Antwerp-ing

So this weekend was the grand foray into Antwerp. It was full of strange occurrences, odd transportation issues, and people appearing and disappearing at will. It felt kind of like Euro Trip, but in a much more PG sort of way.

We all met at Gare Centraal on Saturday morning to take a train at about 9:30. Except Sara, who thought it was only 8:30. And then realized she wouldn't be able to make it in time, and told us to go ahead, except I didn't see the message and thought we were supposed to wait. So we did. Until we tried to board our train, now with all group members (one more than expected), and the station was evacuated. Yeah...we saw a large number of cops and transit cops congregating, but they all seemed really chill. Plus, nothing happens in Belgium. So before we know it, we're shooed across the street, with no information, in an evacuation that should take about an hour. I still do not know what happened there, but I do know a friend of Sara's from school decided that since she couldn't get to Ghent, she'd just travel with us.

So after finagling and debating, we wind up at the North station and hope on a train. It's on a different track than we thought we needed, and things were running late, so when we saw 'antwerp' on the side, we thought we were set. Until we stopped at Antwerp something else. It sounded like the train stopped, but we're like, whatever, there's other people here. This will keep going....until the conductor walked the length of the train and got into the booth facing the other way, which we were sitting right next to. So Eric asks if this train is going to Antwerp Centraal--this guy looks at us seriously, says matter-of-factly "no," and turns around to start the train. So now eight of us are grabbing our bags and lunging for the door--one of our members gets stuck in the door and has to pry the apart. Kim and Eric are in there as the doors shut, and we're sure they're going to the station we just came from. Instead, the conductor hits a button, doors fly open, and we are free.

So, getting our bearings. I suggest taking the tram, but someone makes the point that our tickets cover the ride to Brussels Central, so lets just finish the ride there on another train.

(picking up where I left off...)

So we find the other train, and its departing, and a few of us stand a little too close for the conductor's comfort, so he yells to get out of the way. The rest of us don't know that two of our group has slipped on board, even though we have tickets, and are now off on their own. Ticketless, not knowing dutch, and with a pissed off conductor. We're also nervous on our own train, since our tickets are not completely legit for this train. Also, there's a unicorn painted on the wall of the car and a gender ambiguous conductor. Amazingly, all goes well, no one is imprisoned and we arrive at the station.

We set off for our hostel, whose directions are given in metres from intersections rather than with cross streets. We wander for a bit, the ten of us (only 6 staying the night!) through a neighborhood that gets dubbed Sarajevo, for its bombed out appearance. It's also a popular neighborhood for hassidic jews, a fact that actually makes me feel better. Despite the area, our hostel is fine, the lady is wonderful, and a poor Japanese stranger must spend the night with us. Hooray!

From here on, I'll be less detailed. We saw the Cathedral of Our Lady, which was amazing, as well as the Church of Carolus...something. Also gorgeous. We spent some time on the promenade over the canal, enjoying a beer and uncharacteristically gorgeous Belgian weather. We wandered quiet a bit and took in a city that mixes its history very well with its present. The next day we went to the sculpture garden, which was definetly an impressive experience. The whole town was so quaint, and the bars were good. We never go to drink beers from the year we were born, or go to the gin bar, but we did have a good time and I'm very glad we went for the weekend, not just a day.