EuroTrip - Day 28

Honeymoon Express

Antwerp is the diamond capital of this region. The first thing that will catch you attention as soon as you get down from the train is the beautiful railway station. The railway stations in these European cities are a places to visit in themselves. Historical buildings fitted with modern facilities - these railway stations really area treat to watch.

Once you are out of the station, you will find innumerable shops selling diamond jewelery (in fact there is one big shop in the railway station itself). Many of these shops are very similar to those in India. Javeri bajaar ki yaad dila di...

On a Sunday morning, it's really difficult to find local people on the streets of Antwerp. It's only tourists that you will find on the roads. And that makes it easy for any visitor to find directions. Just walk in the direction where everyone is going and you will reach the most popular tourist attraction. Indeed the case here too, we reached the Cathedral of Our Lady. If I remember correctly, this one is considered to be the tallest cathedral in Europe. Its design is very similar to those we have seen in Paris. Thus somehow we did not find the enthusiasm to pay for the entree ticket and we left without entering the cathedral (Even though, HotTiii says "din ki shuruat me cathedral visit karna 'banta hai'". We tend to ignore his wisdom sometimes).

River Scheldt flows through the city and plays a very important role in its existence. There are three road tunnels that are built to connect two parts of the town. We visited one of those. Built in the early part of the century, this tunnel [I don't exactly recall its name but I think it was one of Wassland (built in 1930s) or Kennedy (built in 1960s)] is around 1.6km long and is used for pedestrian and cycle traffic. Unimaginable it is for someone who has seen the effort it takes us to build a flyover like the one in Anand Rao Circle in Bangalore. We just could not stop our admiration and spent a lot of time taking photos inside the tunnel. On the other side, there is a beautiful park and some quite place to enjoy the panoramic view. The cold winds have a charming effect and can make you sleep even while standing. There are very few places that offer so much peace.

Antwerp has some more places of tourist's interest but somehow we did not get the enthu to spend more time there. We had to visit Bruges and we could surely skip a place or two in Antwerp to reach Bruges in time.

Bruges (Bruggs) is a world renowned heritage city in northwest of Belgium. Currently listed amongst UNESCO World Heritage Sites, this city is also called 'Venice of the North' owing to the canal network that runs through it. It has successfully preserved it its medieval architecture. As we had got late to reach this city, we had to rush to visit the biggest attraction in the town. We had our first chance to visit a Béguinage. Wikipedia gives following description of this place - "A Béguinage is a collection of small buildings used by Beguines, which were several lay sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in the 13th century in the Low Countries, of religious women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world." In simple terms these are places where nuns stay and practice their religion. Very calm and serene, this place gets its charm from the silence that prevails. The compound has a small church too where regular prayers and other ceremonies are done. In all, it's a beautiful place to visit. There is a museum too but it closes bit early so we could not visit that. I am pretty sure, a guided tour would have helped us more at this place. How we wish there is a guided tour in every place!!

The weather in Bruges had been pretty good so far with clouds hovering over the sky and cool breezes passing to give a soothing chill. But it was to change soon and it started drizzling. We have been seeing some amount of rains off late and don't really mind them unless they force us to stay home. It was the same feeling here too, the rains were more of a cherry on the cake than a spoilsport. This sleepy town gets a makeover in the rains. The walk along the canals exposes you to real beauty of the town. The medieval architecture looks more beautiful with it's reflection in the clear water of the canals. The snowwhite swans play hide and seek and try to disturb those reflections. It's just too dreamlike to be in this place on a rainy evening. I guarantee that the mist around you will make you feel nostalgic and miss your loved ones. I did that too.

Interestingly, somehow all of us had this feeling that Bruges has to be a great honeymoon place. It just came naturally. It's not a place where you go museum hopping or sightseeing. It is a city where you spent your time at your own pace - taking long walks with your loved ones, stopping on the way, enjoying the view along the canals, sip a hot cup of coffee and indulge yourself with Belgium chocolates. It indeed is the most beautiful town we have seen so far. Wish you were here - is the song I can recall at this moment.[For the record, I have got a sponsorship for my stay in Bruges too. One night stay at the hotel of my choice with my girl. Bid is invited to sponsor our tickets and other travel needs. Hurry!! :D]

While just taking a random walking tour in the city, we reached a lane of chocolatiers. There are shops and shops of chocolate makers selling 'authentic' Belgian chocolates. I guess we were ready to splurge and treat ourselves lavishly to mark the day even more memorable. And so we did it. Never in my life I have bought chocolate worth 1700 INR. Hehe, it does not make sense to make conversion between two currencies. I should simply keep in mind that those chocolate costed me around 15 Euro and all the pain is gone. :D [If you are thinking that these chocolates are for you people back home, please excuse me. Even though these chocolates are meant to be taken home, they might not reach home in reality. It's difficult to have Belgian chocolates at your place and not eat it. kya kare.. control hi nahi hota... :)

A walk around the city roads also takes you to the main market where there are many more historical buildings that are beautifully lit in the evening. There are nice restaurants all along the street serving delicacies from around the world. This is a common attraction in most cities of Belgium. And you really can spend a good time just sitting somewhere here and just enjoying the hustle and bustle of the market.

Our day was to end at Lille where Aparna and Ana were to host us for the night. Their hostel had some weird restrictions so we could not stay in their room. Still they did fantastic arrangements for the stay with their friends Aditya and Manish. I met a couple more new people and it was a good time spent with them. I wish we had more time in Lille. But we had to catch the morning train. For now, it is good night Lille.