A Very Special Weekend

The main reason I’m in Europe happened this weekend. Almost exactly one year ago, I bought a ticket to see Dana Winners in concert here in Antwerp. Who is Dana Winner you ask? Well, if you traveled with me and Peter on our Epic European Adventure in 2022, you may remember that she is a Belgian pop singer and Peter was absolutely her biggest fan. He was a member of her fan club, was friends with her on Facebook and listened to her music constantly. The concert in Oct 2022 was one of the highlights of the trip. I’ve included a link to that blog page in case you either want to refresh your memory as to what happened or have no idea what I’m talking about and want to catch up. The Most Amazing Evening EVER!

Last December I received an email stating that she is having a 35th anniversary concert this weekend and I knew I had to be here. If Peter had been well, I would have given him concert tickets for Christmas last year. But since he is gone, I knew I had to attend the concert for him. Because I didn’t want to come all the way to Belgium for a concert, I decided to catch some of the famous Christmas markets as well, which is what took me to Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague, Brussels and Bruges. But without the concert, I wouldn’t be here at all.

Last July, I saw that she was having a meet and greet for her international fans. International meaning anyone from outside the Benelux countries (Belgium and the Netherlands). Since Arizona is very far out of the Benelux region, I signed up for the event and it was held yesterday (Saturday) afternoon.

After a delicious lunch of real Italian pizza…

… I hopped on a bus to the Mercure Hotel about 25 minutes away, where I joined about 17 other fans in a small meeting room.

The main reason I wanted to meet her was to give her my thanks for all the joy she brought to Peter, especially in those last few months of his life when all he could do was watch TV and listen to music. He watched her YouTube videos constantly and listened to her music on his computer.

During the meet/greet I spoke with her a couple of times and during the 2nd conversation, I showed her the photo of me and Peter at the 2022 concert. It was as if a lightbulb went off in her head and she remembered what happened. In case you didn’t look at the original post, at one point during the show, she said, “I understand there are people from Arizona here tonight. Where are you?” That was us. The joy on Peter’s face when she acknowledged us was indescribable.

When I showed her this photo, her face brightened and she said, “I do remember you. You put a card in with the flowers.” And we did, which is how she knew we were from Arizona. She said she “got shivers” when she recognized us.

During our 2nd conversation, her assistant took these.

At one point I got a little teary, as I was wishing Peter was with me to meet her; he would have been thrilled. She understood and she gave me a big hug and told me they were “happy tears”.

When she found out I was traveling alone, she became concerned that I was going to be able to get to and from the concert safely. She even tried to connect me with some of the other U.S. fans. She really is the nicest, most genuine person. You can tell she really loves her fans and is very grateful for their loyalty. I thanked her again for her beautiful music and congratulated her on 35 years of doing what she loved.

The event lasted just over an hour and it was an incredible experience. I was a little concerned that there would be so many people all we’d get was a handshake and a smile. But with only 18 people, everyone got to spend as much time with her as they wanted. Luckily, no one took advantage and monopolized her time.

Then it was back to the hotel with my new Aussie friends. Debbie and Calvin are staying at the same hotel so we shared a cab.

Today (Sunday) was a quiet day. The forecasted rain didn’t happen but it was still cloudy, damp and chilly so I put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on my door and hung out in my room all morning.

I went out a little after noon and headed to the Christmas market. I had seen it in the square on Saturday but didn’t get a chance to wander around as I was in a hurry to get to lunch and the meet/greet.

I found this high on a building.

Just like in the other places, there were smaller markets scattered around the city. In one of them, I finally found a brat that didn’t have 1/2 pounds of bread in the bun. It was good and worth the wait.

I skipped the onions.

I found an ice skating rink.

And some very ugly sweaters.

The larger market was in the Grote Market or main square. Antwerp is not known for its Christmas markets and it is small but nice. Of course, they had the giant tree.

Grote Market with the Cathedral in the background.

It was getting chilly so I stopped for some hot chocolate.

I went home a different route and stumbled into a church that was built between 1615-1611. It originally had ceiling tiles by Peter Paul Reuben (native son of Antwerp) but they were destroyed by a fire when the building was struck by lightening in 1718.

I only took a peak inside.

Here is today’s sweet treat photo.

And, of course, I couldn’t get out of Antwerp without trying on a piece of jewelry.

Then it was back to the hotel for a few hours before heading out to the Lotto Center for the concert. It’s only about 4 metro stops from here and I’m meeting my Aussie friends there.

Talk again when it’s over.

Well, I’m back at the hotel and it’s now just after midnight on Monday. As expected the concert was amazing! She not only has an amazing voice but she puts on a wonderful show. This one was “smaller” than the last one which had a cast of about 100, a full orchestra and several big name guest artists. Tonight it was her and her band, back up singers and one guest artist. But it was no less entertaining than the one we attended in 2022.

I met Debbie and Calvin at the Arena. They were seated only 4 rows in front of me.

Just like in 2022, something amazing happened tonight. As I was trying to take a selfie, a man offered to take a photo for me.

Then he asked me where I was from and I said the U.S. His reply was, “I thought so. You’re from Arizona aren’t you?” Well, I almost fell over. Turns out that he and his wife were at the concert in 2022 and remembered me from when Dana called us out from the stage. Can you believe that?

Oh, but wait, there’s more. The woman sitting in front of us heard our conversation and told me that she and her husband were sitting next to us at that concert. Seriously?!?

Of course, they both asked where Peter was and once I explained what happened, they were very glad I came to the concert for him.

Once Dana came onstage, it was magic just like the last time. She sang for over 2 hours but this time with only 2 very short breaks as there were no guest artists. Of course, all her conversation was in Dutch but she sang more songs in English this time. But even when I couldn’t understand a word she was singing, it was still beautiful. As I said before, music transcends language barriers.

I took about 20 videos. Don’t worry, I’ll only post a few of my favorites.

This was one of the first songs she did. It’s a medley of some of her Dutch hits.

She did several gospel numbers.

Ed Sheeran’s Song: Perfect Symphony. I don’t think I’ve heard all the lyrics in English as I usually listen to Ed’s duet with Andrea Bocelli so most of it is in Italian. It’s a very pretty song.

Barcelona was originally done by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe. I didn’t hear the name of the woman Dana sang with. I couldn’t get a video of the guest artist as she was standing directly in line with a spotlight and any time I put the camera on her, the screen whited out.

Sounds of Silence with her guitarist.

This is Winner Takes it All from her Abba Medley. At about the 9 second mark she looked right at me and gave me a big smile. I was sitting in the 3rd chair from the catwalk so she had a clear view. This one is long… sorry.

And, of course, her signature song One Moment in Time.

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to hear her sing again. It was even more special after meeting her on Saturday. It was an emotional weekend, missing Peter because I know he would have been so happy to be here. But I’m sure he was watching and smiling down on me.

Ok, so now it’s 1:45am and I have a 8:30am train to Amsterdam. I’m not sure what I was thinking going out so early but there it is. Hopefully, I can relax enough to fall asleep.

Good night everyone.