Monday - Antwerp

A refreshing wit beer after a lot of walking in Antwerp.
Inside the main cathedral in Antwerp. The largest Gothic cathedral in Belgium.
Outside the cathedral. It is absolutely massive in scale. The photos don't give you the true feeling of height.
Photo of a statue inside of another massive cathedral, St Jacobskerk.
Another statue that caught my interest.
Inside St Jacobskerk.
One of the last alleys to contain the traditional style houses of the cities 16th century poor, in this case the cobblers.
A view of the Scheldt, the main canal and port - links to the sea. There is a nice walkway along the water here.
Bikers, here's what life could be - our own roads.
View from the edge of the water.
The main shopping district and strolling area. Antwerp is one of the world's fashion capitols, so there are a lot of shishi shops and people about.
A typical house.
The ultra modern and cool train station.
On the way from Brussels to Antwerp.
The garden at my b &b - The Emperor's 48.
My Room.

Today started with packing and getting ready and off to Antwerp. The train could not have been easier. I got on one of the slower inter regional trains just to take my time. Arrived in Antwerp and set out to find my B & B. One maddening thing about the streets here is the name of the street often changes as you go along the same street. I started to get dizzy from checking the map so often. Found the place. It's owned by a Belgian artist who teaches at the university here. The room was quite nice and I got situated an then headed out to walk around. Visited two cathedrals and did a walking tour of the center. Antwerp is truly a beautiful city. It will be hard to see much in two days. Capped of the evening with a walk to a well regarded beer spot near my room for a couple of gueuzes. Back to the room to draw and rest.

Sunday - Brussels

Westvleteren 8 for breakfast.
The Turkish restaurant.
Restobiers.
The 3 Fontinen Oude Gueuze.
The taps at Delirium.

Today I walked down to the section called Mariolles. It is an older working class neighborhood with a good Sunday flea market. I had a small lunch at the edge of the market and then continued walking to take photos for paintings. I spent some time working on a watercolor and then headed to the beer festival for happy hour. I talked to some people from Britain who looked like they might have seen the Who or the Rolling Stones in their prime. They were friendly and we watched a demonstration on how to properly pour a beer. It involves the use of a knife. After a while I walked to another place called Poechenellekelder. Here I had one of the best beers yet - the 3 Fontinen Oude Gueuze. After that I walked back to Mariolles to a restaraunt called Restobiers. I enjoyed a 3 course meal which included foi grais seasoned with Abbaye de Rocs and chocolate mousse. I had another nice conversation with two British travelers who seemed to be here for the same reasons. Later I stopped by a Turkish restaurant and ordered an Ayran and surprised them with my Turkish. Sorry for the short descriptions, the keys on this board are all mixed up!