Turnhout, Belgium

Day 7 continued...

We decided to go for another walk around Turnhout and I was to bring my camera this time, our first stop was the library to take out some guide books on London to help us plan what we'd be doing in London on our way we passed the court house and I was able to get some better pictures.

After the library we sauntered over to the Turnhout Beguinage where hundreds of nuns used to live; and it was just my luck that within arriving at the gates it began to pour rain ans Simon and I had to sit under the gate for about twenty minutes and wait for the rain to lighten up.


After waiting close to 20 minutes we decided to run to the next sight and see if we couldn't find some shelter there; what we next came upon was a sort of shrine, I couldn't make out the name of the saint and Simon told me her name but as if I can remember it, there were idols and candels and other worship related items strewn all over the cave, Simon put in the 0.50 euro donation and lit a candle, me not being Catholic I didn't feel right about lighting a candle but I still donated 0.50 euros and someone must have appreciated it because the rain stopped and we were able to carry on with our walk.




After dinner (which was yet another delicious veggie dinner! With chickpeas and zuchini; two of my favorites!) Simon's friend Thobias came over and we watched Valkyrie, it wasn't really that good...

Day 8 (July 8, 2009)
Today Simon's away at the doctor and then he's going to the gym and while he's off doing that I'm trying to hunt down a good yam fry recipe because niether him nor his mom have ever tried yam fries before so it should be an interesting experiments since I'm great at eating them but have never made them before...


After dinner Simon and I are going to sit down and try to plan out the rest of the week as best as possible so here is the tentative plan for now:


Thursday (9) - Bruges and the coast/ Brussels if it's still raining
Friday (10) - Brussels to see the Magriette musem
Saturday (11) - Antwerp
Sunday (12) - Ghent
Monday (13) - Nothing so far
Tueday (14) - Pack for London
Wednesday(15) & Thursday (16) - London
Friday (17) - Calgary Bound


I'm not used to so many stairs, I'll have killer thighs by the time I leave but it's beginning to hurt my knees. :(

Turnhout, Belgium

Day 6 continued...

Yesterday after Simon got home we went for a walk around Turnhout he showed me the old castle that's now become a court house, we went and picked up my first batch of postcards and then headed to the grocery store to get stamps and some soy milk for myself; I thought it was funny how in Canada every label is written in two languages here most labels have three or four, French, German, Dutch and sometimes English. During our little walk we stopped at a little tavern where I learned the differenece between ordering water in Canada and ordering water in Belgium; in Canada when you ask for a glass of water they bring you a glass of non-carbonated water with ice in Belgium they bring you room temperature carbonated water. It seems like they don't like their food and drinks as cold as we do in Canada. After our walk we decided to figure out what to do about me heading home since my I have to be at the airport at 8:00 am for my flight in London; so we decided to spend the night in London at a hostel, after Iinformed Simon that I love museums we decided maybe two days were best that way we could explore London a little bit before I had to come home, we found a really nice hostel in downtown London close to the trainstation we both need that was having a bed sale, we ended up booking two beds in an 8-10 bed dorm and the hostel has no curfew and a pub attached so I guess we'll see just how much sleep I get those two nights. After booking the hostel we watched Pride and Prejudice and I fell asleep halfway through the movie since I was still so tired.

Day 7 (July 7, 2009)

I woke up a little late this morning (around 11) and then dashed downstairs for breakfast - I dont think I mentioned how their house is set up, it's a bit strange. They live in almost a boarding house owned by the company Simon's mom works for so she loks qfter the house and they get to live there. Their living room and kitchen are ajoined and are on the second floor as well as the bathroom is on the second floor, Simon and his mom's rooms are located next to each other on the fourth floor, each bedroom has an ensuite bathroom (with no doors, Nathan would probably be appalled) and in the bathroom is a sink and mirror and gigantic tub but no toilet. So when I have to pee at 4 in the morning I have to sneak down two flights of creaky antique stairs trying not to wake Simon, his mom or any of the female students living in the oarding house. - we had breakfast, mine consisted of Corn Flakes (as they were the only cereal I recognized), soy milk and cranberry juice and then Simon and I came upstairs to try and figure out how we're getting to London on the 15th, the train was unbelievably expensive that day so we're flying to London City Airport instead so this is what it will look like for us to get from his house to our hostel in London:

1. Walk to the Turhout train terminal

2. Take the train to Antwerp airport

3. Fly 1 hour from the Antwerp airport to the London City Airport

4. Catch the DLR from London City Airport to Canningtown DLR Station

5.Take the Tube from the Canningtown DLR Station to the Greenpark Underground station

6. Take the Tube from the Greenpark Underground Station to the King's Cross/St. Pancras Underground Station

7. Walk two blocks to the hostel

Luckily the hostel is close to the King's Cross train station that offers a direct 1 hour train to Gatwick airport so I'll have no problems catching my flight home.

Now that that's all taken care of we're off to mail my first batch of postcards and then we're probably going to see the old convent, I here its where all the wicked parties happen!

Statue by the Courthouse

Little Italy

Castle/ Courthouse

Turnhout, Belgium

Day 5 continued...

