June 28 - Gent to Antwerp

 June 28 - Gent to Antwerp 

A bit of a slow start today as we get the late morning train to Antwerp. 


Once into our accommodation we took off for a little bit of an explore around town.  As per other places we’ve been to in Belgium the locals have done a great job in preserving some of their older buildings, they really are quite impressive.  

While walking along the River Schelde, which runs alongside the historic old town, we came across an old castle.  Imaginatively called ‘Het Steen’ (The Castle!), it’s quite a nice looking building on the outside, however, the local tourist information office are now using the building and unfortunately it’s pretty boring and sterile inside.  

Off to the docks later this afternoon for an ice cream/ beer/ dinner and to be honest we were a little bit disappointed.  Although there are bars and restaurants by the waterside, there weren’t that many, and the whole place had that Melbourne Docklands feel about it, i.e. artificial and lifeless.  We also noticed something similar when walking home. In the past here there were markets along the riverside, the carcasses of the buildings/ sheds still remain, however nothing has been done to utilise them. Such a shame really as we’ve seen so many markets elsewhere do a fantastic job in renovating and upgrading these with bars, restaurants, and shops. 

Bottom R: One of those European river boat
‘thingies’, it’s even longer than our ship around Svalbard!


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