FOTOS OF ANTWERPEN

ANTWERPEN 2007

28TH SEPTEMBER 2007

It's only one month ago since we were in Belgium and we come back again. This time we go to Antwerpen, not for tourism but a concert. We go to he Milk Inc's Supersized. We have the tickets since 6 months ago at least. We're so excited. The flight costs us 100 € go and back, the tickets 22 € and the hotel 50 € without breakfast (it's an Ibis)

We arrive to the airport of Brussels and we have to take the car we rent, but the company is not in the airport, but a little far and we have to wait for a free bus that takes as to an hotel and the rent a car company is just next to. Once there we take the car and our GPS takes to our hotel without any problem.

It's raining cats and dogs but anyway we go for a walk and to eat something. We don't take to much to come back to the hotel. It's a pitty but with this weather we don't feel being in the street. So we pass the rest of the evening in the hotel until 7 o'clock, when we go to the Sport Paleis, where the concert will be showed.

We park the car in a place very near of the Sport Paleis and we enter in the enclosure. There are some stands with food and drinks and also merchandising. The doors are still closed but we are living the ambience. It's 7:30 and the doors are open. We get into. I thought the people would enter like crazy, running but no, all is very tidy. We found our place very quickly. We will be standing up and we have a great view. We're very close, in the fourth line. One hour is missing so that it begins the concert while the place fills. I'm surprised because there are people of all the ages: children, old people, young people, adult people, etc. It sounds good music to entertain the people until the beginin of the show.

Finally, at 8:30 the lights go out and starts the concert. I'm grateful for the punctuality. Linda and Reggi appear on the stage.

I love the concert, the show is amazing ans we enjoy a lot. We make a lot of photos and videos and the best is that I can see the concert perfect (usually I can't because I'm very short) and I have enough space for myself (usually I can't breath). At 9:30 there's a break and Javi goes to buy some drinks.  At 10:00 o'clock the concert begins again. At 11:30 the concert ends. What we liked the most was the song I faled with Regi and Scala. All thesse angelical voices singing at the same time it makes me feel like heaven. We enjoyed a lot and we love it, we come back next year for sure. We buy a CD that they recordered during the concert and here starts our odyssey.

Our GPS is blocked and we don't know how to arrive to the hotel, but it's like a labyrinth. Finally, after we were lost for a long time, we arrive to the hotel more than an houre after, and the worst is that it's only to 7 km to the Sport Paleis. We are so tired and we go to bed quickly. 

29TH SEPTEMBER 2007

Today it's a perfect sunny day and the temperature is also good. On the square just opposite the hotel there is an enormous street market and we go for a walk. We buy some Belgium chocolate bonbons (the best of the world). Hear are cheapper than in the shops and also some tulip's bulbs to plant them. Then we take the car and we go to the Antwerpen's down town, that is nice, althoug there isn't too much: the pedestrian area with restaurants, bars and souvenirs shops, the cathedral and the Hall City Square with a beautiful fountaine. 

Going out the down town you find the port. For some centuries, like the XV, XVI for example was the most important merchant port in Europe. Today it's the most important in Belgium and very important in Europe. 

We see the castle, we walk for a while and we go to he airport to leave the car and take our plane to home. We say good bye to Belgium and we hope coming back the next supersized, the next year.

 

PHOTOS OF BRUSSELS

 

 

 THE MANEKEN PIS

THE UE'S AREA

 THE ATOMIUM

Inside of the Atomium

 MINIEUROPE

In the Minieurope Park we saw some monuments that we will would see in later trips and that we saw in the previous ones. I put first the photo of the Minieurope and close, the photo that we did when we have been in the place.

Columbu's Monument (Barcelona)

 

Grote Markt  (Brussels)

The Pisa's Tower in Minieurope                                                                       The real Pisa's Tower in Pisa

 

 The Betlem Tower in Minieurope                                                            The real Betlem Tower in Lisbon

The Clock Tower in Minieurope                                                          The real Clock Tower in Prague 

 The Brandemburg Door in Minieurope                                             The real Brandemburg Door in Berlin

 The Oceanary in Minieurope               The real Oceanary in Lisbon

Sacred Heart in Minieurope                The Real Sacred Heart in Paris

Eiffel Tower in Minieurope                                                                The Real Eiffel Tower in Paris 

 

Belfry Les Halles (Brugges) in Minieurope                                  The Real Belfry Les Halles in Brugges


                                                 

BIG BEN MINIEUROPE          THE REAL BIG BEN IN LONDON

ARCH OF THE VICTORY MINIEUROPE                                                 THE REAL ARCH IN PARIS

FIRST TOUR BY EUROPE IV PART: BRUSSELS

BRUSSELS

Brussels has the stamp of the typical Belgian city. At the same time ancient and cosmopolitan, (and for the European people very important because most decisions are taking here that afect to our countries) is a nice city with a lot of history. Being the capital of a country and at the same time being from de EU is not easy, but she has known how to do it well. You can find all in Brussels, in special culture, but also nature, peace, party, ... The centre of the city is the beautiful Grote Markt, the central square where are the emblematics buildings and the ancient hall, where is now based the Tourism Office.

