Easter Chocolates...

... but where? Belgium is famous for its chocolate, so we decided to head to Antwerp for a day-trip and look around. We got up early and said goodbye to Heikki.



With his food bowl loaded, we left him and headed out to the trams. Cue obligatory self-portraits.



The public transport in Europe is excellent, though expensive.



The train ride is about 2 hours, and is very comfortable. Travelling by train is a nice way to see the countryside.



Antwerp Centraal has 3 levels of trains all coming and going, as well as a beautiful interior endings on the glass dome over the whole place.



We headed out the main door, past the huge inflatable monster that was in the square (plein). It had techno music and kids screaming inside.



We headed to the zoo and spent the morning looking around.



Guess what the first bird we find is? Kiaora to the little brown Kiwi. As Kiwis are nocturnal we didn't actually get to see him in the flesh, but it was nice to know that he was there.



Nieuw-Zeelander! Love the interpretation of what a New Zealander looks like - wearing a check shirt and chewing on a piece of straw!



So what are we named after? Lots of Dutch think we are named after the Chinese gooseberry - I don't think so!



The gardens in the Zoo are beautiful. The top spire is where Princess will read her books, once we move in...



This bamboo water feature is a bit like the Cuba mall bucket fountain, with each bamboo tube filling with water, then tipping out. The bucket fountain is waay cooler, sorry!



Ca-caaaw!!?



Kiaora to another Nieuw Zeelander. This guy was cheeky!



This animal is a Dutch native (we think), and its odd looking. We shouldn't speculate on how they came about, but ...



... they do have these animals ...



... and these. Say no more!

We said hello to the chimps.



This little monkey was cute.



Hrmph!



This owl was snapped mid-ruffle; a very grand (any maybe wise) owl.



The penguin enclosure had a map with a neutered map of NZ - where has northland gone?



We wandered around and saw all the animals, then headed in to the city to visit our next attraction.



This is the outside of Rubens Huis.



The internal courtyard.



A statue. Stat-you bro?



Toolman looking cool.



The garden has been there since Rubens lived here.



A beautiful building. No photos allowed inside sorry.

After that we went looking for some chocolate. There are lots of shops! Unfortunately it was also very busy, so it was hard to get a good feeling for all the variety on offer. The visual treat was excellent!



So much nice food!



We spent ages looking at all the shops, and ended up just getting pre-packed sets with lots of flavors.



We walked around the streets and looked at the architecture. It is very similar to what we have seen of Holland, and the countries share languages (and beers). Still very pretty! We saw this guy jamming on the street with a novel technique for wheeling his piano about.



We went to a diamond museum (again, no photos) and learned about Amsterdam and Antwerps' rivalry for top diamond town honors, and all the techniques used in production. Antwerp has lots of diamond shops.



As the sun was setting it was time to hop our (warm) train back to Amsterdam Centraal. We get back to Amsterdam, and its SNOWING! OMG!



Toolman got to cycle home in a snow shower a week before, but this was the first time we both saw snow in the city! Very pretty.. and cold.



It didn't settle much, but some places were collecting piles.



It was even snowing the next day, when we inspected our chocolate heist.




Before.



After.

Pussenboots

We heard about a cat sanctuary that was on a canal boat, so we decided to go and have a look. We wrapped up warm and headed out.



On our way we popped into the NZ shop: Kiwisauce. These guys sell mainly specialty gourmet sauces and NZ wines.



I think they also do Kiwi catering, and we are guessing that the NZ embassy would be their number 1 customer. They also have some Kiwi classics. Mmmm Vegemite!



But the best thing they have is: proper pies! Vege pies, mince, steak and cheese, all covered in yummy pasty. We bought some frozen pies to heat up at home, and a birthday present for our friend Marloes the Dutchie.

After stocking up on NZ supplies (no pineapple lumps though) we headed for the Pussenboots float. The kitties who live aboard have a pretty lavish pad! The whole boat has been designed just for them, and there are places to sleep, play and eat. They are taken care of by a group of dedicated volunteers.



when we arrived it was feeding time, so all the kitties were eating.



There were lots of nice kitties, but we liked this guy lots. His name is Kiss and he was very happy to receive some love. He was also pretty happy as he had a very comfy bed set up by a heater. Mmmmm..



Some of the other kitties are more scare-dy..



The kitties were all cute, but look at this cutie we met in a pet shop down the street! He has a very grumpy face, but is actually very friendly! We make the occasional visit to the pet shop to visit him.



Meow!

Paasve

We were invited to Schagen for the Paasve festival. This is a very localised celebration, a time whne the farmers auction off cows and show off their farm-wares. Its a sort of mini AnP show, but is also used as an excuse for drunken madness for the whole reigon.

Any excuse to drink! I took a day off work, as it was on a Wednesday during the day. We needed to collect our finalised Residents Permits (yes, we are 100% legal now, not temporary residents), so I used this as a 1/2 excuse.

I saw this sign on the way and had to take a picture.



If you don't find this funny you are mature. I'm not...

So we took a train north to Schagen. That is a hrd word to say - the ch and the g are both said like a loogie hoick. Something like sckkkkhaaaa-kkkkhen. It's very phlegm-y.



This is Robert, one of the Dutch we have talked about. He met us at the train station (not terribly sober) on the back of his brothers bike, and they guided us to a bread shop where his mate works.



We got given lots fo free food, including these baguettes. I joking suggested Robert should take them to the pub and try to swap them for drinks.



This is an awesome pose of Princess and Robert. The guy over Roberts shoulder is his brother - thats why they look alike!



Hmm, whats that coming out of his jacket?



The whole town was seething with drunken youth, and all the pubs had the drunken >18s ! It was truly messy, but very funny. It reminded me of Courtney Place after a rugby match.


We met up with Marloes (the other member of the Dutch) and her crew of friends. They had been drinking separately, and so we all kind of met in the afternoon, and most of us were drunk. By most I mean everyone but us :(



But no problem, we know how to fix that - Wheres the pub?



Before we headed in I took this photo. Schagen has a beautiful church in the center square. If this photo zoomed out you would see the youth pissing on the side of it... messy.



This is what it looked like when we left the pub. But I have skipped ahead - we headed in to this pub.



It was very packed and you couldn't move, everyone was pushing you around. At least everone was relaxed about the fact, you just had to put up with it. The weather meant that no one wanted to be outside, hence the pubs were MAD! We headed on in and claimed a spot.

It turns out that Robert accidentally found a way to get the ladies attention. It turns out that drunk chicks love a guy with baguettes stuffed in his jacket. It was hard work for him to keep them away, and even I got my jacket searched, in case I had any more snacks! Robert was very professional and didn't let the attention get the better of him.

We drank iced white wine (thats how it was served) and listened to Dutch pop music. Some was good, some was bad but it was cool to socialise with lots of Dutch people. All of Marloes friends also speak excellent English, and we all had a fun time. Eventually we stumbled out (took a picture of the spire) and headed to the takeaway shops.



This shop shows how ridiculously busy it was. we walked further away and still had to battle queues. Some chips and cheese toasties lined our bellies and we then said goodbye and headed to the train.