Of course we got on the wrong train. The conductor was unsympathetic as he announced our faux pas in a loud voice and we were a little embarrassed until the couple next to us was told the same thing. As he cruised down the aisle checking tickets, he informed more passengers in our cabin that they needed to disembark at the next stop and board the correct train. Such is the life of a traveler as we headed to a country where the three languages are Dutch, French and German and we speak English.

We chose Antwerp to visit rather than Brussels because it’s a little bit smaller and easier to get around. It also has a beautiful medieval ‘old town’ surrounded by incomparable Renaissance architecture (check out the pic of the most beautiful train station in the world) and is the headquarters of the European Union and NATO. It is also the gold and diamond capital of the world in addition to having the worlds most sought after chocolate extraordinaire. We shopped for and explored all three but only bought the chocolate. I can certainly understand why people love Antwerp.

Antwerp is a very walkable city and we easily got to the stunning museum, the MAS or Museum aan de Stroom on the River Scheldt. The museum was unique in many ways starting with a ‘listening exhibition’ where we listened to old stories about the art while viewing. We actually enjoyed the exhibit about the history of Antwerp as a huge port and it’s colony of the Congo more than we did the ‘listening exhibit.’ Antwerp’s signature icon is the ‘severed hand’ and there are thousands of them throughout the museum and the city. There are many stories about the hand, none of them pretty. You can buy the hand in many forms— obviously as chocolate, cookies or gold. I didn’t see any diamond shaped hands.

The other exhibit we enjoyed was the Life and Death exhibit that explored the cultures of Egypt, Africa, Papua New Guinea, India, Nepal, Tibet, and Jerusalem. It was a fascinating exhibit about rights and rituals of the various cultures and religions regarding these two inevitable events. A third exhibition looked at food accessibility in the coming years and solutions to feeding our ever growing world population. Europe is very much focused on the future of our planet and the preserving of life beyond climate change through many different avenues.

We had Ethiopian food for dinner, forgoing the popular ‘waffles for dinner’ craze that was apparent throughout the city.

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