Lodgings...Check!

It's official - we can have the same apartment where we stayed in 2007!

In case you're going to Antwerp and don't have a "connection"--let me give you a great tip: go to www.immoweb.be and click on Holiday / Vacation rentals. There is a studio apartment on Korte Gasthuisstraat that lets for 800euros / fortnight (two weeks)--that's REALLY cheap compared to a hotel, and you'd have a kitchen, AND you would be right across the street from Goossens Bakery, the 7 & 8 tram lines, the Meir, Super GB supermarket, Groenplaats, you name it. That was our backup plan if good old 3B didn't come through.

This is so perfect - the girls already know the apartment, the rules, their way around, and we won't have to worry about paying twice for lodgings if we would like to take a small side trip in the midst of the Antwerp visit.

Now our travel agent at Carlson-Wagonlit is looking at flights. We can depart from anywhere on the East Coast between Richmond VA and New York City, and can fly to Brussels or Amsterdam, so that should give us some flexibility. Hoping to get roundtrips as cheaply as possible but right now they're (gulp) around $1,000 for a full-price ticket. Thank heavens the girls are under 12!!!

LG