Antwerp! — Patti Part Two

We had one last day in Belgium and had to decide between Ghent and Antwerp. After researching both we picked Antwerp because it seemed to offer something entirely different than Brussels and Bruges. It’s the second largest city in Belgium and is described as edgy and creative. Well I will take their word for it. I would describe it as beautiful and relatively un-touristy. Is un-touristy a word?

We got a little later start to allow time for a stop at a coffee shop close to our apartment. This is absolutely my favorite way to start any day.

We hopped on the train to Antwerp and had a relaxing one hour ride. I love the ease of trains in Europe. Cost effective, good for the environment and stress free in most cases. The train station in Antwerp is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world. In fact upon my return I was just reading an article on the 10 most beautiful train stations in the world and the first picture was of Antwerp!

Built around the turn of the 20th century it’s considered to be Industrial Age meets Art Nouveau.

Right as you leave the station you are in the Diamond Quarter. Antwerp is one of the world’s top centers where diamonds are sold wholesale and cut into smaller pieces for resale.

Interesting but neither Julie or I had diamonds on our wish list so we kept walking.

We were heading to the main square to visit the Cathedral of Our Lady and passed quite a few large statues of famous painters from Antwerp - the most notable probably Peter Paul Rubens.

This is actually a statue of David Teniers, another famous painter. Check out the beautiful buildings on either side of the statue.

We made it to the square called Groenplaats where the statue of Rubens is located, but I got distracted taking pictures of the Cathedral and neglected to get a picture of it! Whoops!

The Cathedral of Our Lady is the biggest church in Antwerp and has a 400-foot-tall spire. It’s still the tallest structure in town, although the second tower was never finished to match it in height. It was started in 1352 and consecrated in 1521, and due to a number of unfortunate events like fire and war, the second tower was never completed. Still so beautiful inside and out! We paid the very nominal entry fee and as luck would have it walked right in and onto a one hour tour of the church in English. The guide was excellent and super enthusiastic about sharing information about not only the history of the church, but the fantastic artwork it contained. The church has three huge artworks by Rubens and because the Museum of Fine Arts is closed currently for renovation some other important pieces are being shown at the church - bonus!

Bottom right - inside the dome a beautiful painting of the Blessed Mother.

Time for lunch! We had such good luck in all of Belgium with recommendations from Rick Steve’s we decided to go with another from him. Restaurant de Bomma, which apparently means Grandma, was excellent! Another great meal in Belgium!

We both had the sole with leeks in a cream sauce with mashed potatoes. Apple strudel and cinnamon ice cream for dessert to share. All delicious and filling! Did I mention the food was great in Belgium?

After lunch a stop in the Grote Market, Antwerp’s main square dominated by City Hall. The whole square was gorgeous.

These are all guild houses celebrating the trade associations of each of the city’s industries. Each topped with a golden statue representing the guild’s patron saint.

The fountain in the middle of Grote Market is of a giant named Druon Antigoon that legend has it collected tolls on the river. If someone didn’t pay the toll he would sever off their hand. His reign of terror ended when a Roman soldier defeated him, cut off his hand and threw it in the river. Pretty gruesome but kind of a cool fountain.

Antwerp also has a reputation established relatively recently as a fashion mecca, and is now one of Europe’s top fashion zones, so we spent the rest of the afternoon browsing the shops and trying on whatever struck our fancy. We didn’t actually buy anything, but it was still fun to check out what the fashionable are wearing. We were heading back to the states early the next morning so needed to head back to Brussels via train, so we bid farewell to Antwerp. It was definitely worth the trip and we both enjoyed it a lot.

Well that was our trip! My love of Paris grows every time I’m there, so I hope it won’t be my last time to visit. And Belgium was even better than I anticipated, so I recommend putting it on your list of places to visit. Julie was a wonderful travel companion. She has great energy and was always up for whatever our plan was for the day. We walked a lot - averaging over 8 miles a day, but balanced that out with lots of great food and an appropriate amount of wine, coffee and croissants.

If you’re reading this then thanks for coming along on our trip! The more I travel, meet people and see other cultures the more I find that we have so much more in common with each other than differences. I’m already planning my next adventure - check back soon!

“I do not bring back from a journey quite the same self that I took.” W. Somerset Maugham