When you gonna ring it?

Saturday, we took a train from Brussels to Antwerp, a major diamond cutting center. Evan took the romantic setting of the train ride to casually ask Yvonne if she wanted a ring. Antwerp also has a very nice church that we visited and some touristy stuff like waffles, shopping and statues of fries?





November 25, 2006 - Jamey's lunch entry in Antwerp
The Grimbergen Dubbel is dark like an English porter. It has a nice head, like all the Belgian beers, and an almost fruity finish.
The Vedet Extra Blond has a penguin basking in the glow of a red sun.
We picked up waffles from a street vendor. They were perfectly sweetened. I think they coat them lightly in syrup, and then reheat so that the syrup bonds to the crunchy exterior. The insides of the waffle had the texture of soufflé.
The cathedral in Antwerp is outrageous. The collection of stonework, painting, stained glass, and sculpture within overloads the senses. I think it was more impressive than any churches I visited in Paris. For more modern architecture, Central Station is also amazing. Evan pointed out that it looks like the "Station' background that shipped with Microsoft Windows 95. I'll have to Google it later, but I believe he's right.
For lunch we went to Appelmans near the cathedral. This restaurant/absinthe bar is sandwiched between several Italian restaurants. Food was good and reasonably priced. The goat cheese on Stacy's salad was my favorite. I had a meat casserole - similar to a dish I cooked a few weeks ago in anticipation of this trip. Mine was better.

Romance is dead!






November 25, 2006
If you're too stupid to make it off the train, don't worry. The nice ticket taker who knows there are Americans aboard has a special key he can use to prevent the train from departing.

Next time, the fabulous art museum in Brussels and the best hot chocolate in the world!