Day 6 - Antwerp and then back to Oestrich!
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was gonna squeeze out an extra day to travel in Belgium. Ben decided not to rush his travelling so he slept in and then came back to Germany himself. I hopped on the 9am train with my still-usable Eurail pass and went to Antwerp. Thanks to my shopping, I had only 25Euros in my pocket for food and sightseeing. (dun worry, mum and dad, I had my cards with me. Just wanted to see how I'd survive...)
First stop, tourist office and one euro down for a map and a very good guide to Antwerp. In that 5 hours I was there, I think I covered about 12km of walking with my backpack. Didn't help that my ankle was a bit busted already so I'm actually taking the next week in Germany easy. But I digress. Let's see how 20 euros carries you through the day...
Breakfast was covered with bread and Nutella at Fangkai's place. Upon arriving, I followed the map to the first stop - The Cathedral of Our Lady (2 Euros), which has 4 genuine Ruben masterpieces (Ruben is to Antwerp what Andy Warhol is to New York). It's also reputed to be one of the nicest cathedrals in Europe and I was thoroughly impressed.
Next up, I walked to the Maritime Museum but didn't enter it cos I just wanted to check out the castle-like exterior and hang out by the waterfront for a bit. That was kinda nice on its own.
I tried to go to St. Paul's Cathedral which is kinda out of the way but was sorely disappointed when I found out it opens only at 1400h. I actually went back at that time but it still wasn't open and if I delayed any longer, I might have missed the train back to Germany.
My last stop for the day was Ruben's House (4 Euros). Very interesting place with two wings that has one built in old Flemish style and the other in the Italian Renaissance style.
Well, I bought waffles for the chaps at the apartment (6 euros total), sent a couple of postcards (2 Euros), and had to spend an extra 6 Euros cos of the Express train, which left me with 4 euros for food the whole day. haha. Two cheeseburgers, a Waffle and a bottle of milk was good sustenance. Had to card the Neuhaus chocolates I bought as a result. heh... This was indeed an experience in itself, arriving back in Oestrich with 30 Euro cents in my pocket. But I'm alive and well, and had a good deal of sleep last night. Will talk more later, but first lunch!
First stop, tourist office and one euro down for a map and a very good guide to Antwerp. In that 5 hours I was there, I think I covered about 12km of walking with my backpack. Didn't help that my ankle was a bit busted already so I'm actually taking the next week in Germany easy. But I digress. Let's see how 20 euros carries you through the day...
Breakfast was covered with bread and Nutella at Fangkai's place. Upon arriving, I followed the map to the first stop - The Cathedral of Our Lady (2 Euros), which has 4 genuine Ruben masterpieces (Ruben is to Antwerp what Andy Warhol is to New York). It's also reputed to be one of the nicest cathedrals in Europe and I was thoroughly impressed.
Next up, I walked to the Maritime Museum but didn't enter it cos I just wanted to check out the castle-like exterior and hang out by the waterfront for a bit. That was kinda nice on its own.
I tried to go to St. Paul's Cathedral which is kinda out of the way but was sorely disappointed when I found out it opens only at 1400h. I actually went back at that time but it still wasn't open and if I delayed any longer, I might have missed the train back to Germany.
My last stop for the day was Ruben's House (4 Euros). Very interesting place with two wings that has one built in old Flemish style and the other in the Italian Renaissance style.
Well, I bought waffles for the chaps at the apartment (6 euros total), sent a couple of postcards (2 Euros), and had to spend an extra 6 Euros cos of the Express train, which left me with 4 euros for food the whole day. haha. Two cheeseburgers, a Waffle and a bottle of milk was good sustenance. Had to card the Neuhaus chocolates I bought as a result. heh... This was indeed an experience in itself, arriving back in Oestrich with 30 Euro cents in my pocket. But I'm alive and well, and had a good deal of sleep last night. Will talk more later, but first lunch!
posted by azrael at 3:05 AM
1 Comments:
I can't believe i'm missin out on those gorgeous sights... bleh. Do you want snapshots of the library? I've got a Mr Sneezy at some corner and Ms. Nose-buried-in-laptop-the-whole-day-with-10-stacks-of-paper-around-her at the other end... bleh...
-Cel
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