Netherlands & Belgium 2022 - Day 7 / Antwerp

Steps today : 19 724 / 12.82km

Our step count was not as high as I would have hoped, but it rained a lot today and that put a cramp in our sightseeing. It wasn't just drizzle where you're ok with a hood, but rain hard enough to hunker down under our umbrellas so we didn't have a chance to look up much.

We changed home bases today, from Amsterdam to Antwerp. We picked Antwerp because we (especially Frank) have such positive memories of it from our last visit in 2008. Most people would have assumed we'd pick Brussels, but we've visited before and didn't feel the pull to go back, besides, since Antwerp is closer to Amsterdam, it also meant a shorter journey.

We arrive around 11:30 and thankfully our room was ready. I picked the "B&B Hotel" chain for our stay and it was great. I stayed with them in Rome in 2019 and liked it very much, now with this second experience under our belts we'll be looking out for them again on future vacations.

I was impressed by their lock system, no keys! Just a 6-digit code that opens the door to the street, and the door to your room.

Once we unpacked, we make a b-line to the Old Town to gawk at the City Hall Building, Brabo Monument and Guild Hall.  Eye candy a-la-galore! The rain was pissing me off because I wanted beautiful blue sky pictures! Ah well.

Time for lunch next, so we went to a place called "Bella Patio" which really would have been if it wasn't for the rain! Front and Center views, but for us, it was of rainy barriers.  BOOO!!

Twist my rubber arm...

After lunch, we walked around a bit, but the rain was not letting up so we ducked into a free exhibit at the "Diamond, Silver and Jewellery Museum". It was interesting but I didn't take any pictures; it reminded me too much of my past life working in jewellery retail and even over 20 years later I am still trying to forget it!

We rode the observation wheel, obviously rainy views are not ideal, but we had to do something!

Next was the medieval fortress but by then the wind was kicking up too and we were getting too wet and cold so we didn't linger.

One of the items on our list was the Saint Anna Tunnel, an almost 100-year old underpass that goes under the river and still has some of the world's oldest wooden escalators.

We walked the length of the tunnel (572 m) and took some pictures of the city from across the river.

It was about 4 o'clock by the time we got back to the our starting point, and we decided it was time to seek shelter from the rain. We remembered the funky "Elfde Gebod" café from our previous trip so we set out for a drink there, but it was all boarded up for renovations on the outside that we didn't realize we standing right outside!

Check out the adorable art installation near by..

We settled in, charged our phones, and I had a glass of their local Fire Water: Elixir d'Anvers

After this, we had to decide what to do for supper. The rain made every place look blah, and we had Italian for lunch so I was not in the mood for a repeat for supper... but I think 499 out of 500 restos were not Italian so it was not easy.

We wandered around for a bit...

..but Frank wasn't that hungry for supper so I just had a snack to fill the hole.

After that the sun came out! I was so happy! it meant I could get my non-rainy pictures of city hall! Frank was pretty tired by now, but he was a sport and agreed to go back - yeah! Thanks Frank!

We wandered around a bit after that and slowly ended up back at the hotel to call it a night

Today's map: