Belgium
Explore Belgium’s charming cities: Brussels, the cosmopolitan capital; Antwerp, renowned for its art and fashion.
Ghent’s Canals and Bruges’ Horse Carriages.
Brussels
We ended up booking our trip to Brussels on a bit of a whim… we weren’t sure where we wanted to go after Italy, but we found a smoking deal on a flight. So off to Belgium we went!
We stayed at the Yooma Urban Lodge which was a great choice for family travel. They offer rooms with double bunk beds, a games room, an arcade, a lounge, a comic lending library and a shared refrigerator. And best of all for the kids… every square inch of wall space is covered in cartoon drawings (a nod to Brussels being the birthplace of TinTin, Spirou, The Smurfs and more). We fueled up each morning at Yooma’s great breakfast buffet and did workouts on its rooftop terrace. It made a great base for our explorations.
And explore we did. Our first day was spent wandering into the centre of town and discovering the famous Mannekin Pis statue in all its cheeky glory, the Mont des Arts and its lovely Jardin, the Musical Instruments Museum in a gorgeous art nouveau structure called the Old England Building, the leafy Parc d’Egmont, the government-y EU area, and beaucoup des bonbons (truffles from Chocolaterie Mary, pralines from Neuhaus, speculoos from Maison Dandoy, macarons from Pierre Marcolini, cuberdons from La Belgique Gourmande…). An added bonus was all the Weimaraner dogs we saw – a reminder of my lovely childhood dog Chloë.
On day two, Sean took the kids climbing and I set off for another 20,000+ step day. I wandered unhurriedly through the stalls at the Vossenplein flea market which sold everything from vintage Happy Meal toys to antique gold watches to canvas WWII jackets complete with sewn-on patches. I walked to the Jeanneke Pis statue (the little girl equivalent to the little boy ‘Mannekin Pis’ we’d seen the day before) and then to Les Galeries Royales, a gorgeous glassed-in walkway of stores and restaurants (and many a well-dressed influencer!). I wandered through the beautiful Tropismes bookstore, dreaming about owning my own little book nook one day. I ogled the lavish Baroque guildhalls of the Grand-Place before heading to the Ixelles neighbourhood for opulent façades by Horta, Hankar, Saintenoy, Van de Velde and others. I was in art nouveau heaven! I topped off my solo time by visiting a lovely typography and stationary store I’d read about called Le Typographe before heading back to the centre to meet Sean and the kids at Delirium Café. Sean first tasted Delirium beer about fifteen years ago at Clive’s Classic Lounge in Victoria, so it was fun to head to the home of the pink elephant and taste some there!
On our last day in Brussels, we of course had to start the day off right with traditional Belgian waffles at Maison Dandoy (topped with strawberries and whipped cream – yum). We took the obligatory photos with the giant smurf statue out front of the Comic Museum and enjoyed the sights of central Brussels before walking to Wolf Food Market for lunch. We capped the day off at a cat café, and then happened upon a fun street party on the way home where we mingled with the locals, enjoyed some beer and wine, sampled street food from vendor trucks, and watched Kieran challenge the local kids to a ruthless Beyblade battle. A great day, to cap off a great (but short) stay in Brussels.
Antwerp: An Overview
WE LOVED ANTWERP. I cannot sing the praises of this vibrant, charming little city enough. We felt the possibility of a real sense of community… the spaces and layouts really foster a sense of togetherness. The parks are lovely – huge, clean, multi-use, and full of beautiful flower gardens that look just a little wild and untamed in the best English country garden sort of way. The riverside promenade is gorgeous, and wide enough for runners, walkers, cyclists, multiple playgrounds, green spaces, workout equipment, rest areas and environmental features. Streets are clean, safe and well-laid out for walkers, bikers, trams and cars – we walked all over that city! Architecture is varied; from slate-roofed Baroque row houses to airy glass riverside apartments to Zaha Hadid’s contemporary Port House to the most incredible art nouveau designs (I spent a day wandering and photographing some of these treasures in the Zurenborg, neighbourhood, including the ‘Bourgeois’ and ‘Den Tijd’ Houses, the ‘De Slag van Waterloo’ House, and ‘De Vier Seizonen’ – four façades facing each other at an intersection, each depicting a season).
Art, ideas, commerce, and fashion have all flourished in Antwerp, meaning it has no shortage of museums, galleries, architectural delights, and boutiques to check out. The city was the springboard for the Antwerp Six, a boundary-pushing group of 1980’s fashion graduates (including Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee, and Dries Van Noten) from the city’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts. It’s the home of the oldest two printing presses in existence and has been a centre of printing and bookbinding since the 16th century. And it’s the birthplace of Flemish Baroque painters Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck, and Frans Snyders. Its location on the Schelde River (connected to the North Sea but 80 km inland) means it has always been a thriving port and commercial centre. It has an overwhelmingly sparkly Diamond District. It’s where Napoleon housed his military fleet, and it remains one of the largest ports in all of Europe. The dockyards / railyards area just north of the centre is busy and thriving – lots of cool modern architecture and environmentally sustainable development amongst converted warehouses, cultural sites, and parks.
