Written by Carrie B
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| Antwerp, Belgium |
It was refreshing to finally be able to sleep as late as we wanted without having our day booked in advance. The girls woke up and immediately began playing while Carrie L and I settled in to the living room with coffee and wifi. We both agreed that we could lay around in our pajamas all day and be fine with it. But, relaxing was not why we decided to go on this trip so we knew we would have to shake the urge to veg out and go explore Antwerp.
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| Learning about Belgium |
Of course, Carrie had her “educational itinerary” to get through so the girls did their “apartment-schooling” in the morning and we witnessed the kids becoming more and more independent with their work. Because a lot of the initial activities were similar from country to country, they knew how to research the information and even figured out Google Translate themselves to learn new words in the three official languages of Belgium: Dutch, German and French. In addition, they learned a new math game and it is incredible to watch how their minds work and their problem solving abilities.
We left the apartment around noon with plans to get lunch and walk around Antwerp. I had read earlier that morning about a place that is famous for their authentic Belgium waffles called Desire de Lille and made sure we had the address before we set out on foot. The restaurant ended up being a corner shop without seating on the inside or outside. We hesitated at first and thought about leaving to find a place with seating but I couldn’t resist trying the waffles after all the positive reviews I had read. The girls were excited to see a picture of a waffle loaded with whipped cream and strawberries and I was just as pleased to see one smothered in chocolate sauce. Carrie L ordered four of the strawberry waffles and one with chocolate. We watched as the man made the waffles fresh and handed them to us one by one. The girls sat down on the sidewalk outside the place and the waffle eating began. I don’t think I will ever be able to explain how absolutely amazing these waffles were but let’s put it this way, this was the first time the girls were all happy with their food choice, ate every last bite, and unanimously agreed that the waffles were the best thing they had ate on the trip so far. At first I thought maybe it was just because we were coming off of a few days of eating nothing but croissants and fried food but no, the girls were right, these waffles were made of sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very good thing that we weren’t staying in Belgium longer than a day because I would have eaten those waffles for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could have.
After we recovered from what could have been the best meal of our lives, we decided to go purchase something else Belgium is famous for...chocolate. I found a place online called The Chocolate Line that was said to have all things chocolate on the menu along with a elaborate chocolate shop where you can buy their chocolate creations. After a small walk down the road, we came to the chocolate shop and stepped inside. The girls couldn’t believe the amount of chocolate that was surrounding them. There were chocolate Easter eggs, bunnies, letters of the alphabet and even chocolate lipstick. My daughter, being a chocoholic, couldn’t contain herself and snuck behind the counter and picked up a chocolate egg out of a glass container. As I was telling her no and to put it back, the egg slipped out of her grasp and shattered in to little pieces on the floor. I didn’t even have to say a word of punishment as Elise knew exactly what she had done and broke into tears. One of the girls working at the store walked over with a nasty look on her face making me feel as if I was the world’s worst parent and began cleaning up the broken egg. I apologized wholeheartedly but I could tell she was thinking, “Can’t you just control your child?” I know this is what she was thinking because pre-kid I used to judge parents in the exact same manner. Now, I understand that children can’t always be controlled no matter how hard parents try and empathize with their frustrations and embarrassment when a child acts out in public. Carrie L and I weren’t too disappointed that this happened as we had been telling the girls over and over to not touch anything and they still continued to do so. Why is it so difficult for kids to just look and not touch? How many times can we say, “Look with your eyes, not with your hands, for goodness sake?” Carrie L said that Elise breaking the egg was the best thing that could have happened to teach her girls the lesson of what can happen when they pick up things that she tells them not too. Ellie even commented that what Elise did was “so embarrassing.” Teachable moment? Check.
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| Getting chocolate from the jar |
When I went to the counter to purchase the chocolate for my friends and family, I asked for the broken egg to be added to my total. The lady said she would ask her manager and when she returned, she said that I did not have to pay for the egg. After Carrie L made her purchase and we were getting ready to leave the store, one of the employees came to the girls with a jar full of chocolate letters and offered the girls one letter a piece. Elise was the last one to pick her letter and as she pulled it out of the jar, another letter from the jar came out of the jar and fell on the ground. All I could say was, “Really”?
