Tulips and Windmills: Antwerp

 

And all at once we were off to Belgium! This was a good thing, and the reason was that a major national holiday was about to happen in The Netherlands. The King is William of Orange, and on his birthday, the country pretty much goes bezique with orange. Drinking begins early in the day, the cities are decorated with pennants, and virtually everyone is dressed in orange. We would be well off to have missed all of that!

And so we came to Antwerp.

We'd been going at quite a brisk pace, and so in the morning I chose to remain aboard Gefjon while Joe went on the walking tour of the city.

After lunch, and after a nice nap, it was time for the food tour!

The first stop on the food tour was beer tasting. I'm fond of reporting that I had a beer once; it was in Kent, Ohio, in 1972, and I didn't care for it. That was my only beer experience. On this tour, Joe sampled four beers. One was quite different: It was a cherry beer, and I actually drank the whole glass!

Beer test number four.

While in Belgium, we were told, over and over, that there was no such thing as French Fries. We learned that fries originated in Belgium, were cooked with two separate fryings (we discerned no difference from what we were used to), and were always served with ketchup mayonnaise! We happily indulged and were pleasantly surprised by this condiment use!

On to waffles!

In Belgium, waffles are made with a yeast batter, and this allows them to be very light on the inside, and very crispy on the outside. They were served with powdered sugar and were delicious!

The last stop on the food tour was a famous chocolate shop. Suffice it to say that following our visit, the economy of Antwerp is secure.