We really leaned into outdoor workouts in Antwerp. We stayed in “Antwerp-Zuid” or the neighbourhood just south of the centre, and it was perfect for jogs and walks. It also featured a huge park about ten minutes from our apartment (conveniently lined with cafés for a post-workout cappuccino) and an excellent outdoor gym on the riverfront. I was receiving thrice-a-week virtual workout plans from our friends at Victoria-based Fettle + Food, so we combined those with other activities, like Sean’s jump roping. We attempted to rent bikes for our time in the city – the bike lanes were incredible – but alas, no rental joints we researched had bikes small enough for the kids. We also joined a nearby yoga studio, which offered morning classes that felt amazing after a too-long hiatus.
We were spoiled for choice of places to eat and drink in Antwerp. All of them seemed to have lovely patios for outdoor seating, which is one of the things we loved most about the city – there were people out and about all the time enjoying life and beautiful food and each other’s company. The city’s sidewalk café / bistro / apéro game is strong. Our first dinner out was at the cute little Nova Pinseria in our neighbourhood, and our last at Afghan soul food restaurant Delrobah. The kids were given free, freshly made stroopwaffels from a street vendor one day (it’s incredible how they can slice those thin waffles in half so well!). We loved the Levantine street food at Boker Tov and the impeccable, gorgeous vegetarian fare at And/Or. Late afternoon snacks and bevvies at Giraffe were enjoyed once or twice. We ate a yummy brunch at Butcher’s Coffee and the most incredible (and huge!) pots of steaming mussels at Fiskebar with sides of perfectly golden Belgian frites and an excellent rosé. I stopped for a very tasty baguette sandwich and perfect almond croissant at Domestic while wandering one day. And we found the little gem Botellón during a run, and ended up returning a few times over the course of our time in Antwerp. The owners, Sarah and Ivo, were lovely to chat with, and the food and drinks were delicious. According to Grace, Sarah makes the best granola she’s ever had, and Ivo gave us lots of new travel destinations to dream about. I think we will need to quit our Victoria life and travel full-time to experience all the wonderful places on our ever-growing list… perhaps Antwerp can be a European base 😉
Antwerp: Highlights
We arrived in Antwerp via a short train trip from Brussels. (Important aside: the trains we took in Europe were clean, fast and super simple. I wish train travel were more prominent in our part of the world!) We alit at the stunning central train station and walked through a light summer drizzle to our chic little apartment, complete with leafy views (fourth floor on a treed boulevard), turquoise SMEG appliances, and velvet couches. First priority was laundry, as we hadn’t done any in Brussels.
Whenever we get to a new place, some of the first things we do are find the local grocery store, corner store, coffee place, park(s), workout options, and transport options. Our first full day in Brussels therefore was taken up by these tasks after first enjoying a frothy morning coffee and snack at the Saturday market at Theaterplein (we loved the sprawling Theaterplein market so much, we ended up going another two times). It was full of stalls bursting with breads, cheeses, seafood, produce, dried fruit and nuts, olives, dips and spreads, flowers, jams, honeys, oils, dips and spreads, sweet and savoury treats, wines, beers, smoothies, and coffees. It was there that we came across braids of smoked garlic bulbs, which we could smell from afar and which we would have definitely purchased had we more time / a way to transport it without smoking up everything in our packs. (Has anyone tried smoked garlic??)
Our first full day was topped off with homemade chicken noodle soup (all Sean’s doing) and a warm bath, so I was ready, and even *sort of* willing, to go for a run the next morning before enjoying coffee and breakfast at a park-side bistro. Sean and I went for a run many mornings in Antwerp – the most memorable one being the time we happened across a cool vintage market right in the centre of the gorgeous Grote Markt square. We would have stayed for much longer, ogling all the tables of wares, had we not needed to finish our jog! The same morning, we also ran past the tiny Goossens Bakery with windows full of remarkable pastries; I of course snapped a photo so I could return at another time to load up on delectable almond croissants, apple tarts, pistachio buns and traditional cookies.
One of our afternoons was spent at the Antwerp Zoo, a huge space right in the city centre. We’ve been to a few zoos on this trip, but this one probably gets our vote for the fanciest buildings and gardens. We were excited to see our first okapi, and loved seeing the savanna bird sanctuary housed in and around a gorgeous old building façade with the birds flying freely in and out of open windows. I also loved the extensive aquarium – and took myriad photos and videos of interesting fish I’d never seen before. We finished our visit by listening to the live music being played in Flamingo Square near the entrance, and getting the kids a mini marshmallow-covered ice cream cone.
