Live in Antwerp (The circus, she calls me)

Antwerp? ‘I thought you were in Amsterdam’, I hear you say. Ah, this is true but here is how my story goes… Indeed I did arrive jet-lagged in Amsterdam, as did the lovely Lana soon after, passing through on her own intrepid travels. I did my best to orientate myself in Amsterdam that first day (cheese shop beside the canal, another one! doh!) but my update from Amsterdam will have to wait till the following post. You see Lana and I had the bright idea to skip the expensive weekend rates of Amsterdam and hop on a train for Antwerp for a few short days. Little did I know of the risk that I could end up running away with a circus…

Antwept *sigh* lovely Antwerp. For a city whose English name squirts off the tongue, Antwerp central is a little gem. Where else can you stay for a fair price on a lane just off an old town square, under the gaze (and bells, I admit) of a grand cathedral? We ate long breakfasts, long lunches and drank long Hoegaardens in between taking our time wondering through old streets, a museum of music and Ruben’s house, before returning again to Madame Hoegaarden. The next day also coasted by in similar bliss, with the addition of a chocolate + caramel + ice cream + cream waffle.

Then around the corner we heard the call of the circus! An Aussie girl, Tahmour, was inviting all comers to roll up to her amazing streetshow extravaganza. And so, waffle in hand, we did. The show began with 50 or so people sitting on the chalked out stage when a call for a volunteer went out. The sun must’ve caught a twinkle in my eye or something because before I knew it I was there on stage, Live in Antwerp! My role was as side kick – all I had to do was learn to bow, use my powers of strength, help undress her while she hoola hooped, and skillfully throw 20, I say 20, hoola hoops around Tahmour’s swinging hips. …18, 19, 20!! Success! pride! fame! …and fortune? Alas no, I even tipped Tahmour for an awesome show which, if just for a moment, made me think of running away to join the circus. Only photos can really paint the picture: view here

With some choice selections of Belgium chocolate we journeyed back to my new home in Amsterdam.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 5:10 pm and is filed under Belgium. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.