Impromptu Benelux adventure: Day two

I've never actively wanted to spend so much time in a railway station before.

After breakfast, I was armed with directions to the number 20 bus which would take me to Rooseveltplaats, from whence I could walk around a bit and look at all sorts of things that Host had recommended to me:

• Zoo
• Rubenshuis
• Grote Markt
• Plantin-Moretus Museum
• Red Star Line Museum
• Vleeshuis Museum
• Cathedral of Our Lady

I didn't do all of those things, because I'm mostly useless. But, in my defence, when my bus dropped me to the Rooseveltplaats, I decided I would have another look around the station and do a bit more oo-ing and aa-ing given that yesterday I only really had time to go through it as a traveller. Antwerp seems to be rightly proud of its railway station, which has been called "the most beautiful station in the world." It is also sometimes known as Middenstatie (Middle station) and – my personal favourite – Spoorwegkathedraal (Railroad Cathedral).

The station was first used in 1905. Previously, there had been small wooden stations which stood near the zoo, until King Leopold II decided that Antwerp needed a more prestigious station to stop the locals complaining that all the beautiful architecture seemed to be stuck in Brussels.

Not content with having his garden within walking distance like any normal person, he had had the foresight to declare the Congo Free State his personal garden, and by all accounts bank account because somehow it financed most of the building projects that earned him the epithet of "Builder King".

I enjoyed my mooch around and had a good look at the grandiose bits, as well a wander along one of the ground-level platforms to get a look at the train hall from the outside. The modern bits of the station seem to have been thought out in such a way that there are vantage points that give a view of something pretty or vaguely interesting all around yet the people who live here just seem to go about their business without paying it much attention.

I spent a lot of time getting in their way.

At some point I realised there was more to see than just the station to see so set about trying to do some of the things on the list that weren't train-related. Unable to help myself, I nipped round the back of the station, past all the diamond and gold shops and had a look at the Oostenstraat embankment until I got bored – not as long as you might think – then looked at the bits of the zoo I could get into without paying. Which wasn't much, but I would probably have lost an entire day there had I gone in proper.

The Rubenshuis was closed, but it was a nice walk there past the Opera. I found a conviently-placed supermarket where I could buy some water, and then sat in the shade of the trees near the Toneelhuis (very impressive building for a chiropodist) before bumbling off to find some churches. The Sint-Joriskerk is very nice, and colourful inside. It's just there, surrounded by other buildings and parked cars. The cathedral also looked quite nice but it's covered in scaffolding which impaired my view of the exterior as much as the mass-in-progress somewhat scuppered my opportunities to look around the inside. But it's been there 501 years so I'm quietly confident I'll be able to have a looksie next time.

I tried moving around the Grote Markt, but it was quickly evident that many other people were trying to do the same, so I took refuged on a side street with a pint of Guinness and a terrace, before nearly making it back towards the station before I got sidelined by the Sint-Jacobskerk. Sadly it was closed, but it looks rather impressive from outside with houses built into its west end. It is Ruben's final destination and a starting point for The Camino de Santiago which, funnily enough, also goes through La Coquille. I feel a train journey coming on!

Getting back out of the city centre to Host's was not quite as fun as I'd hoped. The number 20 bus had had its route changed because someone had parked a couple of Audis in a bus stop on the Rooseveltplaats. While it's always fun to watch someone entitled having their car towed, it did mean I couldn't actually determine where to take my bus from as nobody really knew.

After much fretting and a very low battery, I made it home on the tram 24, just in time to eat and watch Eurovision. I should start planning my May 2023 trip now, probably.