Belgian waffles

Pulpit in Antwerp's Cathedral, carved out of wood

Last time I wrote a post, I was looking into what it would cost to visit Mike Inwood in Antwerp. Well, I threw caution to the wind and went on a trip to visit Mike Inwood in Antwerp. I have to say that what I experienced of Belgium was just wonderful, the people were so kind, had a great sense of humour, the air smelled of waffles all hours of the day and both Antwerp and Brussels had the perfect mix of old and new going on.

After having been in Germany now for a good few months, when I got off the plane and found my way to the train ticket booth, I half expected the ticket official to yell at me for having a ticket that was unreadable on his scanner. I simply had to explain I had printed it in a German internet cafe and was not sure if it was actually valid. He made a joke and then proceeded to help me out. I nervously laughed, it wasn't til I was on the platform with a better printout of my ticket that I realised I wasn't going to get scolded for being such an idiot. What a feeling.

Antwerp was unbelievably gorgeous, the old city boasted of course beautiful churches, narrow alley ways, cobblestone roads, statues, everything I love about European cities. When it was time to see Mike... I got lost, a long and painful story I'd care to not re-live, but to summarize, Friday evening I was supposed to see his show, I got lost and made it there an hour and a half later just in time for the end of the show. At least we got to catch up that evening and devise a plan for the next day. He invited me to come the next evening which was not my original plan but I had to. I must say that I'm so glad I did, the show was great, at first I was very unsure but the second half of the piece was so thoroughly enjoyable and once Mike explained a bit more of the concept, I was sold. That evening of course included beers, chats and a dolled up Miguel Gutierrez DJ-ing the after party.

Outdoor shopping

It was so great to see Mike, we must have stayed up til 4:00 Saturday evening catching up and reminiscing, poor guy had to leave at 6:00 AM the next day! As for me, I got to sleep in and I slowly made my way on to Brussels. Brussels had a bit more of a hard edge going on. I really enjoyed the people though, they really were themselves, they didn't seem to pass judgments on others, they were very easy going, helpful, nice and most importantly, tolerant of my French. The city centre was of course complete with all the same things as Antwerp, architecture, etc, though the rest of the city was quite the mix of old and new, sometimes successful other times...not.

Fountain Statue in the Garden of Statues in Brussels.

Overall a refreshing and lovely trip, too cold, but really how can you hold that against a city? I realised only too late that I did not buy a Belgian Waffle, in Belgium. Suppose I have to go back.