A Tale of Two Daytrips: Mechelen and Lier

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Having mostly just wandered around Antwerp on Thursday, we decided to go on daytrips from Antwerp on Friday and Saturday. Friday we went the 25 minutes by train to the small city of Mechelen (pop. 77,000), located halfway between Antwerp and Brussels. It was a nice city to visit (large Cathedral, several other impressive churches, picteresque Grote Markt (main square). Our day included a nice outdoor lunch on the Grote Markt, and a boat ride along the small river flowing through the city that afforded a close-up of the townscape. We also visited a small Holocaust Museum - Mechelen was the site that Belgian Jews were transported to Auschwitz from.

Saturday was similiar, but the visit was to the smaller city of Lier (pop. 33,000) just 15 minutes by train from Antwerp. Being Saturday, much of the heart of the city was filled with a flea market and food stalls - and a lot of people out shopping. One thing great about European cities is that even in the small places, the streets are much livlier than in the US. We went for our now de riguer (sp?) boat ride on the small River Nete in the heart of Lier, and had a nice outdoor lunch (it was just warm enough) on a busy square. A bonus - we were able to keep our beer glasses with the local Lier logo on them. In Belgium each beer has its own glass.

We gave both Mechelen and Lier four stars out of five.

Back in Antwerp in late afternoon, we wandered around the main shopping streets and ate soup and sandwiches at a serve yourself type place. We were not tht hungry, but the main reason is that restaurants in Belgium are pricey, pricey, pricey. Moderate restaurants that might cost maybe $25 per person in DC (say for a salad, entree, soda) cost maybe 28 euros ($40) here. Which is why we have eaten twice at Pizza Hut and a couple of sandwich shops. Other wise, money is flying out of the pocket!

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