Antwerp and back to London - Part 1

Well after another night listening to the sirens wail around Paris I've decided to bail and spend my last few days in Antwerp, one of if not the favourite city of the entire trip. 

I arrived mid afternoon and after checking in to my hotel head to the town square just in time for a market - I found so many souvenirs that I didn't have room for!

And thankfully some which I did have room for!

I headed to the local museum named MAS (Museum on the River...in Flemish) and decided to recap on being cultural!


The museum spans 10 levels with each dealing with a different aspect of life. The first level is the archive, which they've thoughtfully archived partially on display!

The museum covers Art, the local city's history, the past & future of food, life and death, transport etc; essentially every floor has a completely new topic.


I however liked the paintings!

Antwerp grew to riches as a port town and their shipping exhibit is incredible; a whole room full of model ships including this - not just a ship in a bottle but a whole dock!

Another beautiful thing in the museum is you're invited to leave comments or thoughts at the exit of each exhibit; but the feedback method is customised to the exhibit -this one for example you could write your message in a bottle!

Arriving at the top (I skipped posting the hundred photos I took...) is a panoramic view of the city - and thoughtfully they've included panorama holes!

And they sure do work!

Heading back to my hotel I decided to get some presents for everyone!

And discovered the castle I'd missed the first time I was here!

It was time to call it a night before heading back to London tomorrow. I think I'd enjoyed Antwerp so much because it was small enough to not have a big city feel, but still big enough to have everything you need. The city is also very similar to Bruges in its style and history which I also thoroughly enjoyed. But perhaps my favourite part - the Belgian beer culture goes hand in hand with dining out and as a result the entire area around the central cathedral is ringed by bar/restaurants; perhaps it was my time of year or perhaps I wasn't in the popular area but they all seemed...half full! Which made for an inviting place to watch the football, write a blog and have a beer without feeling pressured to drink and leave! This was called "Black Malts and Body Salts" and was from the bar I visited 2 months earlier with the enormous beer menu!