Places we’ve visited last weekend:
Saturday, July 19th: the antique shops in the Kloosterstraat, Antwerp (B). We parked our car between the Vlaamse Kaai and the Waalse Kaai (free parking!). This quarter is also known as ‘t Zuid. The place is packed with art galleries, fashion houses, design stores and museums. It also has some of the city’s most trendy bars and restaurants to offer. The Kloosterstraat is only a few steps away. Here you can find a wide array of antique shops. The axis Kloosterstraat-Hoogstraat also acts as a link between ‘t Zuid and the Grote Markt (main market square). We had dinner at Chez Fred, a cosy little restaurant located at 83 Kloosterstraat. Sandrine had a huge bowl of Caesarsalad and I went for the seared tuna steak with zucchini. Veeeeery nice!
Sunday, July 20th: the Gentse Feesten, Ghent (B). This is probably Belgium’s biggest city festival. We went to see the Dutch group Hotel perform on the Polé Polé stage. They played a spicy mix of African and South American music. After the concert, feeling thirsty and in the mood for some more exotic vibes we went for a Cuban style cocktail at Mosquito Coast, an international travellers cafe and one of our favourite hangouts when in Ghent. Then we joined Sandrine’s parents at Faki, one of many Turkish restaurants located in the Sleepstraat. They serve the best lahmacun (Turkish pizza) I’ve ever tasted. We ended this perfect day sipping fresh mint tea in the Berber tent at the Baudelopark.
Monday, July 21th, Belgium National Day: the Zwarte Beek nature reserve, Beringen (B). It was just one of those typical Belgium National Days, with the rain pouring down for hours on end. Here in Belgium we even have a name for this yearly climatological event: the ”drash national”. Nevertheless, we decided to go for a walk in the Zwarte Beek nature reserve, situated in the little village of Koersel (Beringen). It is managed by Natuurpunt, a non-profit organization active in nature conservation and management. An 8 km footpath led us thourgh the marshy valley of the Zwarte Beek (it translates as “black brook”). Part of it is a corduroy road which seems to float above the wet forest floor. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…
The banks of the Zwarte Beek
The corduroy road
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