A Quick Trip to Antwerp

Last weekend I attended a regional meeting of FAWCO Clubs, which was held in Antwerp and included women from Antwerp, Brussels, Den Haag, Paris, Basel and even a woman who goes back and forth between her home in Shanghai to her home in Hungary (no kiddin'!)

Anyway, I took the train to Antwerp on Friday afternoon with my friend Celeste, and had dinner with friends that evening. The Saturday was a full agenda of business for me, and early in the afternoon Alex came to join me. The entire group (about 30 of us, a few hubbies included) had dinner at a restaurant not normally open to the public. We had a traditional meal which included a trout mousse (not my cup of tea ;), some cauliflower and chickory soup (I had mine without the shrimp that most enjoyed), a delicious slow-cooked beef entree - and I skipped dessert but it was something fabulous, I'm sure.

I did walk around for a bit on Friday when Celeste and I arrived, but I didn't take the camera as I just wanted to enjoy the day. We sat in one of the squares for a beer and some people watching.

Unfortunately, as Saturday was a day for business (and a gorgeous, sunny day) what normally would have been a stroll around Antwerp, was a day in conference rooms (a good conference, by the way, and worth the trip - but a shame that such a lovely day was spent indoors.)

I also chose not to take photos of absolutely everyone during the conference (and there were a couple of folks doing just that so it was much more relaxing for me to simply be one of the crew.) The 'official' photographers of the event will post some of the photos on their local Club's website and share them through facebook.

Sunday we had a nice 'lie-in' and then in late morning a pre-arranged tour which turned out to be only a tour of the train station and the area around it (a bit too much station and not enough Antwerp, but it was ok, and interesting).

I'll be back to see more of this city (I didn't even get to look at diamonds!! :O) There is even a zoo right in the city center (not too many animals as they've been relocated since zoos have learned how to better care for animals). No time to see it this trip! I have a standing invitation from the President of the Brussels Club to visit any time - and I will.

This film includes my friends Elizabeth and Rachel, as well as a few crazy football fans that were travelling through the station - and, of course, we all tested the beer...

And for the record, I think Alex will leave me to my FAWCO conferences the next time. Although it was nice and he enjoyed meeting my friends, I think it was simply too many women for the poor guy to handle :) Fair play to him for giving this one a go!