On to Antwerp

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We left Brugge early in the morning on Wedensday, June 3, taking the local Brugge bus from the Bariseele to the train station, and then the quick 80 minute train ride to Antwerp. The weather had turned much cooler, but we still wore shorts but this time with a sweatshirt. Antwerp is not as immediately apppealing as Brugge in the "cuteness" sense. It is about four times the size, and its center is a mix of newer and pold buildings. There remain several wonderful churches and a large collection of art (featuring Rubens) is scattered around town.

We spent the first day wandering around the center of the city, stopping at Ruben's house, several of the old churches, and had a nice lunch sitting outdoors on a lovely square. The ambiance was immeasureably aided by the strategic placement of a glass windscreen. For dinner we ate at a kosher restaurant just a half block from our hotel.

We are staying at the Sandton Hotel, very close to the train station and about a 15 minute walk to the center of the old city. Most of the walk is down the Meir, the main shoppping street of the city so it is a nice walk. The Sandton is a chain hotel based in the Netherlands. I would compare it to a Hampton Inn, though with smaller rooms, and a good buffet breakfast!

On Thursday we mostly just walked around, through the old center, and then south to the neighborhood of t'Zuid. It's a mix of nice quiet residential streets and retail - both for everyday items and some interesting semi-upscale shops. A lot of nineteenth century buildings and some new ones. It would seem to be a nice area to live in. Located there is a large art museum, but we were sort of "arted" out, so we skipped it, and mainly poked around. In fact the only thing we did all day other than poking around was to go on a 50 minute boat ride on the River Scheldt, which fronts downtown Antwerp. The ride was ok. Antwerp is primarily a horizontal city so the is not a lot of skyline to see from the river, and it was cold, so we styed inside the boat rather than out on deck.

On the way back towards the hotel, we walked back on streets just south of Meir, and it turned out that was where the desinger shopping (local and brands e.g. Cartier) were located. Not that we are into that!, but I figured these types of stores had to be somewhere nearby. We had skipped lunch, so had an early dinner at 4 PM in a cafe, and were back in the hotel by 6.

We spent the eveing watching extensive coverage of Obam's speech from Cairo on France 24 television, a network neither of us had heard of before. Their news coverage is quite good, less stodgy than BBC.

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