Written by Kim
Our trip to Belgium was largely about seeing friends. With my job at J&J I estimate that I’ve been to Belgium 50+ times but Alex had never been there so I wanted to relive some of my favorite things and experience them with him. Originally we planned to stay in Antwerp and travel to both Brugges and Brussels but we didn’t get to Brussels because we just needed a day without lots of train travel.
Originally when we were planning we never reviewed the route needed to get from Heidelberg to Antwerp via train. It wasn’t very far but required several transfers so proved to be a challenging travel day. We took 4 trains – Heidelberg to Mannheim to Frankfurt to Brussels to Antwerp. We had dinner at Sylvie’s house Sunday evening. Sylvie was one of the first employees I hired in my J&J Finance team. She was 8 months pregnant with Jakoba (who’s now 18 in University) at that time. 19 months later she delivered her twins, Anna & Willomen. We enjoyed lots of fun times both personally and professionally over the years.
While in Antwerp we also had dinner at Ann & Peter’s home, Greg & Sofia’s home, had breakfast with Clara and a group dinner at a fantastic Michelin star restaurant, Bizie Lizie. Great company and good food.
We did a walking tour with a fantastic guide. Alex became the Antwerp ambassador by answering the most questions on the tour. Luc, our tour guide, told us if the legend for Antwerp’s name. A folklore giant guarded a bridge in the river Scheldt, he collected a toll from those crossing the river. For those who refused, he severed one of their hands and threw it into the river. Eventually, Antigoon was slain by a young Roman soldier named Brabo, who cut off the giant’s own hand and flung it into the river. In Dutch Antwerp translates to “throw a hand”.
Evenings on the Groenplatz are so pretty
They are working to improve the riverfront. It’s coming along great.
We struggled a bit with the trains in Belgium. Many times platforms were changed or trains were cancelled so we had to use Uber instead a few times. The Antwerp central station is gorgeous though.
Off to Brugges next for the day. Until then….
