I took off my sleep mask and—hallelujah—sunshine, not a single cloud in sight. Since the weather was lovely and the distance to Antwerp was short, I took my time packing up and finally left the campsite just after 10 a.m. I’m firmly in Belgium now—no more tiptoeing back and forth like yesterday.
Today’s target was Westmalle Abbey—or more accurately, their beer. Only when I arrived did I remember (or was gently reminded) that neither the abbey nor the brewery is open to the public. The only place to sample the holy brew is across the street at the Trappist Café. Well, divine location or not, beer is beer.
I sat down, checked the menu, and—based on past encounters—ordered what they charmingly call a “beer platter”: two different beers and some abbey cheese. The beer showed up just fine, but the “cheese” turned out to be four—yes, four—tiny cubes. It wouldn’t have been an issue, except it came with a €3.60 price tag. I don’t want to sound like a penny-pincher, but at that rate, each cube should’ve come with a tiny fanfare. Still, the beer tasted heavenly, so I suppose all is forgiven.
An hour and a half later, I arrived in Antwerp. My campsite is just across the river from the city center, which you can reach through an underground tunnel—cycling allowed. I pitched my tent and did just that: cycled through Sint-Annatunnel. I rode around a bit on the other side before heading back.
I thought about returning to the old town in the evening, but after dinner, I was feeling cozy, sleepy, and just the right amount of lazy. So instead, I sat on the riverbank and watched the sun slowly set. There’s tomorrow to explore the center of Antwerp.
Today in numbers:
61 km – distance cycled
49th — country for Greengo
80% — of the world’s rough diamonds passing through its diamond district
1605 — Antwerp saw the publication of the world’s first printed newspaper, the Nieuwe Tijdinghen