Belgium - Day 2

Day 2 in Belgium! Because it's a small country, Marene and I were going to day trip to Antwerp. Studds had to stay home and work :(

But first! The view from my bedroom, aka the living the room!

Antwerp is about an hour away by train from Leuven and the weather was just as gloomy :D

But the central station sure is purdy.

I didn't know Australia had a great reputation for home made ice cream.

Like me, Marene has been craving good Asian food since she moved to Europe so we had a small yum cha lunch that was actually pretty good! It was so good that I didn't take any photos because we were too busy digging in. During lunch, we discussed our options - we could do touristy things or, being Saturday, we could shop. I chose shopping.

The main shopping strip!

But we did some touristy things! Here I am outside of Rubens' house. 

Omg, I just wanted to steal away this bulldog and play with his face flaps

After a few hours of shopping, the wonderful scent of deep-fried seafood wafted through the air. We naturally had to partake of this wonderful custom. 

The deep-fried seafood stall was set up outside this lovely traiteur. OM NOM NOM!!!

As the sun slowly set, we decided that we'd better do some quick sightseeing before heading back to Leuven.

Buildings at the Grote Markt

Me outside the City Hall (Stadthuis) at the Grote Markt.

This old woman and beagle was sitting opposite the Stadhuis and offered to take a photo of me and Marene together + her dog. This was foiled first by her dog not wanting to stand by us, and secondly, her inability to work my camera. Then she gave us a weird spiel about how she can only photography with proper cameras...

The Cathedral of Our Lady, with its one completed tower (two were planned)

Het Steen - the oldest building in Antwerp!

Time was running short and we had to be back in Leuven for dinner o'clock. Naturally, we got a waffle for the wait.

IT WAS PRETTY WARM AND DELICIOUS!!!

 We ended up arriving late to Leuven but that was okay because the restaurant double-booked us and asked us to come back in an hour for their second sitting.

We reconvened to a bar where I was plied with Belgian beer in a futile attempt to convince me that it is superior to Bavarian beer.

It was pretty good! And strong!

Dinner was at Marene and Studd's local French bistrot. Let me tell you folks: go. It's good. And they've been there so often that Chef actually came out to our table twice and even advised Studds on what he should eat for dinner. Now that is insider service. The tripadvisor site has reviews criticising the waiting time for the meal but it's worth it.

My horse steak. Lekker!

The post meal carnage.

Crepe suzette dessert!

But I preferred this chocolate pudding with raspberry sorbet.

We were all absolutely stuffed. But that wasn't all! The staff then came along and loaded our table with bottles of different digestifs! I preferred the rose and the peach flavoured schnapps; Marene preferred the pear-flavoured vodka. With full bellies, we rolled back home to get ready for our last day together.

Goedenacht!