I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Belgium. It may have been my friend David, who's all knowing stories of Antwerp were better than reading any book, or the intoxicating taste of their chocolate (and beer for the beer drinkers!) or the village feel with a modern vibe. On Saturday, we spent the whole day riding around Antwerp on bikes (one of my favorite things to do) and I dont think there was one stone un-turned. We saw churches and famous small streets, the harbor (which is the 5th largest in the world) and shops, art and architecture which surrounds the city just by standing in one place and looking around. Antwerp would actually be a very cool setting for a movie, there are so many details that add up to something beautiful.
One of the very cool things going on in Antwerp right now is the Elephant Parade. Its a bit like the Cow Parade or Hearts in SF installation. The Elephant Parade is bringing awareness to the becoming-extinct Asian Elephant. The numbers are staggering -at the turn of the century there were 300,000 elephants living in Thailand, today, world wide there are only 40,000 (16,000 of which live in captivity). All around the city were life size baby elephant models painted by a wide range of artist with unique themes. If I had an extra €25,000 laying around I would definitely be at the auction in a few weeks bidding on the Tahiti elephant! www.elephantparade.be.
The other thing I came to realize this weekend is, not only do I love listening and dancing to conga drums, but I am not half bad at playing one either! We had an impromptu mini jam session and it has inspired me to want to take lessons.
Thank you David for your hospitality and looking forward to another trip to Antwerp!
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