Belgium To London

After Amsterdam, we used Antwerp as a base to see the Flemish region of Belgium because we did the French side a year and a half ago. Our only wish is that we had known how much we would love Antwerp.

When we checked into our hotel, they told us they had plenty of masks behind the desk in case we ran out of them. Run out of masks? The Fords do not run out of masks. But that moment summed up the perfection of Antwerp — kind people, slow bicyclists (in comparison to Amsterdam), great waffles, great street sculptures, and the best museums. Our two favourite: KMSKA and Plantin Moretus.

It’s a gorgeous city.

But the next day, we took the train to Ghent. We climbed the tour (and saw the dragon that guarded the city for 500 years), ate Liege waffles, saw Graffiti Alley, and totally by accident found Lena, Nestor, and Luna (Ghent’s equivalent of Brussel’s Manneken Pis).

The day after that, we explored Bruges. More Liege waffles, unaccompanied horse carriages, and art art art.

The day after that, we went to Mechelen. That may not seem the obvious choice, but the ChickieNob and I love this virtual walking tour of Mechelen that we found on YouTube, and it was strangely emotional to be in the city and follow the same path. There were (you can probably guess) more Liege waffles.

Back in London, we climbed the 528 steps to the top of St. Paul’s, where I flipped out from the height.

We visited their stone at the Tower of London (we bought them a stone in the tour for completing their college applications) and visited Anne Boleyn’s grave in the chapel. We saw a show — The Unfriend — and bought so many books. I had to squirrel them away in everyone else’s suitcase. We closed off the trip pretending to be spies at Bletchley (but really saw a lot of super cool computers, including a recreation of the original Bombe).

All in all, a great trip.