Our neighbourhood featured a location of The Barn (permanent covered markets offering producer-direct organic goods) where we would stop most days to plan and shop for dinners, and replenish supplies of fruits, veggies, dried fruit, and nuts. It had an excellent bulk section, including an array of Belgian dark and milk chocolate barks with different nuts… so good. We would buy chocolate and other treats from The Barn to enjoy back at home while watching Our Planet – a show I will now forever associate with our time in Antwerp.
Antwerp features not one, but two, cat cafés literally steps from one another – my favourite being Kattencafé Katmosfeer. If you have been following along, you will know by now that Grace is every cat’s biggest fan, so of course we had to visit both establishments. All the cats were amazing, but I have to say, I preferred the pink décor (and the name!) of Katmosfeer.
Kieran’s interests are less feline and more simian: he loves to climb. In addition to seeking out cat cafés in many locations, we also try to look for climbing or bouldering gyms, and Antwerp did not disappoint. We climbed at Beest Boulders gym a handful of times over the weeks and it was always a good time – the gym was huge, and the routes were solid. They also had a great little café and a few different areas to sit (indeed, some previous ByrneBook blog posts were written there!). In addition to cat cafés and climbing gyms, the kids were also thrilled to see the new Minions and Garfield movies while in Antwerp (this mom needed some alone time…), meet some new friends while playing soccer in the park, fly high on a bungee trampoline outside of the zoo, and catch some of a 3×3 basketball tournament we happened across one day.
Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to many of the city’s wonderful museums. When we next visit Antwerp, I’d love to check out the Museum of Contemporary Art, MoMu (the Fashion Museum), the Red Star Line Museum, Museum Plantin-Moretus, Snijders&Rockoxhuis, and FoMu (the photography museum), to name a few. We did, however, get to KMSKA (the Royal Museum of Fine Arts), the MAS, and Chocolate Nation (it feels strange putting that in the same paragraph as the others… but it IS technically still a museum!).
KMSKA, first and foremost, offered an excellently air-conditioned retreat on a very hot day. It is housed in a majestic neoclassical structure which was minutes from our apartment, surrounded by pretty gardens. Inside, I loved the Jef Verheyen and James Ensor exhibits, as well as works by Kimsooja, Jean Fouquet, Pierre Alechinsky, René Magritte, Jean Brusselmans, Anish Kapoor and more (so many, many more). The museum is currently restoring Rubens’ massive Enthroned Madonna Adored by Saints, and because of the altarpiece’s size, they are carrying out the restoration work in one of the main public galleries. SO cool to see! The MAS had cool exhibitions on culture and heritage, Antarctic exploration, cities and food, ports and people, what ‘home’ means… lots to see and do, and we especially liked going up to the roof to peer out over the city (and ogle the many rooftop gardens we spotted), and look down to see Luc Tuymans’ Dead Skull tilework in the square below. The building also features Guillaume Bijl’s Saluting Admiral Couple on an outer 8th floor terrace and over 3,000 hand medallions (a hand is the symbol of the city) all over the red brick façade.
One day we explored via a rather novel, and very enchanting, means; we did a walking tour to see some examples of ‘boot scraper art’. Boot scrapers are small ground-level niches in the front exteriors of most buildings in Antwerp, originally used to clean mud off feet before entering homes. Artist Elke Lemmens has created tiny dioramas in over forty of these niches, inspired by the stories of the people living there. It was such a charming way to discover a neighbourhood; the website didn’t give exact addresses so we would all fan out on a street and look closely at each home until one of us succeeded and yelled for the rest to come and see. Then we’d bend down close and take a look while Sean read us the story behind the scene. Such a cool and lovely community project.
And a few other things of note that we came across on our wanders:
- The neo-Gothic Handelsbeurs building, a beautiful jewel box of an event space
- Adelin, the most spectacular art nouveau jewellery store
- A strange statue outside Het Steen Castle which we later discovered was “Lange Wapper,” a trickster in Antwerp lore.
I realize I’ve written a novella on Antwerp and I can’t think of a perfect way to sum up our (near) perfect time there, so I will resort to leaving you with this: “The unique flavour of Antwerp is derived from the combination of the diverse aspects of its personality: a passionate commitment to commerce goes hand in hand with an abiding interest in the life of ideas and in the arts; respect and affection for the past are juxtaposed with a fervent desire to participate fully in the present and in the future; and awareness of being a truly European and cosmopolitan city, with a resulting openness and broad curiosity, coexists with a sense of tradition and of idiosyncratic particularity, which lend an almost provincial charm to life in the city. In its centre a lively social activity is conducted on the streets and in the countless cafés. The Schelde is the veritable heart and soul of Antwerp, the raison d’être not only of Antwerp’s dynamic economic life but also of its sense of identity and of the deep attachment – touchingly expressed in many literary works – that Antwerpians tend to feel for their city.” (Britannica.com)
Ghent
From Antwerp, we took a few day trips via train, to Ghent and then to Bruges. I’m combining them into one post since my previous (Antwerp) post was so alarmingly long.
