Dutchman and I went to Antwerp around this time last year. On the way to Antwerp we experienced super heavy traffic that we began doubting if it was the right decision to go there. But it was too late to go back, we were in Belgium. You know, there are rarely traffic jams in the Netherlands, that is mainly reserved for Belgium, Germany and France.
When we arrived in the city, it began raining as well so we quickly searched for a restaurant for temporary shelter and to have our lunch. I have asked the Dutchman for this weekend trip to Antwerp because I was craving for a pot of mussels. Of course I can find mussels in the Netherlands but its better to eat them in the country where they became the national dish.
Read and see the pot of mussels I ordered here: Mosselen met Friet (Mussels with Fries) in Antwerp
Interestingly, almost all the mussels sold in Belgium are farmed in the Netherlands, with the province of Zeeland in the south and the Wadden Islands in the north as the popular farming areas. Yerseke in Zeeland for example is the centre of oyster and mussels farming in the country.
There was also the yearly Rubensmarkt (Ruben’s Market) in Antwerp, in honour of the greatest Flemish Baroque painter the city ever had, Peter Paul Rubens. Many market vendors were dressed in old fashioned costumes, the men portraying Rubens himself and the rest as someone from the medieval period.
Read and check out the pictures here: Rubensmarkt in Antwerp, Belgium
So we did a little strolling around town as well and one of the things we randomly discovered that we didn’t knew about before was the Red Light District. Dutchman and I had a real laugh about it. We thought legalised prostitution and having a red light area as a public platform to exercise such taboo activity in the city is only accepted, allowed and active in the Netherlands.
Well, we are wrong because Antwerp has one of its own!
The Red Light District in Antwerp is located a bit outside the core center and on a small unassuming street. The set up is quite similar to the Netherlands where you have a series of doors on the street with red lighting on top of it. Then you see the scantily clad girls displaying themselves provocatively on the window doors. Of course we didn’t take pictures.
My other plan in Antwerp was to visit the Mode (Fashion) Museum and have an afternoon tea at the Salon Du Thé Claude. Well, surely not with the Dutchman who cannot stand doing girly things with me. This was originally a plan I had with Blondine which never materialised until she left last April. I miss her. Sadly, life has its own twists and turns.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Travel Period: August 2015
Destination: Antwerp, Belgium
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)