Europe, From Belgium to Netherlands

Before entering The Netherlands, we are going to visit another Belgian city of Antwerp. The distance to this city is only 52 kilometres. And the duration of the train trip is about one hour.

I feel a little bit tired, but I am in anticipation of new visual and cultural discoveries. I cannot say, that my friend has the same expectations, because he had already seen it all, but he looks rather positive and happy to be my personal guide.

The first thing I was thrilled by was the central station of Antwerp. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful stations worldwide. I would say, the station is worthy of the 'prosperous' city, which actually has an unofficial title of the world's diamond capital. They claim, that 60-80% of the world's diamonds are cut and traded here.

Unfortunately, I did not have enough money with me to purchase any diamonds, but we have had a nice walking along the main shopping street Meir, which connects the central station with the City Hall.
There are so many famous fashion shops and cafes on the Meir. However, I was more interested in beautiful Rococo buildings, which house those expensive stores.

Now we are on the main square of Antwerp, in front of the City Hall. Here we could see the bronze statue, which demonstrates the mythical story, supporting the idea of the city's name. Actually, the monument captures the moment, when a brave young man is about to throw away the hand that was cut off from the giant, who once terrorized the local people. These days, a single hand is one of the symbols of the city.

Two hundred metres away from the City Hall, and we are on the river bank, where another city landmark is located. It is called Het Steen, the medieval fortress.

At the entrance bridge to the castle we found a monument of a giant with two humans. It depicts another story of the giant Lange Wapper, who used to horrified the inhabitants of the city in the medieval times. Unfortunately, there is nothing to see inside the castle, but the photos from that spot may look quite impressive.

Altogether, we have spent in Antwerp 4 hours, but I think we were able to see enough of the city. Probably, it also would be worth seeing the Rubens house, where the famous Flemish artist lived and created his masterpieces, but it was already the time to board the bus to the Hague.

Well, the trip from Antwerp to the Hague took only 2 hours, and with FlixBus service the cost was 9 euro. To my surprise, we crossed the border between Belgium and Netherlands almost insensibly. Nobody stopped the bus once.

On arrival to the central station I was thrilled by the harmonious skyscrapers, made of metal and glass. In my opinion, this is a bright example of how the modern architecture may be delicately installed into the historical surroundings.

Very soon we entered our new home. Again, it was rented with Airbnb service. These are very comfortable, spacious and light apartments on a quiet street near tramways.

It is time to have some rest, but other two days will be solely devoted to the exploration of this royal city by the sea.