Adventures in Europe: Antwerp, Belgium

On Thursday I bussed from Fisterra to Santiago, flew from Santiago to Barcelona, from Barcelona to Brussels, and then took the train to Antwerp. It was a long day, and I arrived at my hotel near the central station around 22:00.

This morning it was raining, so I lingered over breakfast, but eventually it did clear up. I had been keen to rent a bike, but the weather dissuaded me. Instead, I began exploring Antwerp on foot in the early afternoon.

The neighbourhood around the train station is the diamond district, and very interesting! The diamond industry is dominated by Antwerp's historic Jewish community, although the newer Indian community is apparently making inroads. This means there are jewelry stores (lots of them!), synagogues, diamond brokerages, Indian restaurants, kosher delis, and Judiaca bookstore all side-by-side-by-side. I was hesitant to photograph around here out of respect for the Haredi Jews that were walking around, but it was all quite fascinating.

Further towards the river is Antwerp's tallest building, and what was once the second tallest building in Europe! It is rather quaint now, but I suppose it speaks to what an a) major economic centre Antwerp once was and b) how relatively insignificant it is today. Still, its diamond district remains the largest in the world and according to Wikipedia 84% of the world's rough diamonds passed through Antwerp!

Past the KBC tower (as the "skyscraper" is now known) is the old town, and Antwerp's iconic Grote Markt.

I stopped nearby for an obligatory Belgian waffle.

Then I went down to the Scheldt River. There is a pedestrian tunnel under the river, but it's under restoration and there is a free replacement ferry, which I took advantage of.

I sat in a park on the other side and read my book with a view across the river. That tower is the cathedral's and is among the fifty-six belfries in Belgium and France that are UNESCO-listed.

Back across the river, I considered visiting another UNESCO site, the Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex.

This was a printing press and publishing house dating from the 16th century.

I went inside and looked around a little, but I was discouraged from paying the entry fee because it was closing soon, so rather I sat outside and had a beer!