chocolate and chips

Wednesday 26 to Sunday 31 October - 'Five go to Antwerp and Rotterdam'

(or if you'd prefer to start this holiday at the beginning, please start with "in the midnight hour")

FRIDAY

Lovely breaky again at JVR108 - our luxury pad in Antwerp, then a dash for the 34 bus to Berchem station, followed by a swift change onto the No.9 tram to the Deurne district of Antwerp.  Here the Belgian architectural freedom was very evident, with every house on every street being vastly different to its neighbour, which makes for a delightful mix of styles.  And we just loved this fresh bread vending machine!

But our quest wasn't for food (for a change) but for our tour of the 1958 Renaat Braeme House which we'd booked for 10.30.  Our guide for the morning, Walter, a retired architect, arrived by bike and a beaming smile and gave us a wonderful personal tour of the house, along with a film showing lots of footage of Renaat Braeme and his other works.  The delight was that his original furniture, art and studio are all as his wife left them.

 the ingenious letter box he designed was a gem

as were the pipes coloured to indicate hot and cold water and waste!  And his collection of art from his beloved Mexico.  The house is currently lived in by a custodian appointed by the trust.

and after the tour,Walter led us across a couple of streets to walk through the Arenawijk social housing estate Renaat Brame designed 

and of course by then we were all STARVING, so headed to the Belles Epoque area behind Berchem station and the lovely Brasserie Mays with a Thai touch and delicious home cooking

 Then a stroll around the magnificent Belle Epoque houses lining the streets of Zurenborg

Back into the city centre now and a quick zip round the immense cathedral with its 7 naves.

and our first real Rubens - who of course famously made his home in Antwerp

but amazing as great art can be - we were getting worried we hadn't yet sampled any Belgian chocolate - and a speedy Google promised us that Burie was the best so we sped along to their shop in the fading light

and discovered a treasure of chocolate treats (including the famous Antwerp hands, which appears on loads of buildings and statues -  read the legend of the Brabo and Antigone).

which we scoffed on the hoof - Q. Why has Mike got the biggest bag!!!?

 loved this baby shop window next door!

Finally, after a great coffee from a trendy espresso bar and a walk round a really cool neighbourhood, we arrived at the famous Sint Anna tunnel - offering a traffic-free walk/cycle way under the Schelde River since the 1930s with its original wooden escalators.  Loved it.

But by now, you've guessed it, we were hungry again!!  Back to JVR108 for a refresh then back into the city and another great place to eat is sussed out

De Groote Witte Arend - a great friendly bar with fantastic home cooked comfort food

our amazing local speciality beef stew, frites and cabbage along with house beer

 Cheers - team photo at last!!!

and opposite was the famous De Vagant bar - the first Genever Cafe in Antwerp, which serves 200 varieties of Genever - also on the 'next time' list as we were too full to do the sampling justice!!

 and so to bed

but there's more to tomorrow as we move to Saturday in Rotterdam 

in the midnight hour

Wednesday 26 to Sunday 31 October - 'Five go to Antwerp and Rotterdam'

WEDNESDAY
So we set off in the dead of night (well almost!!) on Wednesday, leaving behind the buzz and street-piano strains of St Pancras and catching the last train to Brussels. Hot-footed it across Brussels Nord from platform 1 to platform 22, narrowly caught our train to Antwerp, landing there in the early hours of Thursday morning and headed to our fabulous base for the next three nights - JVR108.

THURSDAY
Waking to a stunning breakfast on Thursday morning and confirming what a fab find this was

We emerged onto Jan van Rijswijcklaan in time for our 9.30 taxi to Waasmunster (nestled between Antwerp and Ghent) and our pre-booked tour of the amazing Roosenberg Abbey

in a swirling, cold mist

excitedly await our guide - the architect Caroline Voet

for a fascinating tour of the whole abbey, which was designed by the Dutch Benedictine monk/architect Dom Hans van der Laan and built in 1975.  His design of the abbey was a complete work, including the landscaping of the gardens and all the furniture and lighting.  And we were intrigued with the mathematical ratio 3:4 he employed for every doorway, window and proportion of space.  He called this his 'plastic ratio' and Caroline has written a very interesting article on this: Dom van der Laan's Plastic Number. It was an incredibly calm and wonderful place and a privilege to have visited.

and I know this looks a bit harsh after that peaceful chapel - but this is the reality of being back on the streets!  An incredibly modern and immaculate butchers shop and deli!!

which was down in the dock area of Antwerp, mist still swirling around us.  You can just see the new Zaha Hadid Port House building in the middle distance.

but hunger was beckoning and we fell upon the amazing Balls and Glory 

for a beautifully hand crafted lunch

before we venture back onto the streets, cameras at the ready

I loved the trend of decorating bikes with flowers, in fact I just loved the bikes fullstop!

And here's the great MAS (Museum aan de Stroom) designed by Willem Jan Neutelings

with it's spectacular curvy glass viewing platforms - and we were able to get to the very top and out onto the roof for a spectacular view of the whole of the city.

We were now entering the Het Eilandje, the old inner dock area, but not all the new developments were being appreciated - judging by this graffiti on this David Chipperfield apartment block - but we did find a great coffee house nearby to keep us fuelled 

and we all loved the brick work on this block by Tony Fretton

The Red Star Line looks like a great museum to visit when we have more time - good excuse for a second visit . . .

Loved the old buildings and historic cranes down on the water front - never quite worked out what this one was for except maybe some sort of unloading/warehousing area but a quick google confirms the magnificent Waagnatie has indeed played a part in the loading and unloading of cargo over the years.

great artwork too

We wandered about the lovely streets laid out in higgledy piggly mediaeval street patterns, trams and bikes zotting about to all sides of us, and we finally reached the Grote Markt - a beautiful square lined with tall grand guildhouses topped with gold statues and the town hall itself.

we catch a glimpse of the Cathedral . . .

. . . but we are actually rushing through to find the best Belgian waffle cafe in town before it closes - and we make it for a totally exquisite feast with a welcoming cuppa. Don't miss Désiré De Lille if you are ever in Antwerp!

Full and refreshed we are soon off again happily wandering the streets and come across this new and luxurious youth hostel designed by Vincent van Duysen - manage to get a sneak inside and it's more like a luxury boutique hotel!!

Then, using our great 3 day bus/tram passes, we trammed it back to our B&B to doll ourselves up for the evening and ventured out again to town on the No7 tram for our totally stunning meal at Graanmarkt 13 - the beautiful interior designed again by Vincent van Duysen (who we later discover is a friend of the owner of our B&B).  Everything was perfect, the menu choices, the delicious food, the friendly service, the buzzy atmosphere and most of all the great company.

We walked back to our tram through the vibrant, well-lit boulevards full of life and so pretty.  Such a great city.

End of a perfect day.

(And, with my current fad of activity monitoring, you might like to know we covered over 5 miles - 15,000+ steps!!)

And if you want to hear about our second day in Antwerp carry on to chocolate and chips