The main event in the second week of September was the annual conference of the European Policy for IP Association, hosted at the University of Antwerp this year. I was really looking forward to spending a few days in Belgium’s second city. I lived in Brussels, 50 km away, for 5 years, but during that time I rarely visited Antwerp and never spent a night there. So now I had time to enjoy the city, and I did–very much. I present the photos more or less chronologically.
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I flew to Brussels Wednesday afternoon. As always, I stopped to photograph Tintin’s moon rocket in the arrival hall at Brussels airport, a sight I always enjoy:
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I took a train from Brussels airport to Antwerp. The Antwerp Central Station is a very impressive place:
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I took a taxi to my hotel, in the heart of the old city, right next to the cathedral. After going through the usual routine of hanging my clothes etc., I went for a midnight walk. This is Grote Markt, Antwerp’s answer to Brussels’s Grand’ Place:
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In front of the cathedral I was struck by this statue of a dog and a boy. I later learned that is was Nello and Patrasche, a famous Antwerp story of friendship and hardship (with an unhappy ending):
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Much to my delight, I found a nice watering hole less than 100 meters from my hotel, called Paters Vaatje. It became my spot for a nightcap during the remainder of my stay:
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On Thursday morning I had to be at the conference around 10 a.m., so I had time for a nice morning walk. First, I found a place to have breakfast (at my hotel, breakfast cost 20 Euro, an amount I simply refuse to pay). As a bonus, there was a nice art installation in front of the café, called Two Dogs and Two Cats:
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Renovation in the old city:
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I walked down to the river, passing by Het Steen, the oldest building in Antwerp, a fortress built in the early 13th century:
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Next to Het Steen stands this statue of Lange Wapper, a local legend:
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The Lange Wapper legend, explained:
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Antwerp has a lot of street art, including poems on the wall along the riverside road:
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When I lived in Belgium in the late 1990s, Antwerp had the reputation as a hotbed of right-wing, Flemish nationalism. Today the picture seems quite different, perhaps a reaction to the ill winds blowing across the Atlantic:
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I walked back to Grote Markt to see it in daylight. It was just as magnificent as the night before:
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I passed some colourful bars, although not exactly the ambience I look for:
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This restaurant, next to the cathedral, is called The Eleventh Commandment:
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Explanation of that Commandment:
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Then it was time go back to the hotel, change into proper attire and walk to the university where the conference was taking place. On the way, I passed an impressive mural referring to Kaas (“cheese”) by comic book artist Dick Matena, about an Antwerp office worker who decides to open a cheese business instead:
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In the main hall of the university building where the conference was taking place, there was a column of books–I loved it:
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I was going to take a selfie in front of the book column, but someone offered to make one with my proper camera:
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As always, I looked for interesting details in the urban landscape, like these religiously enhanced utility boxes:
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I had some free time during Thursday afternoon, so I decided to visit the cathedral:
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It was truly magnificent:
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As I usually do when I visit such places, I lit a candle in the memory of my mother:
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On the way back to the university for the afternoon session, I passed a bar called Katmosfeer. As the name indicates, it was a combination of a cat shelter and a bar, utterly wonderful. You could pet as many cats as wished to be petted by you while enjoying a beer:
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On Thursday evening there was a gala dinner at the conference. But it was also the evening when the main art museum of Antwerp was open late, until 10 p.m. I decided that art was more important than food and skipped the dinner. Next to the museum I came across another bar with a cat theme. The name Chatleroi was a play on the name of the Belgian town Charleroi (“chat” is “cat” in French):
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There were no cats inside but it was a very nice place nonetheless:
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On Friday I did not have to be at the conference until noon, so I decided to spend the morning sightseeing on the waterfront. But first I went for a walk in the neighbourhood of the hotel, enjoying the view of the cathedral at dawn:
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I took the tram to the harbour area and went to the observation deck of the Museum an de Stroom (MAS), from where there is a nice view of the harbour:
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I then walked around a bit. This is the view of the harbour with the Havenhuis, the administration building, designed by the famous architect Zaha Hadid:
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There is a lot of new construction on the waterfront, mostly apartments:
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It still looks a bit sterile, but there is evidence of normal life:
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I took the tram back to the city centre and discovered that Antwerp has a Chinatown:
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Back at the university in the afternoon. This is a big room where people could hang out between sessions:
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One of the roundtables, featuring my colleague Vladia and my counterpart at the European Patent Office, Yann:
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The Middle East troubles are everywhere:
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After the end of the conference, I stopped by Katmosfeer again:
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Saturday morning I had to get up very early to catch a 6 a.m. train to Brussels airport. Antwerp Central Station was beautiful:
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I found it interesting that the local Coca Cola company felt the need to advertise the jobs they are creating in Belgium. Clearly, the consumer boycott prompted by Trump’s anti-European policies is having an effect:
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I made a couple of other images at the train station:
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And then I got on the train, went to Brussels airport and flew home to Alicante. A proper Antwerp gallery can be seen here.