Antwerp, Belgium

One of the best places I've ever been to. Antwerp has a cool, laid back vibe - all the while being an extremely sophisticated place. My friend Mike and I were there during Car Free Day, which means no cars whatsoever in the central part of the city.

Simultaneously, it was Free Sport Day, so there was a stretch of free sports activities, like rock climbing, kick boxing, martial arts, jump rope, and beyond. Here is a photo of a free rockwall next to a fort I enjoyed in Antwerp:



Yes, that IS an awesome statue, thanks for noticing.


One of the coolest things in Antwerp was the open graffiti park, where anyone can tag without fear:





Speaking of graffiti, this was a few blocks away on the side of the Jesuit church:



And thank Goodness for that, because when we got to Brussels, there was a single hostel available nor an affordable hotel room. We had to make our way to the shittiest place on earth - Charleroi, where our discount flight from the airport there awaited us the following morning. The pissing little boy fountain is Belgium's official logo.


But we didn't leave Antwerp without first going through the 1/2 km pedestrian and bicycle tunnel under the main river there:



Escalator waaaay down (tunnel constructed 1931-1933)



The tunnel itself.


Then we took the train to Ghent...