Wish You Were Here...: Antwerp and Oostende

Both Antwerp and Oostende are about an hour from our home in Brussels. Antwerp is a bustling city, famous amongst travelers and musicians (many concerts are held here); Oostende is adjacent to Brugge, but coastal, and it's full of WWII history. C and I decided to make day trips to each of these locales and we're glad we did!

Antwerp is the most densely populated municipality in both Flanders and Belgium, which you'd never know by visiting. The streets were clean and quiet, there were cafes with private patios on quiet squares, and I could hear the clippity-clop of horse drawn carriages blocks away. Antwerp's Central Station is especially stunning, as it boasts an incredible glass dome. Their Grote Markt ( a grand market/great square) is similar to Brugge and Brussels, but I found it a tad more charming. We also spotted a zoo and several really pretty churches, as well as a cool castle along the water. All in all, our day in Antwerp was just a day of walking and observing, but the weather was beautiful and the city was, too!

C researched Oostende after hearing a bit about its history with WWII. It's home to a large portion of the Atlantic Wall, which was an extensive system of coastal fortifications used by the Nazis; it's also home to the only surviving Nazi battery in the world. We were able to tour the battery, which essentially sits along and atop the wall. We wound through narrow passages and tunnels as we listened to a very thorough and interesting audio guide (not usually the case); interrogation rooms, spy rooms, communication posts, and ammunition bunkers have been restored and are open during the tour. I'm personally very into WWII history, as is C, so this was an especially interesting tour for us. Someone was very interested in the guns and torpedos, also. I don't think I have name names. In short, we'd highly recommend a visit to Oostende if you're ever in the area!