When you walk along the city and see the different parts, you sometimes forget in what city are you, because they are so different between them: the ancient part, where is the Grote Markt and de Maneken Pis, the European part with the Parliament and the European Buildings, the hight town, the part of the Atomium,...But when you want to realize, you are in love with the city.

The prices are not expensive, are standard. Brussels is something cheapper than Brugges and you can find cheapper hotels. You can find restaurants of all the prices. The public transport works perfectly, so is much better you use it or go by foot.

What you can’t you when you visit Brussels:

-         The Grote Markt

-         The down town with their shops with chocolate fountains!! and the creeperies and gofres

-         The Manneken pis (maybe you will feel a little dissapointed because is very small and you waite another thing)

-         The European Part

-         Parc du Cinquantenaire

-    The Atomium area and the Mini Europe.

11TH AUGUST 2007

We go to Brussels. Today we can see the sun for first time in two days. During the trip the weather is good and there also. It’s hot, but not as hot as Paris. This time we are not as lucky as the other places. Is fulled and I ask in another and it’s fulled also. We look the Ibis guidebook and we see another Ibis in the centre. We ask here and now we get a room. We installed ourselves and we go to eat to a Quick, a fast food chain, which we like so much. The hotel is next to the Grote Markt, so we are very good situated. The Grote Markt is very nice and big. Is the centre of de down town and in the ancient hall is where is the Office Tourism. After doing some photos, we go to the Office to have a map. We start to walk and we see suddenly a lot of people doing photos. We approach and find out that they are there because of Maneken Pis, the famouse fountain of the kid doing pee. The truth is that the sculpture dissapoint us a bit, because we expected it bigger. But, anyway, we do some photos, trying to have a place between such people. We keep walking and we get into some shops ( we don’t miss the chance of buying the Andrelecht’s scarf, of course).

A little more further, a street fulled of restaurants of all kinds is showed. A waiter ask us: “Spanish?” and, before wondering ourselves how did he know our nationality, we are seated in a table. Is a greek restaurant and the food is good, but still we are wondering how did the waiter know that we are Spanish. It is written in our faces? After having lunch, we scape from the down town (is small) and we keep the itinerary suggested by the Tourism Office’s assistant. We raise a slope that lead us until a square where there is a nice panoramic of the city. We arrive at the Justice Palace,which you can visit, but we don’t. We take a free elevator that take us to a even more hight part of Brussels. We go down by other street, which it seems the inmigrants neighborhood. After walking a lot, we arrive to the European Union area. Here many laws that then will be affect us are decided; like for example, the great idea of working until 67 years old. We see the outside buildings.

   
It’s hot and we stop in a bench under the tree’s shadow. We drink cool water and eat an ice-cream. At the end, we take the subway and go to the Cinquantenaire Park, that has an small arch of the victory. We see a typical bus from London and a group of English people having a picnic with their hats. We don’t know why…Maybe is a bachelor’s farewell. While we are coming back, the evening starts to became night. We have a shower and have dinner with our food in the hotel. Today we have again a free drink on the hotel’s hall and we are not going to waste it. Tomorrow, we’ll go to see the Atomium, the most characteristic monument from de city.

12TH AUGUST 2007

Today is a little cloudy but it’s still hot. After the breakfast we take the car and go until the Atomium, which is in the outskirts of the city. This monument was built for an Universal Exhibition in the 50’s of the XXth century and has a very futurist aspect. You can go up in an elevator and to go from a ball to another, there are escalators. Inside there are some exhibitions. At 9:00 o’clock in the morning we are in the queue to buy the ticket (9 €), that fortunately is short. Quickly we are going up in the elevator. The sensation that we have is like to be in a spaceship. There hight the view is very good, included the Anderlecht Stadium, wich is very near. We waste some time going from a ball to another and visiting some exhibitions. Then, we go down.

A few meters from de Atomium, there is a park, Minieurope, with the most famous buildings in Europe in miniature. Is very advisable if you travel with kids, but anyway I’m sure you’ll love it. The ticket costs 12 €, maybe a little expensive, but it is worth it to see the Eiffel Tower from Paris, the Big Ben from London or the Columbus Statue from Barcelona in mini size. Also there are interactive things. For example, in the Holand linen Mills, is you push a button, they will start to move. Also there is an airport with a concorde and a Boeing and the ships in the channel between England and France. At the end of the visit, there is a room with games about the history of the EU and the countries that are members. Is very entertaining and interesting to play and, by the way, to lern a bit. At the end of the room there is a very big screen with a lot of coins and you have to put them in a box with your own hands, moving them in the air. Is very funny. Javi was the winner. In the exit there is a Quick and we take the opportunity to eat something.

After this, we take the car and we drive a while along the Atomium’s area, fulled of nice and elegant Parks. A Japanese tower pays our atention. The guidebook says that there is a Japanese Garden, the tower and a pagoda with an exhibition of Chinese porcelain inside. We take some photos of the outside, this is not interesting for us, although is quite beautiful.  

Now, towards Luxembourg!!