Exploring Chocolate Nation and Antwerp’s Hidden Gems
A few weeks ago, CEA CAPA took us on a day trip to Antwerp, Belgium, and it was an amazing experience. Frans and Chiara, my onsite staff, had been telling us about this excursion since we first arrived in the Netherlands. I was excited to visit a new city and a new country, and I couldn’t wait to go with everyone in the program.
The day started extremely early, as we had to be on the FlixBus at 8:00 a.m. After the two-hour bus ride, Frans immediately started us off with our first activity of the day. It was a short walk to the Antwerp train station, Antwerpen-Centraal. When we arrived, you could immediately see how beautiful it was just from the outside. The station was even more stunning on the inside, with large domes cascading upward and an ornate gold clock on the third floor of the balcony, just above where you would enter to get to the trains. After we had a few minutes to take it all in, Frans gave us some time to grab a quick breakfast. My friends and I chose to get Belgian waffles, and they were absolutely delicious. Each bite was sweet, and they were served warm, which made the experience even more enjoyable.
Coming up on Antwerp-Centraal
After breakfast, we reconvened, and it was time to go to the most highly anticipated activity: Chocolate Nation. The museum was entirely dedicated to chocolate, specifically Belgian chocolate. We were guided through the museum with an audio guide, which took us through the intricacies of how specific the conditions for growing cocoa beans are, how they harvest and prepare the beans, the selection process once they arrive in Belgium, and, of course, how the chocolate is made. The museum engaged all of the visitors' senses and felt extremely immersive, especially the room with replicas of the machines used to make chocolate. After watching the process of making chocolate, visitors are ushered into a room where they get to watch a light show where “le petit chef” makes them an ice cream sundae with chocolate on top. The museum, as a whole, was interactive and exciting, but the best part was yet to come. At the very end of the museum, there is a large room where you can taste all the different types of Belgian chocolate.
They have a flavor for everyone, starting with white and going all the way to 85% cacao dark chocolate. I loved going around and seeing everyone’s reactions to the different flavors as we went down the line.
My friends and I at Chocolate Nation
After the chocolate museum, we were off to the next site. On the way there, we saw a Peter Paul Rubens statue! We stopped to take a picture, and I couldn’t stop talking about how much I loved his work. He’s one of my favorite Flemish artists, and as an art history major, I’ll never pass up a rare opportunity to talk about art.
Seeing the Peter Paul Reubens statue
After the statue, we walked to a Gothic church, the Cathedral of Our Lady. It was absolutely gorgeous. I’d seen many cathedrals throughout Europe, but this one was definitely one of my favorites. Frans and Chiara led us into the cathedral, which was ornately decorated with all kinds of art, including statues, stained glass, oil paintings, reliefs, and so much more. The cathedral was absolutely beautiful and had so many things to look at. I had a hard time deciding where I wanted to start first and slowly made my way around the church on my own as I attempted to explore all of the intricate details of everything I came across. The cathedral was awe-inspiring from a design standpoint alone. Eventually, my friends came and found me, excited to ask me questions about the art they had seen. We explored the church a little while longer, taking in the beauty before embarking on our own journey, as we had some free time before dinner.
During our free time, the first thing we wanted to do was have lunch together. We decided on a kibbeling spot, which was really good and close to the cathedral. After lunch, we decided to go explore Antwerp’s Chinatown with some other people from the program. I had never been to Chinatown in any city before, so I was excited to go. When I got there, the first thing I noticed was the huge gate that marked the entrance. We went to meet our friends at a Chinese restaurant, where they were having lunch, and the food smelled absolutely delicious. Once they had paid for their meal, we searched for a cute cafe to hang out in while we waited for dinner. We found one near Chinatown and sat down for a warm coffee on a rather cold day.
Me in Chinatown
Some of my friends at the cafe we found near
After about an hour, it was time to regroup for dinner. The restaurant had traditional Belgian food, which we were all excited about. We sat down and waited for the food we ordered to arrive. I had gotten a burger, and I couldn’t wait to eat and hear about what everyone else had spent their free time doing. Most people had gone to the market they had that day and tried all kinds of Belgian food. It was really nice to catch up with everyone at dinner since we hadn’t been out as one whole group since August.
Unfortunately, after dinner, it was time to go home, and everyone felt bittersweet about it. I was still buzzing from the day's excitement and didn’t want to go home. I felt like I had seen so many beautiful things and places that day, and while Amsterdam is beautiful, it was nice to experience something different for a day. I couldn’t have wished for a better day in Antwerp; I feel like I saw almost everything there and had a great time doing it.