The day we travelled to Ghent was beautiful; warm weather and lots of sunshine. The train was relatively quick and once we arrived, we took a tram to the centre of town. Once oriented, our first stop was the beautiful Aux Merveilleux de Fred bakery where I experienced my first cramique (a traditional Belgian brioche loaf). It did not disappoint. Appropriately fueled by pastries and warm drinks, we decided to hop onto a canal tour. The little canal boat was a picture-perfect way to view the town – it was beautiful to see the rows and rows of old homes that looked like they emerged straight from the water, and cool to see infrastructure features such as the ancient bridges and retaining walls from that point of view. The boat guide delivered all of his information in not one, not two, but three different languages! We’ve often commented that having English as a first language enables us to be a bit lazy when it comes to linguistics… in places we’ve travelled that don’t have English as their primary language, many people know it as a learned language and so we’ve been able to get by in *almost* every situation not knowing too much else (I know a bit of French, Spanish, and Italian, but not enough to be conversational). So, we always try to learn a few basics, at the very least, in the language of our travel locations.
After alighting from the boat, we stopped at Boon where we enjoyed some much-needed lemonade and lunch in their sweet little back courtyard. We then headed across the cobbled street to Gravensteen. This ‘Castle of the Counts’ has a turbulent history, closely linked with the somewhat stormy social and political history of Ghent. Apparently, it was once taken over for days by angry students when the price of beer rose, and they only came out when they ran out of – you guessed it – their beer supply. The castle now displays a gristly collection of torture equipment, which had Kieran sold the moment he heard about it. I was not super excited for this portion of the program, but it was actually really cool to wander through the vast property, in and out of its various buildings and rooms and floors, around the ramparts, and down to the moat. The children had a laugh at the original toilets, which were holes in a little platform that jutted out from the ramparts and over the canal; eek.
Once we’d wandered all through the castle, we further sustained ourselves with Belgian frites (served traditionally with mayo, but the place we went also boasted myriad other dipping sauces) and bubble tea slushies to beat the heat before wandering through the town’s graffiti alley. Kieran was thrilled to see some sprayed Pokémon characters and I liked the range of talent showcased, from first-time tags to multi-coloured masterpieces.
Treats consumed, torture chambers explored, canals navigated and skin slightly pink from the sun, we wandered back to the train station and caught an early evening train back to Antwerp.
Bruges
I wish I could say our day in Bruges was as lovely! We woke up to a drizzly rain on the day we had planned to go, and decided to head off anyway (please note, we don’t have any proper rain gear with us on this trip). We caught an early train (is 9:30 AM early? It seemed like it for us…), arrived in a still-rainy Bruges, and followed a small crowd from the station to the centre. Bruges seemed teeny-tiny compared to Ghent and was pretty touristy. Our first stop was the Cathedral which was massive and FULL of a very impressive collection of altarpieces. We probably lingered in there for longer than we may have, had the weather been nicer. After the cathedral, we walked to the central square where the kids begged us to get a horse carriage tour. We relented to the ridiculous price because the carriages were covered, and it would get us out of the rain for 30 minutes. The tour took us around central Bruges to see various historical streets and buildings, the ‘kissing bridge’, and the town’s famous swans. Grace’s loyalty to cats was (nearly) misplaced for the half hour as she fell in love with our trusty carriage horse. And then we were back in the main square and scurrying through the now-heavier rain to a little Belgian restaurant wher
After that hearty lunch, we wandered the cobblestones and poked into various shops, including one that sold delicious chocolates (me), one with massive pink meringues (Grace), and one with cotton candy (Kieran). Sean treated himself to some gum, lol. After which we spotted a Claire’s Accessories and, on a bit of a whim, allowed Grace to get her ears pierced. I warned her that her first earrings would probably just be plain gold or silver balls – that’s what was available when I got my ears pierced (or so I was told…) – but she was handed a booklet chock-full of choices and once she saw the tiny Hello Kitty studs, there was no talking her out of them, even though they were an extra cost; eye roll. In the end, after a near-faint, she was all good and I had to admit, the Hello Kitties were adorable on her.
Bruges sufficiently explored, we tromped back to the train station and reboarded the train back to Antwerp. We were damp and tired, but I’m glad we experienced the tiny town, horses, Hello Kitty, and all.
