The final destination of our eleven day journey brought us to Antwerp for a single night. Follow along with us to read more about our time in Antwerp.
When we arrived at Antwerpen Station, we were quite awestruck by it. The station is on every list of sights to see in Antwerp. It was impressive with its giant vaulted ceilings, ornate iron work and marble columns.
Our hotel was just a short walk away and we were pretty early.
So, our bags were stored with them and we left in search of sustenance. The first street we walked down was straight through the diamond district. It was immediately clear to us why Antwerp is known as the diamond capital of Europe. The store fronts glistened with every shiny gem imaginable. We were not there to shop for diamonds, but I promised Hayley that when we were in the market for them, we would return.
Next, lunch.
We have been posting reviews of all the hotels we’ve stayed at and the food we’ve enjoyed, on our Instagram page. So, look for a review page to be added to this website in the near future. Lunch was very good and it definitely gave us the fuel we needed to get through the afternoon.
It was quite a walk to get to the river where the majority of the sights were.
Antwerp is a busy city and our directions took us straight through a very large shopping district. Every designer could be found here. We arrived at the Cathedral of Our Lady; however, it was too late in the day to get inside to tour (we would return the next day). We continued on to the Scheldt river to see Het Steen Castle. Disappointingly, it was difficult to get a good photo from the outside and the inside was a tourist information center. The friendly chap working the desk was more than happy to suggest not spending two hours doing the interactive tour inside. He pointed out several interesting places to visit during a short stay in the city.
He suggested during our time in Antwerp we go to the Maritime Museum. It was there we could get a good view of the city from the top of the building.
As we walked along, we spotted a cathedral tower that caught our interest. This indeed had become a trip that included many religious buildings, so we decided to keep the theme alive.
The entrance to St. Paul’s Cathedral was particularly difficult to find. It exists on a site that was originally a Dominican monastery dating back to the sixteenth century. There were a few newer structures that had been added to the perimeter over the years. Once we found our way into the courtyard and through the doors, we paid the entrance fee and entered the church. The hallway to the nave had a musty smell and had wooden carvings lining the walls.
Our first impression was that this church might not compare to what we had seen in Bruges and Ghent
This became one of those experiences that made me feel so good, to be so wrong. The main section was absolutely magnificent with its high ceilings, stained glass windows and bright marble. It was another case of a place that has seen many changes over centuries of existence.
There were 63 life sized statues called the Calvary in the inner courtyard from 1697. The inner courtyard then led to an old crypt that was off limits to the public. The volunteers working there were very friendly and very knowledgeable. They were happy to take the time to answer any questions we had. This was proving to be one of our favourite things so far during our time in Antwerp.
We left St. Paul’s astonished by what we had just seen.
That feeling is what makes these adventures so fulfilling. Our route to the Maritime Museum took us back down and along the river. It was a beautiful warm day and we enjoyed the walk.
The climb to the top of the museum felt like it took a full day, despite all the escalators and perhaps I was dreading another battle with my fear of heights. It was a lovely view for sure, but I was still very uncomfortable. We took some photos and moved on.
Maybe one day I will be able to get over my dislike of heights and be able to enjoy the views. I don’t necessarily feel as though my willingness to climb to these places is rewarded. After getting my feet planted firmly on the ground level we trekked back to the hotel. It was now far past our check-in time and we were ready to seek out some dinner.
After checking into our room, we quickly refreshed ourselves before dinner.
We walked a few blocks to Pura Vida, an amazing vegan taco joint. The owner was very friendly, talkative and very happy to help us navigate the menu and make suggestions. We enjoyed home made nachos, tacos and a couple of beverages before calling it a night and retiring to our room.
The constant city hopping had caught up to us and we were beginning to run out of steam.
After a very comfortable sleep, we were ready to take a walk back down to the city center to find some breakfast and take a tour through the Cathedral of Our Lady. Our train back to Amsterdam wasn’t until later in the afternoon, so we checked out and left our bags with the hotel. After finding a suitable place to eat breakfast, we paid our entrance into the Cathedral.
This was another spectacular cathedral.
Unfortunately, there was restoration work being performed on the exterior, but the work on the interior had been recently completed. Inside we found amazing architecture that had spanned over several eras, gothic and Romanesque were prevalent.
Some of the ancient murals on the vaulted ceilings that had been painted over with a white wash, had been restored. This was a painstaking process that essentially involved an expert chipping the paint off with a scalpel to reveal the murals. There were many old works of art, wood carvings and marble sculptures.
The part that I found the most interesting was the excavated remains of the building that had previously occupied the site. This was found in a small and dark room underneath the centre of the church. Here we could see where the walls had once been and there were also several tombs, long, empty, but still showing markings, such as crosses, at the head of the stone box.
As we walked through the rest of the cathedral, we noticed the memorial stones laid into the floor by members of the church from centuries past. I was totally amazed to find stones with dates that were laid there in the fifteenth century, some very worn after hundreds of years of people walking on them.
After leaving the cathedral, it was time to pick up our bags at the hotel and get to the train station to catch our last train of this trip.
Our time in Antwerp was up. The ride back to Amsterdam took just over an hour. It was Friday, and we immediately noticed that the crowd in the city was much larger than the week before. Our last nights’ stay of this adventure was in another hostel (weekend hotel rates are double what they are during the week).
This hostel was a bit rougher than our stay in Rotterdam, but we had a morning flight and we just needed a place which was close enough to to Amsterdam Centraal, so that a 4 a.m. walk wouldn’t be too far. This hostel was more of what I was expecting, a small room with two bunk beds. I felt like the posh hotel that we stayed in the night before in Antwerp was in another dimension, but this would serve its purpose. We took a walk to a coffee shop down the street.
It was our last night and I was keen to get in one last visit before returning to the U.K.
There was a fully gluten free restaurant that I wanted to take Hayley to, but we had spent a bit too long in the coffee shop. The restaurant was closing when we arrived. Instead, we had some pub fare. By far not the best meal that we had during the trip, but “serving its purpose” seemed to be the theme of the night.
After dinner we tried to walk around a bit and take in Amsterdam one last time, but it was PACKED. It was shoulder to shoulder in the street. Perhaps a week before we would have been more inclined to maneuver the crowds, but not that night. We made our way back to the hostel and climbed into our bunks hoping for a decent sleep. Well, the closest thing we got to a decent sleep was hoping for it…. It was so bizarre to fall asleep in the same room, but not on the same elevation. I could tell that Hayley was concerned for her safety every time I rolled over on the top bunk!
Our alarms went off at 3:30 a.m. and we left the hostel to walk to the station.
This was one strange walk.
There were still plenty of people out and about. But, I got the impression that most of them hadn’t just gotten up, but were still out on the town. It was a short ride to Schipol Airport and we were through security in a quick manner. I found out a week later that Schipol was the first airport to implement new scanners that did not require us to take a single item out of our bags. Electronics and liquids were all left alone. This innovation made the process convenient and stress free.
We grabbed a coffee and waited for our flight home. The flight back to Manchester was only one hour. We were buzzing at the thought of being reunited with our boys and back in our flat in Sheffield.
I think that this was the first time that we had truly acknowledged the U.K. as home.
Our time in Antwerp was perfect.
Here is more information on what to do in Antwerp, or where to eat and drink in Antwerp.