On Saturday, I went on a day-trip to Antwerp with some friends. Or known as Antwerpen in Dutch. Or Anvers in French. Antwerp in English. Not to be easily confused as to where you're going or anything. But Antwerp is in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, so that's what a lot of the signs were in first, followed by a translation in French (in Brussels, it's usually French, then Dutch).
We met up around 9am, and got to the city before 10am. I love taking the train, because it's super cool seeing some more of Belgium and more of the countryside of the country! As soon as we arrived to Antwerp, we were immediately greeted by the beautiful train station. Seriously, it was GORGEOUS!
From the train station, we walked around the city a bit, took some pictures, and found a local food market. We ended up sampling a lot of the dip at one of the stands, so we bought 2 containers of dip and some bread for later. Also - 5 of the 8 of us that went to Antwerp are in a photography class together (hence all the cameras). We got our first assignment on Friday, so we were all excited to experiment and photograph our adventure for the assignment.
After the market, we walked in an tunnel that goes under the river to a park on the other side. Here, we sat in the sun (it was 60 degree Fahrenheit!!!) and ate lunch and our bread and dip. On the way back, we decided to take the ferry back since it was free. Seemed like a good idea, but we ended up waiting on the ferry for forever and the actual ride literally took 5 minutes (it's a small river). But we got to practice our photography skills some more and really just enjoyed the sun because it's been so rainy and/or cloudy here before!!
After the very adventurous ride across the river, we walked to the Museum aan de Stroom for a panaramic view of the city. It was beautifulllllll up there. The city has such a huge port, lots of beautiful churches, and just such pretty buildings everywhere you looked.
We continued our sightseeing by seeing Grote Markt, Museum Vleeshius, Cathedral of Our Lady, and Meir shopping street. Antwerp is such a pretty city with all the cool artwork and the beautiful architecture everywhere! It was very busy and pretty crowded by the end of the day though. Before heading back, we stopped to eat at 5 Guys for an early dinner. I honestly almost cried, it was so good. For some people, it was their first time trying 5 Guys so I was maybe a little overly excited to share this piece of my home with them hahah (I love a good burger! In case you can't tell!). Then we headed home and hung out. Later that night, I met back up with Amalie, Thomas, Theresa, Marie, and Chloe for a casual night of drinks (finally got some good, but cheap wine!).