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| Grace sharing her lemonade |
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| Enjoying our drinks |
We spent the rest of the day walking around Antwerp. The town was untouched with the original cobblestone streets and brick buildings. The weather was beautiful, around 60 degrees, and sunny which made for perfect walking conditions. It gave the Lupoli girls a break from the Norway cold and us Burk girls a break from the Singapore heat. You know the saying tragedy brings people closer together? Well, I think nice weather does the same...especially coming off of a cold winter. People were out riding their bikes, walking their dogs and sitting outside at the cafes and beer gardens visiting with family and friends. After walking for a couple of hours, we decided to sit outside at a cafe and have a few drinks. We ordered coffee, lemonade, a milkshake and ice tea. We all welcomed the break from walking and took our time while enjoying the perfect weather. On our walk back to the apartment, Carrie L stopped in a shop to buy a few souvenirs while I waited outside with the children. Throughout every country, the girls had been playing a imaginary game where they are each fairies with special powers. This game has brought it’s fair share of laughter and arguments to our trip but this time it almost brought a trip to the hospital. As the girls were deciding which special power they would each have, Grace spun away from the wall they were all leaning against and came inches from being hit by a girl speeding by on a bike. I immediately screamed “Grace!” and watched as she jumped back in terror. All three girls froze and remarked that they couldn’t believe Grace hadn’t been hit as she was as close to the bike as the car was to the bus during our Paris nightmare. Another moment of protection? Check.
After Grace was nearly taken out by the bicycle, we stopped at a roadside pita place and took our dinner back to the apartment. While Carrie worked on the blog and attempted, once again to find a hotel for us in Amsterdam, I did as many loads of laundry as possible. We decided instead of driving in the heart of Amsterdam we would take the safe alternative and stay at a hotel near the airport. Not only did this allow us to be able to catch the train in to the city, we also used Justin’s Hilton rewards and booked a two night stay for free making up for the money we spent on the apartment in Paris that we never stayed in. Even though our day had been one of simplicity, we enjoyed every bit that Antwerp had to offer us making it one of our favorite destinations on this road-trip.
We left the apartment around noon with plans to get lunch and walk around Antwerp. I had read earlier that morning about a place that is famous for their authentic Belgium waffles called Desire de Lille and made sure we had the address before we set out on foot. The restaurant ended up being a corner shop without seating on the inside or outside. We hesitated at first and thought about leaving to find a place with seating but I couldn’t resist trying the waffles after all the positive reviews I had read. The girls were excited to see a picture of a waffle loaded with whipped cream and strawberries and I was just as pleased to see one smothered in chocolate sauce. Carrie L ordered four of the strawberry waffles and one with chocolate. We watched as the man made the waffles fresh and handed them to us one by one. The girls sat down on the sidewalk outside the place and the waffle eating began. I don’t think I will ever be able to explain how absolutely amazing these waffles were but let’s put it this way, this was the first time the girls were all happy with their food choice, ate every last bite, and unanimously agreed that the waffles were the best thing they had ate on the trip so far. At first I thought maybe it was just because we were coming off of a few days of eating nothing but croissants and fried food but no, the girls were right, these waffles were made of sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very good thing that we weren’t staying in Belgium longer than a day because I would have eaten those waffles for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could have. 
After we recovered from what could have been the best meal of our lives, we decided to go purchase something else Belgium is famous for...chocolate. I found a place online called The Chocolate Line that was said to have all things chocolate on the menu along with a elaborate chocolate shop where you can buy their chocolate creations. After a small walk down the road, we came to the chocolate shop and stepped inside. The girls couldn’t believe the amount of chocolate that was surrounding them. There were chocolate Easter eggs, bunnies, letters of the alphabet and even chocolate lipstick. My daughter, being a chocoholic, couldn’t contain herself and snuck behind the counter and picked up a chocolate egg out of a glass container. As I was telling her no and to put it back, the egg slipped out of her grasp and shattered in to little pieces on the floor. I didn’t even have to say a word of punishment as Elise knew exactly what she had done and broke into tears. One of the girls working at the store walked over with a nasty look on her face making me feel as if I was the world’s worst parent and began cleaning up the broken egg. I apologized wholeheartedly but I could tell she was thinking, “Can’t you just control your child?” I know this is what she was thinking because pre-kid I used to judge parents in the exact same manner. Now, I understand that children can’t always be controlled no matter how hard parents try and empathize with their frustrations and embarrassment when a child acts out in public. Carrie L and I weren’t too disappointed that this happened as we had been telling the girls over and over to not touch anything and they still continued to do so. Why is it so difficult for kids to just look and not touch? How many times can we say, “Look with your eyes, not with your hands, for goodness sake?” Carrie L said that Elise breaking the egg was the best thing that could have happened to teach her girls the lesson of what can happen when they pick up things that she tells them not too. Ellie even commented that what Elise did was “so embarrassing.” Teachable moment? Check. 
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