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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAntwerp’s on the Scheldt river. Quite a wide river that runs through the centre of town. You can take a boat a way up it if you enjoy river cruises. The port is one of the largest in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium which means Dutch is preferred over French, but we got by fine with English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most striking building in the city is the Cathedral of Our Lady, which has a very tall gothic spire. Uncommonly tall compared to British cathedrals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city’s architecture is quite distinct and unlike that of neighbouring countries such as France. It takes a bit of getting used to, but can grow on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main square is the Grote Markt in the heart of the old town. There are a number of guildhalls and also the Renaissance Town Hall. Some of the guildhalls facades have been rebuilt, but they were reconstructed to look how they looked historically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many cafes and restaurants in the square and its a good place to get something to eat. Maybe a bit more expensive than the back streets, but good for people watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is the Het Steen castle in the old town also, which is a medieval fortress from the 1200’s. It’s Antwerp’s oldest building and has a style of its own. The Railway Station is also a fine building. Designed with a number of influencing styles, it is difficult to classify architecturally, but is a very interesting looking building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belgium is famous for its waffles, also Moule Frites – mussels and chips, and of course its chocolate. It also does good stews. If you like comfort food, there is plenty of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course not forgetting Belgium’s beer which is found in plenty in Antwerp. Some people say it is too strong, others love it, you will have to decide for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Image : Ernest Ojeh<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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It’s a little unkind to say Antwerp wasn’t memorable, but it was at least a pleasant trip. A group of us made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6659"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6681,"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659\/revisions\/6681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travel-spark.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}