In Antwerp: a first look

August 11, 2021

We made it through customs, collected our luggage, grabbed a quick snack from Starbucks, and made it downstairs to the train platform an hour and a half before our train was due to depart. While we waited, we watched about ten other trains arrive and depart, one after another. Trains coming and going to all quarters of this tiny country and beyond. It’s phenomenal. So well organized, every train on schedule, precise to the minute. I look in astonishment at the train map posted there and the dense network of domestic routes it presents. It looks as dense and complex as the map for a metropolitan bus service.

Finally, and precisely on time, our Thalys train arrives. Thalys is the high speed network for the region, and our train’s ultimate destination is Paris. I’d been a bit worried about how we would know where to board our train, suspecting it would be long and the stop short. But then when the train’s arrival posts on the departures board it all becomes clear. Our tickets are for car 18, seats 37 and 38. The posting includes a schematic of the train, enumerating each car on the train and showing where it will park when the train pulls in. We’ll be at the extreme end of the train, between the posts marked P and Q. We’re almost at the opposite end of the platform now, so we improve our position and are all set to board when the train arrives.

No complications. No one asks to see proof of vaccination, just that we had our tickets and we’re wearing masks. An hour later, after an exceptionally smooth ride across an exceptionally plane landscape, the train pulles into Antwerp Central, precisely on time.

Very impressive. Impressive that the structure of our train is so clearly represented. Also impressive that so many other trains are arriving and departing on these same two tracks so close together. Also impressive that there are two other platforms like this also shuttling trains in and out.

The train to Paris arrives. We’re looking at about half of it here, waiting for car 18 to roll up.

We’re both pretty tired, and tired of wheeling around and carrying all our gear. We wonder how far we’ll have to push it once more on our way to this hotel we just booked a day ago. Not far. We exit the train station, look up, and our hotel is staring back at us from directly across the street.

A partial view of the Antwerp train station from our hotel room.

So in the end it was no big deal at all. As long as we were careful, completed all the prescribed steps and submitted or held the required documentation, making it over went quite smoothly. It feels almost anticlimactic to have arrived.

Our room is ready for us when we arrive, so soon after settling in Rachael burns off some energy and stress by taking a six mile walk through the city while I have at the bicycles. Reassembly is uneventful, which is always welcome news. Afterwards I fall asleep for awhile until Rachael returns, and not long afterwards we go out together to explore the city and find a meal.

I haven’t said so before, but I’ve been harboring a mild regret that we changed our plans and came to Belgium rather than just starting biking from Amsterdam - especially since the Netherlands’ Covid numbers have dropped again and are no longer a barrier to travel. Flanders sounds great, but somehow I just like the idea of landing somewhere and starting to bike until reaching our final destination.

Regrets fled my mind almost immediately after we stepped out the door and started walking to the historical center into an intensely vibrant scene, surrounded by striking architecture and the city’s colorful, diverse population, with people on bikes and scooters whizzing by in all directions. Somehow for all the many times we have come to Europe now there is still the immediate shock of how different it all is here. This is going to be awesome.

We walk around not quite aimlessly for an hour or two before realizing we may have waited too long because we’re both suddenly starving. We stop in the first appealing restaurant we come to and dine outdoors, each ordering and completing our own pizza. Afterwards, it’s all Rachael can do to make it back to the room. Suddenly it’s all caught up with her, and five minutes after we’re back in our room it’s lights out.

That’s the central train station at the end of the street. Our hotel is just around the corner.

Grimbergen blonde, the first of a variety of Belgian abbey beers I plan to sample here.

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Andrea BrownEurope is just so…humane.
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2 years ago

Jon AylingAw, I loved riding in Belgium. It's an pretty underrated country in general I think. Good food, fantastic beer, and there's loads of unusual stuff packed into a small space.
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2 years ago

Zelda MekHooray! All of those steps were insurance (umbrella to prevent rain idea) and it worked. Looks fantastic and you will have 90 days of sanity.
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2 years ago

Eva WaltersCongratulations you guys! We're so glad you made it to Europe and that the trip went so smoothly. We look forward to following your adventures. Makes it all seem possible!
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2 years ago

Suzanne GibsonWelcome to Europe! Nothing short of a miracle that you made it all work, and even aside from Covid, a masterwork of planning! Isn't Antwerp amazing! I knew you wouldn't be disappointed.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Andrea BrownIt certainly has that feeling, on the surface at least. It feels very uplifting arriving here.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Zelda MekIt does seem saner, for sure. Perhaps never more so than this year. It feels like a small miracle and a great privilege to be here.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Eva WaltersThanks, Eva. We’ve been pinching each other regularly to assure ourselves it’s all real.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonAntwerp is pretty amazing, alright. We can’t wait to get on the bikes this morning, but even if I did nothing more than sit and watch the flow of humanity this would be a wonderful place to hang out for a long while. Four days will go too fast.
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2 years ago

Patrick O'HaraWhat a relief to hear that your travel plans went smoothly. It is always so exciting when you arrive for the beginning of a tour. I must say that I'm rather envious. Have a great time. Looking forward to following along. Tail winds!
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2 years ago

Jacquie GaudetLike Patrick, I am so envious!
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Patrick O'HaraThanks, Patrick. No need to be envious though. It was pretty warm today, the humidity was rather high, Rachael had trouble finding a well placed loo. Belgium seems highly overrated from what we’ve seen so far. If it weren’t for the waffles and strawberries we’d probably be moving on.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jacquie GaudetI’m so sorry, but we’ll do our best to show you a good time and not gloat about it. Life’s not fair, as Gramma Woodings often liked to remind us.
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2 years ago

Jen RahnI was just telling Ron yesterday that this Team Anderson entry into Europe is an admirable continuation of a generally AFNL (adversity-free nomadic life).

As the US descends into another session of Covid Hell I will really appreciate your stories here.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnAdversity free? Hah! You haven’t made it up to Friday the 13th yet.
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2 years ago