Kimmy InAMSTERDAM

The next morning we got up early. Courtney had forgotten her passport so she had to make a quick trip back to Amsterdam to grab it. Ironically, we never once got our passports checked. We head down to Antwerp on a 9am train, took about 2hrs to reach the city. We weren't really sure what to expect surfacing from the metro into the city center, but it was beautiful. It felt a Dutch and French town had a child - Antwerp. Their were the small, narrow streets leading in and out of big squares. The Belgian where huge on the outdoor setting. Too bad it wasn't too much warmer than the Netherlands. Probably still high-30s. We made our way to the hostel, which was conveniently joined with a bar on the first floor. I wouldn't say it was the cleanest, but it had alot of character and the staff was really nice. After we dropped our stuff off, we headed over to check out a huge 16th century cathedral which was the town's main focal point. It was beautiful inside and out. We grabbed some lunch at a nearby cafe and sampled a couple beers.

That night, we headed out to a cafe and began talking to the owner about what beers he might suggest we try. Needless to say, he was very helpful and we got some delicious (and strong, about 10/11/12%) blonde and brown beers. The rest of the group meet up with us at the cafe and joined in on the sampling. I was pretty tired, so I headed back to the hostel only to find that the bar was going off. Every weekend night, they feature live in-house music. It was pretty good Irish-folk music. I stayed for a bit, then headed up to our room and turned in for the night.

I awoke at like 6:30am with the biggest headache, thanks to the beer from the night before. With no water to drink anywhere around me, I headed downstairs to drink from the sink faucet as a last resort. As I got downstairs, I heard voices coming from the bar. I decided to peek in and see if I could score some water from them. I might have forgotten to mention that the people who ran the bar/hostel were full-blown Irish. So they were still up partying from the night before, sipping their Guinness. They hooked up with a couple glasses of water and tried offering me a pint of Guinness, but beer was the last thing I wanted. We had a nice conversation and I headed back up to bed to try to get a few more hours of sleep. I saw the owner later that afternoon, around 4ish and he greeted me with a 'good morning'. I don't know how the Irish do it.

The next morning we just set out walking in a different direction and came upon an absolutely gigantic art baroque museum featuring some of Antwerp's most famous painters - Peter Paul Rubens. The entrance was 1 euro with a great audio tour. We spent about 2hrs wondering around and probably didn't see everything. It was beautiful artwork - saw alot of baby Jesus. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, near the river looking at old forts and churches. I hit up a walking street (huge shopping streets with no cars) and got a new purse and scarf for 20 euro. That evening, our goal was to get a good meal and after being heckled all day by the guys who stand out front of their restaurants and tell you how you need to come try their food - we did. We went to an Italian restaurant where I got a delicious plate of penne with meat sauce (my favorite). We took it pretty easy that night and went out to a low-key bar. The night concluded with a cone of the most delicious Belgian french fries. Perfecto.

The next morning, I decided to head back to Amsterdam to get started on the schoolwork I blew off to go to Antwerp. Courtney and Tyler were going to check out Brugge, Belgium so we all packed up and went to the train station. About 2.5hrs later, I was back to rainy, overcast Amsterdam. Antwerp was a good, augural trip. I'm heading back to Belgium in a few weeks to check out Brussels with some girls. Should definitely be a good time. For now, here are some pictures from my trip :)

http://kimberlypalmer.shutterfly.com/

We started out our day by visiting an old social housing neighborhood built by the New Amsterdam School of Design of the 1920s. It wasn't so much as school as much as it was a movement for reform. The architecture that we saw was focused on building housing for the day laborers in a cost-effective way by getting creative with form and everyday materials.

Next we went to the NDSM Warf. The NDSM Warf was created in 1999 by a group of artists who needed cheap spaces to rent to create and were running out of room in the city. There are all types of artists working over there - painters, sculptures, theatre artists, graphic design, etc. The Dutch government basically gave them a lease to the abandoned shipyards just North of the city centre to run free with. They have brought life, culture and personality to the warf. It's a neat little community. There's a couple bar/cafe/restaurants in the warf. As well as, abundant space and a skate park for little kids in a big, open hanger.

It was a really fun day; I just wish it was a little warmer so I could have enjoyed it a little more. I'll definitely be going back in the spring when it's more lively. In the summers, they hold big concerts on one of ship/loading ramps.

Here's some pictures, but check out my Shutterfly site too (I'll be upload most pictures up there from now on):