Antwerp

When we arrived in Antwerp, we checked into our hotel and headed to Kulminator. They have aged Belgian beers from the past decade or earlier. The oldest was 1974 and most expensive was 300 euros. It’s a beer geek hideout. Thanks to Steven’s brother, Tom, the beers we got were on him. Thanks for the beers Tom. We order 3 beers there. A lambic sour, and 2 Chimay Blues (one from 2000 and one from 2010). It was neat to see how the beer changed just by sitting in the bottle. There was a clear difference. The newer one had more fruity, bready taste, while the older one had a lot of deep burnt caramel too it. Very interesting. While were we there, we met some other beer enthusiast and shared drinks. We later followed them to another great bar with a wide selection and some hard to get beers. We hung out throughout the night with our new friends and the bartender. We learned a lot about Belgian culture. Great night.

 Our lady Cathedral at night

 We woke up, packed our bags, locked them up at the train station, got a Belgian Waffle, and started our typical roaming of the city. First we walked through a nice park and start the day in a peacefully way. Then we made our way to the town square . Because we got in late the night before, most everything was shut down and people were home. Now that it was day, Antwerp was “poppin.” The streets were flooded with people. The shops, cafés, and restaurants were all open and busy. They had a couple busy shopping streets that we walked down.

 We end up walking by Peter Paul Reuben’s house (the famous artist) and decided to go in. There was a great garden in the middle. When we entered his place we saw more of art, his self-portrait, his bedroom, and other stuff. It was neat. He was a stud in the early 1600s. Most of his work is in various churches around Europe and are usually 10 or 15 feet in length/width. Simply massive beautiful colorful paintings.

 

Next, we got some lunch and sat down in front of Brabo’s statue in the square. I believe there is a tale that Brabo killed a large beast (similar to Goliath), cut his hand off and threw it in the river. Therefore, the statue is of him throwing the hand. Pretty neat. The square was surrounded by old buildings and cafés.

We had our lunch and roamed around some more. We walked by the water for a bit and took some pictures.

 

We visited a couple churches and admired their interiors and some quiet time. 

With that, our Antwerp and Belgium journey comes to a close. Antwerp was a middle of the road city with some roots in the 1600s that are still visible today. Their city appears young and vibrant but not flashy. Belgium was good to us as well. All three cities were uniquely different from each other. Each were filled with history, some more than other. Beautiful churches, the best beer, and friendly people... we will miss you Belgium.

\