BELGIUM- mom's Visit!

So this weekend Mom came to visit!  She got to Prague on Wednesday night, and so I took her and some friends out to dinner!  We went to a great Steak place that I had been once before. Oddly, the waiter remembered me, remembered what drink I liked, and remembered my order.  Strange!  Anyway, dinner was really fun and then mom and I went back to the hotel to get some rest for a long weekend ahead!  The next day, mom did the Jew Quarter tour while I was in class, and then when I got out of class we went for lunch at this little French cafe, walked around old and new town and then were tired of walking.  That night we went to dinner at Maly Buddah, a small Asian cuisine place up by the castle.  It was raved about to be so great, and I though it was only mediocre, but the actual place was very interesting and worth seeing.  

The next morning we headed off to Belgium!  Once we got there, we checked into our hotel and got on a train to Brugge (after stopping at Paul, the most amazing pastry ship ever!).  We had a few small problems with navigating our way to Brugge.  We decided to take the train...so, we took the metro to the train station and then bought tickets for the next train that would be arriving at 12:32.  So, we went to the platform and a train was there, so we thought wow it's early...and we got on.  Within a minute, we realized we were on the wrong train and had no idea when the next stop would be so we could transfer.  So, after about a half hour, we got off and transfered trains.  We got extremely lucky that the stop was a stop on the way to Brugge, so we easily transfered....and miraculously ended up in Brugge a few minutes earlier than we originally planned!  Here is a picture from the train, the country side was really pretty!
We were so happy that we were finally where we wanted to go, that I took a picture at the train station.  Who would have ever though that mom and I could navigate such a thing!

Here is the main square, Grot Mrkt.  There are bikes everywhere in Brugge!

Here we are in front of the canal.  Brugge is like the Venice of Belgium.  It was actually a really nice day out.  We also got a great lunch, and I finally had a legitimate salad, the first in 5 weeks! (I don't think they get the concept of salad over here)
While in Brugge we also wanted to go to the Lace district that is supposedly famous!  unfortunately, the lace district doesn't exist... 

Everyone we asked had no idea what we were talking about, but it is on the map as this huge thing, but there was nothing there once we got there...so we saw like 5 lace stores instead (they all were the same)
Then we went to Burg Square!  In honor of the fam, we took a picture!  After a day of walking around in Brugge, we headed back to Brussels on the train and had dinner at an Italian place.  The menu was not in English and the waiter did not really help us translate, so we ordered what we thought would be good...and it wasn't!  Looking around, we were the only table that had food that didn't look great :(

The next morning, we went to Antwerp (by train again, but we had it down my now).  This is the central train station there, which is supposedly a famous building, I understand why!

We walked down Meir Street, which is supposed to be the main shopping street.  Antwerp is said to have some of the best shopping in Europe, but we COULD NOT find it :(  If mom and I can't find things to buy, then it must be pretty bad!  We were so disappointed, because I was planning on leaving there with my hands full of shopping bags :(
There were carriage rides all over the main square taking tourists and such to the important sites.

Here is the port, it is a little foggy, but it was a nice place.  We think we missed the main part, but this is what we saw.  Basically, we think either we missed everything cool in Antwerp or these guide books and internet sites are all a scheme.  We were very unimpressed :(

When we got back to Brussels Saturday night, we went to dinner in the Grand Square, where there were a million little streets that are all lined with a million more restaurants.  The restaurants have their hosts standing outside trying to convince you to come eat at their restaurants as opposed to the exact same one next door. Even stranger, they have displays of their fish and vegetables out on the street, as if that will lure you in.
This is where we ended up...a recommendation from the hotel, and a great one at that!  It was called Vincent, and it was a sail ship.  The waiters were all dressed in captains uniforms and we sat in things that looked like little boats.  Once again, the menu was not in English and so we had to try to understand French.  The people next to us realized we were having trouble and helped us.  And success, we had a great steak dinner!
We spent Sunday morning in Brussels before we headed back to Prague.  Here is the main square during the day!  Our mission that morning was to find Belgium waffles!  Apparently, the best kind are from the stands on the street, for future reference!
Here is a statue, I think it is famous because a ton of people were taking pictures of it, and in all the shops there were replicas of it...one day I will research to see what it is...
WAFFLESSSSSS!

Once we got back to Prague, we went to get some massages!  It sounded like a fantastic idea, but after telling the lady I was ticklish, she proceeded to find places on my body that I didn't even know could tickle, not fun!  I have a kink in my neck now, but at least it was an attempt at relaxation.  Then we went to dinner at Barock, a restaurant on Pariska street in Prague, and it was delicious!  

This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, mom left to go home, and I went back to the daily grind of school (or whatever it is) in Prague!