We drove to Antwerp first thing Tuesday morning and checked into our hotel (Ibis Budget Centraal Station). We checked out the train station then walked towards Grote Markt, stopping by Vlaamse Opera and Rubens House (sadly we didn’t have the time to do the tour of the inside) before stopping for lunch at De Kleine Post.
Next we visited De Kathedraal (the Cathedral of Our Lady). Its spire is the highest in Benelux and they have an amazing art collection – including 4 Peter Paul Rubens paintings. I couldn’t believe how high the cupola was (43 meters!) and the painting up there – Assumption of the Virgin- was really beautiful. We headed over to Grote Markt (the city’s old medieval district) to see the old guild houses as well as the Stadhuis (town hall). Out front of the town hall is the Brabo Fountain – per my travel book Silvius Brabo was Julius Ceasar’s nephew (you learn something new every day).
After a few pictures around the Grote Markt we headed towards the Schelde River and Het Steen (a 13th century medieval castle that is right on the water). Unfortunately the castle was closed on Tuesdays, but we did get to cut through the property to the river where Todd and Morgan took a little nap on a bench (see the picture below!). We headed back up towards Grote Market and the boys stopped in a cigar shop to pick up some Cuban cigars (yep they are legal here!) and then we walked through Vlaeykensgang which are these little narrow labyrinth-ish streets with cute houses and restaurants that are a little tricky to find since all the entrances to the bigger streets just look like the front of a house (see picture below)- but we finally tracked it down!
While walking back towards our hotel we walked along the main road with all the shops- it was so clean and there were so many cool stores. I think I need to go back there just to spend a day or two shopping! While doing our window shopping we stopped by Belgaufra since we had been told this is the best place to get the sweeter Liege version of the Belgian waffle – it was so amazing! I want to learn how to make those things! Then we found a place to sit outside and have a few beers and then have dinner. Morgan’s fraternity brother Lowry and his fiancé Jessica were living in Antwerp, so they met us for a few drinks after dinner. It was so nice to share stories with some other expats and to have locals show us a good place to grab a drink!
The next morning we walked around the diamond district a little before getting on the road to head home. I somehow did not get a single picture of diamonds while in the diamond capital of the world (saw plenty, forgot to take a picture) but I did get a picture of the Diamond Bank. Sadly Morgan wasn’t willing to steal a few for some new earrings for me. I also thought it was interesting that there is a pretty large Hasidic Jew population and the majority of them are still involved in the diamond trade. Overall we thought Antwerp as a whole was much cleaner and nicer the Brussels. Now I just have to talk Morgan into going back to Belgium so we can visit Ghent and Bruges!
