Off to Antwerp!

           Antwerp is a pretty popular city in Belgium, so I decided to put my John Hancock on the registration form, hop on the bus (literally) and make the trip from Leuven one Saturday morning. Through our Loyola program, we are part of PECS (Program in European Culture and Society) here in Leuven. Elke, the director of the program planned everything for us, so all we had to do was go! Luckily (or unluckily), for the Loyola students, we didn’t have to pay the 20 Euro fee for the trip. The reason this may be unlucky is because our International friends pay a mere 500 euro a semester to study here in Leuven (about $750), while we are still paying our Loyola tuition and fees…about $25,000 a semester. Quite an expensive trip! I’m still trying to wrap my head around that, but all of this information is irrelevant at the moment, I’m sure I’ll be back discussing that sometime in the future…

         Anyways, back to the days events. We boarded the bus around 8:30 in the morning, so needless to say, we weren't the cheeriest bunch, but after the 1 1/2 hour ride/nap, we were ready. We stepped of the bus in front of the Scheldt River, that runs all the way through belgium, it was refreshing on the brisk October morning. We met in front of Antwerp city hall, where we were sent to wait for our tour guide. The building was large and beautiful, as they all seem to be here. I couldn't help but notice how similar ALL the architecture is here in Belgium. From city to city, it could be really easy to get confused as to where specifically you are because there are so many cobblestones, colorful flags, and stone buildings all over the country. I suppose it is nice that there is a sense of national unity, but than again, the country is so small, it would be very difficult for there to be drastic changes in aesthetics from one place to the next. 

The city hall and fountain in Antwerp. 

        We went on a walking tour through the city center, passing countless cathedrals, clock towers, and shops. We went inside a few places to admire the architecture, but the day was dragging a bit. Since being in Belgium, I have seen my fair share of "sights," and I was ready for lunch....but than again, when am I not? You will come to learn that meal time is a favorite time of mine. Between myself and my roommate Shayne, we take great pride in making our lunches delicious and nutritious! We even have some fellow Loyola students following in our footsteps! I'll give you a close-up in the lunch making process in posts to come. 

The Museum aan de Stroom

       The Museum aan de Stroom just opened in the beginning of the year near the Port of Antwerp. It is something that stands out in a very old city as something new and modern. There is a 360 degree view of the city on the 10th floor. We worked up our energy, (which was quite low running on an empty stomach!) and decided we should take in the view. We hustled to the top, and by 'hustle' i mean took 10 escalator rides to the top. Don't think we were those girls running the 10 flights of stairs to the roof, that was so last year. (For those of you who don't know, Shayne, Katie, and I lived on the 9th floor of Newman Towers last year, so we have been climbing stairs like champs for a while now!) It was nice, because once we made it to the top, we could see for miles. The sky was as clear as crystal, making the visibility ideal for sightseeing. 

One of the MANY escalators we took that day.

View from the top: Not quite the NYC skyline, but i'll deal.

          Set free for lunch, myself, along with a bunch of the other Loyola kids who packed a 'sammy,' or sandwich, searched for a place to eat. Not knowing our way around the city, we stumbled upon an empty table with a handful of chairs. We popped a squat and started chowing down. During the meal we noticed a number of 'interesting characters,' dressed in unusual ways, but we let it go because we had never been to this city before, and we thought it might just be the 'Antwerp way.' 

        After everyone finished eating we started to head towards the bus because we knew the meeting time was approaching. We walked down the street, opposite of which we came. We noticed some provocative signs, but thought that we were just in Europe, and a lot of things are acceptable here that would be taboo back in America. 

Yes, that says what you think it says. And don't worry, there was an arrow that said "creative jobs," pointing the other way, so there was a PG portion of this advertisement.  

        So casually, we took some pictures, and assumed that there was enough excitement for one day. Long behold, things were about to get a little more interesting. As we continued down the street we noticed live women in the storefronts...in lingerie. We had walked right into the red light district of Antwerp. I would consider this to be the twist that you didn't see coming, had this day been your favorite movie. There were all the right clues, but you just had not been paying attention to them. In hindsight, the interesting characters at lunch and the provocative advertisements all seem to make perfect sense now. After we got over the shock, and walked down and out the corner of the district, we were right back on track. We made it safely to the bus and had quite the story to tell Elke! 

Back to Leuven we go!