One autumn day in Antwerp

Last year, in October, a friend asked me if I was in the mood for a day trip to Antwerp. I had been to this place in Belgium only once before, and it had happened during winter, so I accepted immediately. I was curious what it would look like in autumnal colours, not to mention I really liked the city and all the chocolate it had to offer.

It was raining as we left Amsterdam and it felt like one of those grey days when everything is surrounded by clouds so dark that it’s almost night-time. The same weather was waiting for us in Antwerp. When we went out of the beautiful train station, we walked towards the city centre shivering from the cold. We decided to warm up a bit and fuel ourselves with coffee, so we did that at the ‘t Elfde Gebod café. Situated next to Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal cathedral, this café has a church inspired decor, it is packed with little statues of saints and even provides a lovely fireplace. When we finished our coffee and went out, we had the lovely surprise to see that all the clouds were gone, the sky was blue and the sun was shining; it was as if we had gone out on a different day, and we couldn’t have been happier!

With no plan in mind, we just wanted to wander around and have fun. The city appeared fantastic in the yellow-reddish autumn colours, people were out for drinks and shopping, and there was even a big crowded market where we found giant pumpkins. We strolled the streets of the city centre, we went to the river and watched sailboats race, we visited the Steen Castle, an art books fair, then we shopped in a few vintage bookstores. Of course, we also bought chocolate and we ate the most fresh and tasty waffles I’d ever had — at Crème de la Crème. I have to confess that we decided to skip lunch in order to eat more sweets, so we went back to the shop for seconds, ending up also enjoying their ice cream — which was absolutely delicious; thinking about it, I feel like booking another train ticket right now! But maybe I should wait until springtime for a day-trip to Antwerp, to see the city again in different colours…

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