On the Scheldt

After a day in Brussels, we decided to make Friday "Operation Antwerp". Belgium is a great place for nipping about in because its only wee and it has a real rail network. As opposed to the bizarre extortion device we seem to operate in the United Kingdumb.

Antwerp station is a multi-levelled beast. Beneath a very old-looking classical facade, there's cavernous James Bond Baddie subterranean complex with Trains coming and going at all angles. Impressive stuff.

Antwerp has a very different vibe from Brussels. It leans more towards the Flemish side than the French. The Streets seem generally wider and the houses have that tall dutch look to them. We had a nice walk from the station to the FoMu (FotoMuseum).

As well as the Sochi Project (that I had come all this way for), they also had on several other excellent exhibitions. The one about the role of the Photo Editor ("Editing the News") was particularly interesting, but unfortunately a lot of it was in Dutch. I'd be really interested to try to track down some English translations of the Photodetective articles Hans Aarsman writes for the Volkskrant.

The Sochi-Project itself was well worth the trip. A fairly staggering exercise in size and scope, that used photography as a tool. I was particularly impressed by the way the exhibition was presented. I'll certainly be ordering the book that accompanies the project as there was so much work in that which couldn't be displayed in Antwerp.

I was getting on a bit by the time we got to Brussels. We had such a good time there the previous evening we decided to return to Cafe Delirium. This time we visited their Hoppy Loft, the home of all manner of imported IPA's, then stuck our heads into the Trappist Cafe, were all the Beer originates in a Monastery. Cracking.