After breakfast yersterday Simon took a bath (you should see the big beautiful bath tub! It reminds me of the one Aunty Heather has in North Battleford) and while he was in there I created this love little travel journal you all are reading! After he was done we went down to the Turnhout town park, it was HUGE, a manmade lake, a minature train with a station and everything ( for once I actually said the words, "I wish Nathan was here, he'd LOVE this" and then we wandered over to a park bench over looking an enclosure filled with goats, a boar, roosters, donkeys and I couldn't help find it really strange; it was like a petting zoo except you couldn't go in and pet the animals. It started to rain so we figured w should probably head home before it poured. After getting back we sat down and tried to figure out what to do about my heading back home since my flight was early in the morning and I had to be there even earlier since it was an international trip, so we decided to find a hostel to spend the night before at; after Simon realized I'm a museum nerd we decided to spend one day and two nights there so we can explore London a bit; the hostel we booked into is a 8 -10 person mixed dorm with no curfew and it has it's own pub attachd to it so I don't know how much sleep I'll be getting for those two nights but it should be fun; the hostel was pretty cheap and it's directly across the street from where I need to catch the train to the airport. 

After booking the hostel we went downstairs for dinner; Simon's mom made a delicious (and completely veggie) dinner! And I had my first REAL Belgian chocolate, it was by far better than the stuff we have at home.

Day 6 (July 6, 2009)

I wasn't feeling the jet lag yesterday but it's hit me with a vengance today; luckily Simon had to run some errands for his school in the fall so I'm lounging around on my own today, think maybe I'll have a bath in that gigantic bathtub today! I took some photos of the view from the room I'm sleeping in and from the window I refuse to close while showering, if they work I'll put them up here for you to see.

 A Story from Home that Made me Smile:

A conversation with Nathan today;
"where is Auntie Sara?" 
"She's in Belgium" I reply
"Are there doors in Belgium?" he asks
"Yes, there are doors in Belgium" I answer
" When I grow up to be a girl, like Auntie Sara. I'm going to Belgium to look at doors too" he stated

Turnhout, Belgium

Day 5 (July 5, 2009)

Woke up this morning to an extremely warm room, I quickly dashed off into a nice cool shower; there's a gigantic window in the shower that I left open because there was a nice cool breeze coming, I certainly hope none of the neighbours could see in... after getting dressed and deciding it was far too hot to wear make-up, we went downstairs to have breakfast with Simon's mom, we had something called pistolets, which is sort of like a flakey pastry, kind of like a roll, they were delicious. I had some strawberries as well while Simon and his mom had koffiekoeken which translates to something like coffe biscuits, a kind of pastry filled with apples, pudding, raisins or a million other things from what Simon told me. And now we're hanging out in his room with the fan on while I attempt to work a keyoard that is set up very differently then the ones back home. 

Calgary, AB - Turnhout, Belgium

Day 3 continued... 

So my flight was delayed by two and a half hours and I ended up talking to a couple of random strangers who turned out to be pretty cool; Karli who is from Rossland BC (and impressed I've been there) she's also 18 and it was her first international flight too and this guy Darren who's a grqd from UofL, he was a strqnge character... a rugby jock that fluently spoke elveish, was part of a medivael club and worked at a garbage bag making plant. I tried to sleep on the flight but it just didn't happen.

Day 4 (July 4, 2009) 

So I texted Simon as soon as I found out my flight was going to be late, unfortunately he didn't get it so the poor guy waited for almost three hours having no idea where I was or if so,ething had happened to me. We finally landed and I collected my baggage and found the little kiosk that sells train tickets. Apparently the train I was supposed to take directly fro, the airport to St. Pancreas station doesn't run during the week; so I had to catch a train to London Bridge and then find a bus to take me to King's Cross and then walk about five blocks to St. Pancreas, surprisingly enough after all that getting lost and walking I only have one blister! Thankfully the old British ladies were more than happy to help me once they foubd out I was Canadian and not American. I finally met up with Simon and we started on another very lengthy journey. First a train to Brussels, then a train to Antwerp, then a train to a stop whose name I can't pronounce, and then finally a train to Turnhout; at this point I hadn't slept in about 31 hours and when we finally got home I wanted to collapse, instead Simon and I exchanged books we got each other and began watching the English Patient before falling asleep. It is much hotter here than it is back home.

Calgary, AB

Day 3 (July 3, 2009)
So I woke up this morning to the smell of beautiful cinnamon buns that the lovely Sarah made while I was in the shower. Now I've finished re-packing and we're just doing some last minute things before I leave to the airport!

Calgary, AB

Day 2 (JULY 2, 2009)
Sarah and I went into the city today, after much veggie chinese food, tea drinking and Value Village adventuring we returned home with a combined totally of four scarves and two full stomachs and a dire need for cold water and vegan cinnamon buns.

p.s. I leave for Europe tomorrow! 

Edmonton, AB - Calgary, AB

Day 1 (July 1, 2009)
So yesterday I arrived at Sarah's place in Calgary and we went for a nice cup of tea with Ryan whoo in frrom Airdrie and we were all socially awkward together.