For our last adventure before heading home we decided to go to Belgium for waffles and beer. We woke up early to sunny skies and less wind than yesterday, so we hopped on the train for Antwerp. We were off by nine and after a short stop in Rotterdam to change trains, we arrived in Antwerp shortly after eleven. After disembarking from the train and heading up the stairs into the station we were welcomed by the most amazing architecture with polished marble floors, amazing arches and grand staircase. We can see why it was identified as one of the top attractions to see in Antwerp. Once we located our map for the day which turned out to be a much better one than the day before, we headed out into the streets where Sue checked out all of the windows of shop after shop of diamonds. Antwerp is where the majority of the world’s diamonds are cut, however just because they are cut there doesn’t mean that you would find any special deals.
So enough of that, now it was time to find the waffles. While wandering about trying to select the perfect waffle house we saw many interesting buildings. One building in particular which turned out to be a shopping mall was just beautiful with it’s ceiling moldings covered in gold! Finally we found a lovely restaurant down a side street which served waffles. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the historical area before heading back towards the train. Before leaving we had to check out the belgium beer at Beer Central, which had 320 types of beers. They had so many that the menu was in the form of a book, Robin and Sue indulged, while Colleen settled on wine. After we sampled a couple of choices it was time to head for the train. We arrived home around 8:30 p.m., and then it was down to the Italian Resturant for pizza before the dreaded packing.
Our flight back to Calgary was leaving at 1235 so no sleeping in the airport this time.
Gorgeous buildings !!