Welcome to Belgium. Belgium is not only the seat of the EU, but the Beer Capital of the World. Belgium is a land of contradictions and conflicts. Enjoy as we chronicle our travels around the country and Europe.
One of the things that our little Jack Russell, Ivan the Terrible, loves are these dried out cow ears and pig snouts. Barf! While not really my tastes, he absolutely loves them. He chews on them for hours and hours. Well I guess it keeps him out of trouble.
Since today is Jan's brithday, I decided to make him a wonderful meal with homemade meatballs, sauce, and lasagne. Yes Dad, I put a whole onion in the sauce.
Today, March 15th, is Jan's birthday. For a little bit of celebration we went out to dinner. We were kind of in the mood for Thai cuisine, and managed to find a wonderfully authentic restaurant here called A'Thai. Yes, believe it or not, there are quite a few Thai restaurants here in Antwerp.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just finished a question-and-answer session with a group of so-called “young Europeans” at the European Parliament in Brussels. Even though her performance lasted less than an hour, by the end she had them eating out of her hand and she received a standing ovation.
The best moment came when she caught sight of a semi-shaven man sporting an “I love Hillary” T-shirt. She said she simply had to take a question from him because of what he was wearing. The guy turned out to be an English-speaking gay rights activist from Moldova, and he wanted to know what the Obama administration would do for the world’s gays and lesbians. Putting on her best stateswoman-like face, Clinton replied: “Human rights is and always will be one of the pillars of our foreign policy. In particular, persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians is something we take very seriously.” Lots of applause followed.
Clinton’s performance was brilliantly executed in that she pitched her message at exactly the level the European audience wanted. They wanted to hear an American talk like a European, and that’s what they got....(Click for remainder.)
Not that this has anything to do with living in Belgium, or an adventure really, but I wanted to share. Jan and I made this delicious pizza last night for dinner. The crust was made with fennel and oregano dough; the pizza was topped with turkey, sausage, mozzarella, cheddar, olives, and red peppers. It really turned out well. Don't let your jealousy and desire overwhelm you. ;-)
Rather than sit at home all day, Jan and I decided to take a day trip to Bruges.
Bruges (Dutch: Brugge) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country.
The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is egg-shaped and about 430 hectares in size. The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 193.7 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge ("Seabruges" in literal translation). The city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of which around 20,000 live in the historic centre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km² and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.
Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North".
Bruges has a significant economic importance thanks to its port, and is also home to the College of Europe.
Today was a rather quick, and fun, adventure to Amsterdam with some of the kids from Antwerp British School. Two of the teachers were taking the kids to see the Anne Frank House, and asked me to go along.
There aren't very many pictures here, as the trip was only about 3 hours long. I did manage to see some cool stuff, and have a nice double whopper with cheese at Burger King. So enjoy the photos. I've tried to caption them as much as possible. To see the picture, click on it, and you'll be taken to a larger image. Enjoy, and please leave comments.
Bruges (Dutch: Brugge) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country.