

Rain greeted us at Antwerp so we had to go from shop to shop, which suited me fine, to keep dry until I got a brolly that said, "I Love Belgium" on it. The shopping was great and I got some really good bargains. One thing was a new bag to go with my Paris dress. We had a nice lunch at a cafe right next to the cathedral. And then we went into the cathedral itself. Even though it was not the biggest church I have seen on my trip once I went in it was amazingly big and felt like it was the biggest. It was interesting to learn from our guide about the history and what they did with the paintings over the years.

We left, ready for our pick-up as Pieter had driven to Antwerp to come and take us to his place. How good is that! But we quickly got some chocolate pralines before he got there. On the drive home I rested while papa and Pieter talked in Dutch.

We arrived at Pieter and Monique's place and I went straight upstairs with Isabelle, it was good to see her again and we played for hours on our iPads. Pieter's sister Elvire and her partner Hans also joined us. I think Elvire is my blog "groupie" in holland as she has sent lots of messages and has read all my entries. I love it that she follows my trip.

For dinner we did a typical Dutch dinner event called "gourmetten". Here a hot plate is put on the table and everyone gets their own bite sized pan. You can select from lots of delicious things and then cook it yourself. This was an amazing experience that was new to me and I really enjoyed it and I want to have a set just like this to use at home. The table was set up with breads and salads and Monique had worked really hard and had prepared all the yummiest food; meats, sausages, steak, chicken, pork medallions and sate sauce too,which I loved.
The evening finished with us eating all the chocolates in front of the fire place, yum!

Tomorrow the Efteling and I can't wait for that. Some things may be only in Dutch, that doesn't matter as Isabelle and the others can help me with that. I will enjoy it lots and lots for sure.