A Mini-Break in Antwerp...

My apologies, but I’m slipping back in time yet again as I just realized that I’d skipped the all-important Zombie Hash and the associated overnight in Antwerp. So, stepping back to November 2016:

When we found out about the Zombie Hash in Liege, we decided to head down to Antwerp for one night along the way. We checked into a nice hotel near the train station and then set off to explore the city. We were surprised when we came across a store claiming to be Europe’s largest Christmas store. 

 We’d never seen so many giant inflatables. Boy was it tacky!

 We mostly just wandered around. Loved these climbing statues.

Eventually we made our way to the MAS: Museum of the River, which was built in 2011 in the style of stacked 19th century warehouses.

Unfortunately, we were too late to go into the museum, but lucky for us there was a public area that spirals up the ten storeys to the top. The views along the way were great.

The design was quite cool with rounded windows surrounding overlooks. Afterwards we went back to the hotel to enjoy the pool for a little while and then ate dinner in the cellar restaurant that we went to with the girls nearly 10 years earlier. We finished up our fun mini-break with a little bar hopping.

Old Frankfurt...

The medieval part of Frankfurt was severely damaged during one of the heaviest Allied bombing attacks during WWII.

This building is called the Romer (Roman) and has been the city hall since 1405; it was basically destroyed during WWII, but later rebuilt.

Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof opened in 1888 and is the 5th busiest train station in Europe. 

It looked especially cool at night. 

Special Symbols in Frankfurt...

As we crossed the bridge towards the historic center, we encountered yet more locks of love.

 This one was enormous.

Just like in Paris, some folks just don’t understand the concept and used combination locks.

It’s not everyday that you see a rabbi climb aboard a lift so he can put the electric lights on a giant menorah in a city that once would have persecuted Jews.

Frankfurt’s Skyline...

The following day Melissa dropped us off at the station so we could catch a train to Frankfurt. We didn’t have any specific plans; we’d just never been there and wanted to wander around.

After an amazing lunch at Vevay, a vegan café, we walked across a bridge and along the river towards the historic center.

Along the way we noticed a lot of cranes, which made good perches for birds.

After being severely bombed during World War II, Frankfurt was rebuilt and is now home to 14 out of 15 of Germany’s skyscrapers.

It is one of the world’s most important financial centers, including being home to the European Central Bank which sets monetary policy for the Eurozone.

Kassel Christmas Market...

The Christmas market was fairly small, but it was fun walking around, snacking on latkes and drinking gluhwein.

Melissa really spoiled us at her house each evening with a delicious vegan meal, which made Ashlynn very happy.

In Honor of Kassel...

While planning our trip, I researched which German Christmas markets in the Frankfurt area stayed open after Christmas. The decision on where to go was easy when I discovered that one of the cities was Kassel (you might recall that was the name of our friends’ son whose death prompted our first visit and eventual relocation to the Netherlands).

 There was a crazy mural near the parking garage in the city center.

A German Monastery...

The following day Ashlynn joined us for our outing which began at the Kreuzberg Monastery. 

While we did take a quick look at the main chapel, our real purpose was to try some of the monastery’s beer. The monks started brewing beer here in 1731, but handed over the duties to laypersons under their supervision in 1992. The beer was quite tasty, so we bought a special glass beer jug called a growler full of seasonal beer.

On the way down the mountain, Melissa had Pieter pull over to her favorite photo spot.