Reached our hostel before the check-in and thought we'll just leave our luggages in storage as suggested by them but we were lucky and the rooms were ready! So we checked in and wow, it's really like a hotel room (the lobby actually already gave it away cos it looked wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than the previous private ensuite we had in Milan, yeah... Milan again; it's kinda like the benchmark, or perhaps the threshold). Settled down, washed some clothes and off we go!
Antwerp gave me the impression that's it's a work-in-progress cos there was this one whole stretch of tram line that was undergoing upgrading. But as I read it's concised history on some of the many free guides/maps available, it's actually quite an interesting city that borders the Netherlands (Belgium used to be South Netherlands, so it's kind of where the divide is; think 38th Parallel!). But perhaps also because of the quietness that gave it the laid-back feel; even tourists are sparse, and that's a rarity this whole trip (maybe something to do with the climate; maybe people here are the ones going out to places like Florence and Paris). In any case, I appreciate the cool weather and quietness.
Lunch place was, unfortunately, closed, once again. So we decided to go visit the city centre instead (and unintentionally skipped the whole lunch thingy which made Ms Blur pretty "tired" -- as she puts it). We did found some nice(r) frites (than the Brussels' famous one surprisingly) at some road side to appease her tummy. Covered the Museum Plantin-Moretus (first industrial printing factory and a UNESCO cultural heritage site; but we didn't enter as usual, also because it looked/sounded boring); the Stadhius (also UNESCO heritage; with lots of flags hanging on it's facade and we tried looking for Singapore's; found two that has red-top white-bottom so we decided one is Indonesia and the other us, cos all of them were twisted by the strong wind so pole-side half of the flag can't be seen); the Grote Markt (seems like every where has one, but this one appears a lot nicer in the tranquil sense); Cathedral of our Lady (yes, it's called Cathedral Notre-Dame, no surprise... But it was surprisingly tall; in fact, once the tallest in Europe long long time ago apparently); some oldest Antwerpen structure called Steen (which is a nice looking castle that was once a fort guarding the city by the river bank); Museum ann de Stroom (didn't go in as well, looks like a boring tourist trap; but it's also kind of Antwerp's rare few iconic stuff); M HKA (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp; wanted to go in but we were late! But guess Ms Blur is right: contemporary art are just abstract and lame *self-consoling*); also crossed the St Anna Tunnel (which is really cool, it's a tunnel under the river that goes -31m with wooden escalator! And it's 500+ meter long but not a problem for the locals since everyone seems to own a bike, otherwise there're also bike spots every other street where they can just pick up a bike and park them elsewhere; not sure if they pay. In fact, quite common everywhere in Europe) to the left bank of the Schelde River where we found the supposedly everyone-in-the-trade-agrees-they-make-the-best-frites frites shop which made the best frites we/I have had so far (though we had a bad choice of sauce this time round; Do NOT try American!) and also a super nice currywurst (again!), and it's just an inconspicuous small little shop isolated from the rest sprouting from the middle of no where at the other side of the river!!! (Lucky Ms Blur read the free guide) in any case, we enjoyed our nice food by the river bank looking at the city scape from afar.
Returned to the happening side of the river and went to find our dinner place (after some shopping that ended with 1kg of Caramelized biscuit, or Speculoos as they call it) which was open!!! And we were lucky cos they were fully reserved... Except for one table that just saw the two customers leave! So there we go. Beef stew and, wait for it, HORSE STEW (which tasted like the beef stew, but guess they had a stronger taste thus the need to add beer into the stew though I really couldn't taste it and the meat was nice and tender!); one more exotic food checked (which ain't that exotic, really don't get the big hoo-ha about the ikea meatball incident previously; people should taste some horse meat before they comment on how gross it is in their beef balls -.-).
Back to the hostel, aka wifi time, before we did some abs and had the nicest bath in quite a while. Turned in for the night and the next morning was just packing up. Had Chinese food (again!) for lunch and some mad rush to send out my postcard to myself before we went to wait for our bus (yup, no more train for this trip!) to Amsterdam. Also, brought 1kg worth of Speculoos (or Caramelized biscuit as we call it)
