She's Baaaaack!

Antwerp Centraal

I really liked Antwerp! It is a cross between much smaller  Bruges and much bigger Brussels  It is very beautiful with a lot fewer tourists, although I have to remember that it is November and there are a lot fewer tourists in general.

The day had a great start.  You get off the train and are amazed.  The train station in Antwerp is work of art.  You can also see it on YouTube in sound of music singalong done a while ago.  

Then, right outside the train station, we met a local who walked us around and showed us his city.  We were looking at our map & he asked if we 

needed help.  He was a very enthusiastic tour guide and his English was excellent. He and his wife had traveled to the US many times.  We told him we were from the Bay area and he said "close to the Napa Valley, the most beautiful place?"  I think that's why he decided to spend some time with us.  It's good to be from California.

He highlighted some of the sites we had to see and where to have a fabulous lunch. Popoff.  A little hole in the wall place we would have never considered. I had a

fabulous pot pie style dish.  It had salmon, peas, brocoli, green beans in a very light thin cream sauce and was topped with thinly sliced potatoes, carrots and leaks.   

Scott had a Flemish specialty, waterzooi, a chicken dish in a cream sauce. Werner (our guide) said we had to have their dessert, but we were stuffed.  What to do?  We went back just before catching the train home.  I had Apple tart, Scott cranberry-pear.  Werner also gave us some details that one could not find in tour books as well as his personal opinions on the state of Belgium.  It was a great start to a great day.    

We visited a few churches and a great museum housed in Peter Paul Rubens house. It's really 2 museums in one since there is the art but also the house preserved with furniture from his day and a beautiful garden.  All in all a great place to visit but be ready to walk.  We clocked 10.33 miles that day!