Sorry folks, we missed yesterday. We were hopelessly lost and didn’t get back to the hotel until 9.30pm. We were on the way to the Jumbo supermarket and our friend got out her phone and Google mapped a route. It wasn’t very clear and we headed in the complete wrong direction. By the time we figured that out we were at least a 1/2 hour farther from our hotel. I have to say it was a pretty good walk and we got to see Antwerp in the early night time. By the time we arrived at the hotel, we had travel on foot just short of 20km over the day.
When we arrived I scooped a paper map from the front desk of the hotel. Ya paper. There was a walking ‘tour’ of the central part of Antwerp. 4km with a few side trips and a couple of times getting lost and a couple more. It was a really good way to see some of the must see places. A more ordered approach than the random method we usually employ.
Another not so normal adventure was lunch on the main square. Often the restaurants on the plein would be more expensive than a similar place one block off the square. But on the menu was mussels, one of the highlights of the Belgian cuisine. Debbie and I managed to consume a kilo of mussels in a garlic veggie broth. Our friend showed us the proper way to eat mussels which was more efficient than what we were doing.
The wear and tear of the tour meant we were ready for an afternoon nap and both of us indulged.
The end of the day saw us seated for dinner again on the main square. We left the hotel in search of a place to eat and it is not easy to find random restaurants. We decided on pizza and half way to the restaurant the skies opened up and it poured. Debbie and IB used Debbie’s heavy riding rain jacket as an umbrella and I had on my light rain coat so was protected. We all got half soaked. The rain made the pizza taste wonderful. On the way home we got lost as I mentioned above.
The thing a North American must learn is to look both ways twice when crossing the street. One to cross the bike road and once to cross the car road. The people in Antwerp obey the don’t walk lights to a tee, the little red man. You can be a side street with no traffic in sight either direction and you wait. The little green man is the cue to cross.
As far as I know Antwerp is not on any tourist agenda but I think it is worth a couple of days stopover. There maybe nothing earth shaking here but it is a has a good vibe and some places that require a look see.
