Monday: After my friends from Paris leave, I decide to walk to the diamond museum, DIVA. It is in the Old Town and it is comprehensive to say the least. Antwerp is, after all, THE diamond headquarters of the world. I always wondered why that was the case since diamonds are not mined in Belgium.
Two main reasons. The river and an invention. Trade began in Antwerp in the 1400s when rough stones arrived from India through maritime routes via the Scheldt River. 1476, local polisher Lodewyk van Berken invented the scaife (a diamond-polishing wheel coated in diamond dust), which allowed cutters to create symmetrical, brilliant facets. The new sparkle attracted orders from European royalty and master craftsmen to the city. Viola——Antwerp is now the center for exquisite diamonds.
In this museum you learn about everything from mining, to polishing, to famous jewelry. It’s on 3 floors and has a rooftop deck which I go out on after consuming so much information.
I stop at Theo’s for a coffee and water. They have a great playlist on so I decide to write a bit on my blog. When I look up 2 hours have passed.
Most of the rest of the day I meander though town and just observe.
That evening I try a restaurant on my street called Noung Ko which the chef at KRIJT had recommended. It was a nice change of pace and a great recommendation.
Tuesday: I saved going to the Museum of Fashion ( MoMu) until I could go with my new Antwerp friend Alda, the lovely lady I met the first day through International Greeters. She has quite a history with interviewing fashion icons through her prior life in journalism and her daughter, Elisa, is a star in the fashion world. This museum houses the largest collection of a Belgium fashion in the world and highlights the work of the famous Antwerp Six.
At one point we stop to watch a video about the history of fashion in Antwerp and who is narrating the video? Elisa, Alda’s daughter!
After seeing the exhibits, we have an enjoyable lunch in the museum’s cafe before saying goodbye.
I am so happy to have met Alda this trip. I highly recommend you consider getting in touch with International Greeters on your next foreign trip.
There is one more museum I want to see before leaving Antwerp. It’s the Museum Mayer van den Bergh. I mainly want to see the painting called “Mad Meg”. The museum houses the art collection of Knight Fritz Mayer van den Bergh, who amassed a fantastic private collection before his early death at the age of 43. After his death, his mother gave the order to build a neo-gothic house in the banking district of Antwerp to house the collection. Here is Mad Meg.
There were quite a few interesting paintings depicting daily life in the 17th century. Another favorite of mine is “The fight between Carnival and Lent”. On the left of the painting is extreme partying and on the right is extreme abstinence of good things. The painter is unknown, but it is said he was trying to copy Hieronymus Bosch.
Walking home I pass Bourla, a local cafe that faces a nice green space. It’s 5 pm so I sit a while and have a glass of wine.
Tonight I go to Osaka which has been on my favorites list all month. I am not disappointed. I discuss the menu with Louie, a charming young man who also recommends their sister restaurant, Camino. I do as he suggests and order the gyozas and hamachi crudo and a Belgium wine. I have a great chat with two locals beside me. One is a lawyer turned DJ! There is still hope for me.
Wednesday: The next day I try Camino for lunch. Louie was right. Delicious.
Afterwards there are two galleries I want to walk to. The first is the Sofie Van de Velde Gallery. They have the sculptures of Dirk Van Saene, one of the original Antwerp Six. He went from fashion to sculpting. Right away I like the one with the yellow sweater.
They are all actually captivating. When I get the catalog. it turns out they are all actually sold too! They are priced in the $20,000-$25,000 range so maybe it just as well.
Afterwards I head to the Tim van Laere Gallery. It is probably the best known galley in Antwerp, but I’m not seeing anything that I have to have.
I still haven’t done much chocolate tasting, so I head to Del Rey, a family owned chocolatier, considered one of the finest chocolatier in Belgium. My friend Luc had told me about their hot chocolate, but when I arrived I learned their cafe to sit and have hot chocolate had closed last year. No problem. There were plenty of chocolates to be had!
Thursday: It is incredibly sunny today and I have to go back to Funk bakery because I saw this saffron pastry there that intrigues me. It tastes like yeast pastries our mom used to make called ring-a-lings.
Now that I am nourished, I decide to take the wooden escalator and walk under the river to the other side.
Today walking under the river is like taking my life in my own hands. Scooters, bikes and other motorized vehicles whiz by me in both directions. It is an underground super highway. I decide if I make it safely to the other side in one piece, I am taking the ferry back.
It is very peaceful on the riverfront today and I do take the ferry back.
I need to get to Bourla as I am meeting Sofie for lunch. Walking there I pass Delvaux, a very expensive Belgium purse maker.
This one in the window is 18,000 euros—nearly $20,000. I did not do what it says in this window next door.
I am early and I grab a table at Bourla.
Sofie comes with flowers to belatedly celebrate my birthday!
We both have the delicious steak frites meal, along with great conversation.
I am really going to miss Sofie!
Tonight I capture some beautiful shots of my neighborhood and settle for my neighborhood pizza after that big lunch with Sofie.
Friday: I open my AirPod case and there are no air pods inside. I thought the Find My app only showed where the case was, but I was wrong. It shows the left bud and right bud in two locations in Old Town. I must have dropped them at some point in the week. I doubt I can recover them in the middle of a major city, but hope springs eternal, so off I go to the address it shows on the app. I’m looking down at the street in front of the address the app gives me when 3 men on a loading dock ask what I am doing. I tell them and they say, ‘Well this is the back door to DIVA, the diamond museum. Were you here maybe?” Yes, I say but it was 4 days ago. One says he will go inside and look, and sure enough he comes back with both of my air pods. I really can’t believe my luck!
Next, I decide to try to find two parks that Antoine from the Botanic Sanctuary Hotel had mentioned to me. The first is the park of the Fashion Academy.
The park is so-so but the school is great and it is very cool to see the students sitting on benches and sketching instead of scrolling on their phones.
Next I walk way to the north to see the large seaside park.
I do manage to stop for a delicious hot chocolate ( ok yes and pastries) before reaching the park.
I’m flying to Slovenia tomorrow, so I go home to pack. It’s about 5 pm now and I really want to go to Tazu, a cocktail bar I’ve heard is super cool. Pack or drinks? Pack or drinks?
My last dinner in Antwerp is at Fiskebar next door to my apartment where I had my first dinner when I arrived. I try to eat my first and last meal at the same place on Shirleyfest. It is a ritual.
I am up at the crack of dawn. No one is out and I get an uber to the train station.
It is kind of eerie being in the train station this early. No one is around.
My train arrives. I get to Rotterdam just as the sun is coming up.
I quickly change trains. 30 minutes later I am underneath Amsterdam Schipol Airport. Up I go to the lounge where I will shortly board my flight to Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Another Shirleyfest is now in the books. I am so happy with my choice of Antwerp. While it has elements of France, Netherlands and Germany, it is its own city with a definite unique vibe.
I am debating about whether to do a next post on Ljubljana. It’s not an official Shirleyfest. It’s a 5 day recon mission. Since so few people have been to Ljubljana, I feel I will in fact do a post from there, so stay tuned!
Thanks for following along!
