03-31-2024 Entry

We got up early, with even less sleep due to moving to DST. I didn't sleep all that well, neither did Ann, in the middle of the night. Up at 6, then getting ready to walk over to the Grote Market, where the cycling teams participating in the Tour of Flanders were introduced. We got there around 7:30 and were very near the front. The festivities started around 8:15, and shortly after that the teams were announced. I took a lot of pictures, recognized 10-15 riders' names. Then we walked over to where the starting line was and got there just before the gun went off. I got a decent video of the peloton riding by. Then we walked back to the Airbnb, at a much more leisurely pace. We planned our next steps, where there was supposed to be less walking, but it didn't turn out that way. We were going to ride the tram back toward the cathedral, but I had trouble locating where to buy tickets and where the tram stop was. Turns out that Antwerp has subway lines in addition to busses and surface trams. A bus driver clued us in. We went down to the subway platform and caught a train back to near the Grote Markt area, where the first order of business was to eat some frites. We got them at Frituur Nr 1, they were tasty, but I don't think I need any more fries for a while. Then we headed over to the cathedral, intending to take a tour, but the Easter service was running long. I didn't want to pay 15 Euros for a tour, and Ann was okay with skipping it too. So we walked over to the Het Steen castle, which made for a nice photo and was mildly interesting. It started to sprinkle a little bit around this time. We headed back toward the cathedral, intending to get a drink at a notable nearby café, Elfde Gebod, but they weren't taking folks without reservations. So we booked a reservation for Monday and decided to head over to De Koninck brewery. I had a fair amount of trouble, this time, with figuring out the Google Maps directions, and I wasn't helped by the rain that was falling. Eventually, I got it right and we took a surface tram over there. Found the brewery OK and had a beer each, me an amber ale and Ann a sour beer. Both were tasty, and it felt good to sit down. Our last planned activity of the day was to head over to Cogels Osylei, a street renowned for its Art Nouveau architecture. We ended up walking, since the bus was going to arrive later. Got to the street around the same time as the bus, but the walk was fine. While we were walking on that street, the rain picked up. But both of use stayed pretty dry. From there, we found a tram that took us back to the stop near the train station. We walked over to a Chinese food market and got some more stuff for dinner, the walked back to the flat. It was a long day! Quiet evening after the day's adventures.