A walk around Antwerp with friends,

Our first full day in Belgium after our long journey our hosts Anne and Denis took us north to Antwerp by train.  We arrived at the stunning Antwerp Central Station, considered, rightly so, to be one of the most beautiful in the world.

The modern arrival hall is unusually multi levelled,

We set off along De Keyserlei,  Leysstraat and Meir.

On Groenplaats you can see the 'Farmer's Tower' which is claimed to be Europe's first skyscraper, it is currently empty but there is a plan to restore it,

The Cathedral of Our Lady

The boy and the dog with the road as a blanket on Blauwmoezelstraat.

Grote Markt the central square in the old town was setting out its Christmas market.

Antwerp City Hall

The 'Butchers’ Hall', in the city, reopened in September of 2006 as a museum that tells the story of 600 years of music in the city of Antwerp.

The façade of Ruben's House which is closed for renovations.

We finished with a visit to the centuries-old fortress on the riverbank 'Het Steen', which houses a Visitor Centre, a cruise terminal and The Antwerp Story - a good introduction to the city.

Then it was a case of retracing our steps back to that iconic train station after an excellent day out.