Aachen and Antwerp

*Pre-note: My camera battery died the first day in Aachen, and of course I didn't think to bring my charger, so I have basically no pictures. I'm sorry. As soon as I borrow MG's I'll do a picture post of the weekend just for you, Mama! :)

Last weekend, the whole Furman gang headed to Aachen, Germany (yay for Germany! I'm part German, so that's exciting. For me and that side of my family, at least! Ha). The bus ride was great, and we loved our bus driver, Paul! We arrived in Aachen kind of late, but we were starving, so we split up to grab dinner. Stephen, Cole, Connie, and I found a kabab shop that was delicious. We took our food and sat on the steps of the tourist center (clearly tourists) and people-watched. Then we grabbed some incredible (and inexpensive!) ice cream. So good. Aachen wa sgreat, really quiet and peaceful after fast paced Brussels! The next morning, after a wonderful breakfast, Cam, Allie, MG, and I went for a walk. We found the most charming park ever! There was a "castle" in the background, and we just played and laughed and were silly for a little while. Then we met up with the Furman group for our tour of Charlemagne's cathedral! It was so beautiful - reminded me in some ways of pictures I'd seen of San Vitale and Hagia Sofia. Afterwards, we grabbed sat on this field and talked and watched Aachen natives.
Later we loaded back up in the bus for the brief ride to Antwerp. Cam, MG, and I decided to go to dinner together. After a pitstop to take a look at this super-cool park with a jungle theme, we found a great restaurant. The waiter was nice, the food was good, and the company was great! On our way home, these boys suddenly started fighting! Literally two guys were punching another guy, one threw a chair at him, etc. It was scary! We ran the other way and tried to find a new way home. We ended up walking through the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and we felt perfectly safe, especially considering it was the Sabbath. And then we found our hotel! Yay! The hotel was great, I slept really well (in case you were wondering). The next morning we had another fantastic breakfast and then met up with our guide, Guido, for a tour.

Guido was...interesting. We found out later that when he spoke in Dutch to Paul, the busdriver, he had a Spanish accent. I have a theory that Guido was actualy a random guy - not our tour guide at all - who saw Dr. Nelsen and said he was our guide (even though he actually wasn't). Our real guide probably wandered around looking for us, little knowing that his tour had been hijacked by Guido! Anyway, we saw the oldest parts of Antwerp and walked around for three+ hours. Finally the tour was over, we ate at a great cafe (I know, food again! What can I say, it was the best part!), and then Adair and I met up with the Nelsens to go to the art museum.
First we stopped by St. Paul's cathedral. Incredible. It was absolutely stunning. It has this outdoor garden that has these statues representing the Crucifixtion, Christ's decension into hell, and the angels coming to Him in the grave. It was incredible. Inside, the stations of the cross are so intricately carved, there is artwork everywhere (including two Rubens!), and it is just stunning.

Afterwards, we went to the art museum! So great. So many wonderful Flemish masters! Loved it. So many remembrances from my AP Art History class in high school.

Finally, it was time to board the bus back to Brussels. We had a quick ride back and then it was the start of a new week!