day five . 5 may

antwerp, belgium

antwerp is best known for 2 things – diamonds and its port. it is no wonder that on our 1st night here, when we were walking from the central train station to the tram stop, we could see a diamond shop almost every 20m. this is also the reason why the place seemed populated by indians and jewish, who trade these precious stones extensively, since the 16th century.

morning was spent in the diamond museum (diamant) which showcased the history of the stones, antwerp as the trading hub, as well as jewellery pieces worn by famous women around the world.

natalie recommended a nice bakery for lunch, so we headed to le pain quotidien after the museum visit. There, we got to try authentic french pastries like spinach quiche (also the salmon and leeks one!), éclairs, apple tarts, and mellanuix.

yummy treats @ le pain quotidien

with everything in antwerp pretty much close by, we travelled by foot to groenplaats, grote market, stopping by the cathedral along the way. after more photos and belgium gaufres, we sat in a café in the market place for some bolleke (belgium beer).

chocolate cafe in the land when it all came from

horsies looking overworked ):

me with one of the MANY waffles we had in belgium

grote market - good food, great restaurants!

windy @ antwerp port!

A is for Antwerp - check out the pple sunbathing on the pontoon!

guess who!

fire at one of the restaurants along the stretch

basking in the early summer heat!

walked along the meir, and popped by chinatown, which was really just one street in the city centre of antwerp. yinghao got a haircut finally, but huifen and i found it too expensive (19eur for students) so cheapskate us decided to live with our hair.

chinatown!

we cooked dinner that night, and had beer and ice-cream which natalie bought for us.