Yesterday we left Great Britain behind for the the mainland. Our train took us through the Chunnel to Brussels. Took about 4 hours, 20 minutes or so of which was under the English Channel. The tunnel is 163,680 feet or almost 50 kilometers long it cost about $21 billion to build. Here’s a picture of the inside of the tunnel.
Our first stop was Brussels however we only saw the train station as we were rushing to meet with Jessica (my first cousin on my mother’s side) and Walter (her husband) in Antwerp. Antwerp was beautiful, we walked around the old town, the beautiful cathedral, the ‘Steen’ Castle, the statues and the like. We tried to take some pictures here but many of them were too dark, so I’ll have to photoshop them when we get a moment. Here are a few that look OK. 
The cathedral is “Our Lady” and dates back to the 14th century. The statue there is of Silvius Brabo, he was a Roman soldier who legend has it defeated a terrible giant who had been collecting toals from sailors on the Schelde River. After killing the giant Brabo cut off it’s hand and threw the hand over the river. The place where it landed is where Antwerp was built. “Ant” mean hand and “Werpen” is to throw so we were in HandThrow and loved it. (Walter is responsible for any errors or ommissions in the above).
We then went to a bar called “The 11th Commandment” which is “Thou Shalt Enjoy Beer”. I didn’t find this one very hard to comply with and we sampled Cherry beer, Rasberry beer, and several Trapist Monk brewed pints. They were all delicious and the ambiance in the bar was great, it’s filled with Madonna’s and other religious icons. 
We ate dinner in an underground restaurant (The Pilgrim) and then Jess and Walter drove us across the border about 50 minutes to the underwater country of the Netherlands which we’ll cover in our next entry.
The Easter Bunny did manage to find us in Zoetermeer, Netherlands he delivered gourmet chocolate eggs that were much too good to share with a badly behaved monkey like George. I did let Ali have one though…
Happy Easter,
Mark & Ali
Hi Ali & Mark,
Glad to hear you enjoyed your Easter abroad and that the Easter bunny managed to find you.
The 11th Commandment, eh? I think that is a commandment Andrew would have loved to have kept with you! LOL!
Hi Ali & Mark,
Glad to hear you enjoyed your Easter abroad and that the Easter bunny managed to find you.
The 11th Commandment, eh? I think that is a commandment Andrew would have loved to have kept with you! LOL!
Hi dearies!
I don’t have any beer stories to tell about or people whose hands were cut off (not yet anyway).
I’m sure Walter and Jess will be great tour guides. Between Jessica’s background in museum work and Uncle Rob and Aunt Joop having travelled extensively all over Europe, they will undoubtedly tell you what you should visit besides a ‘poffertjes tent’.
Went to see Diane Hewitt this aft because she was ‘sitting’ her grandson David. A cutie. 6 Weeks young.
We may be going to Istanbul late May, but after your return. A short trip for M/C Europe. Sounds interesting!
Leave some chocolate for my next visit!
Love, Mom
Hi to you both.
I have never heard of the 11th commandment – it sounds like a good one. I will pass that one along to Mike – but only after he returns from Augusta, GA – he is going down to watch a practice round at the Masters with Peter and Mark. Great pictures and great stories. I look forward to reading them each day. Enjoy the sites, the relatives, the sleeping in, and the home cooked meals. Take care.
Love, Sara