The day started off early after only 4 hours of sleep. The lack of sleep was due to a wonderful visit with a girlfriend to all you can eat sushi the night before.  Kees, Mom and I were in the car at 7am headed back to Antwerp, Belgium a 2 1/2 hour drive away. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about going down to help a friend with his Segway/speedboat tour company, well, that same friend needed more help, so we were on our way. I love when adventures like this just fall in your lap with just a few days notice.

It’s always nice to have Mom join us, although sometimes I think Kees only asks her to come so he doesn’t have to drive ….

Our adventure for the day began with taking four speedboats to the spot where the tour groups would be arriving over the course of a few hours. We were on a super tight schedule to get everyone on the boats and have their 15 minute rides. While the boys (captains!) sped around in circles making people sick (literally! A lady puked on Kees’ first round so he had to drop her off after about 2 minutes) we girls broke into a sweat putting lifejackets on and off 450 people! Two of the boats broke down (I guess they were having TOO much fun!) so that put us under even MORE pressure to keep to the schedule.

Luckily Kees’ boat broke right at the end, so it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience as far as the tour was concerned. We got to walk around the beautiful city of Antwerp and sit for a coffee before the second wave of boaters arrived. Europe honestly continues to amaze me. Even after 6 years of living and travelling around in Europe, I am never underwhelmed by the intensity of the architecture. There’s just something about walking down such historic streets.

The first group of 450 was some kind of company outing, and the last group of just eight guys was a bachelor party, so they had QUITE different energy. Because Kees’ boat was broken, we had to slowly putt our way to the next destination while the bachelor boys drove like maniacs laughing and splashing us as much as they could! I never thought I’d be part of a bachelor party, but it sure was funny to see how excited they were. I bet they were pretty disappointed when they realized Mom and I weren’t their surprise strippers. LOL.

Included with their speedboat ride was a ride in a helicopter! In order to reach the helipad, we had to climb up this pretty high and slightly intimidating ladder that was completely covered in mossy green seaweed muck. It was actually pretty exciting.

Once we reached the top and wiped our hands clean in the grass, we went to the helipad where they were rolling out the beautiful, 6 passenger helicopter from its shed.

After the boys had gone, the pilot took his two neighbours (a mother and daughter), Kees, Mom, and me up for our turn. It’s pretty awesome standing watching the helicopter take off  while almost getting knocked over by the wind. Once you’re inside though, you can hardly feel the take off, you’re just suddenly in the air, flying over the river, a big European city and spying over gorgeous manors.

It’s funny that we went down to help out a friend, but in the end, we got the best treat ever!

Savannah