Here are some photos I took a few years ago when we changed trains in Antwerpen.
We didn’t have time to look around since we only had a few moments to change trains.
What I remember most was the incredible architecture, all the space
and a guy in cowboy boots sitting on a bench on the top floor.
The original terminal was built between 1895 and 1905.
The station was heavily damaged by rockets during WWII.
In the mid 80s it was closed for structural repairs and roof reenforcement.
I hope to visit Antwerpen some day where I would love to also check out the
St. Anna’s Tunnel
mentioned by Kitschig, one of my favorite bloggers, in her latest post.
Go check it out!
Until sanity and safety return, I will travel virtually and revisit favorite places
through my photographs and your blogs.
🙂
in cahoots with muddy boots 
Magnificent!
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It really is, isn’t it!
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it sure is!
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That’s an amazing train station! I love the mix of old and new architecture. Train travel is a bit of a lost art here. I find it to be relaxing. Maybe it’s the sound of the wheels or the gently sway 😉 Thanks for sharing, Sabine!
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We love traveling by train too, Missy! Whenever we’ve gone to Europe we took trains, buses and streetcars to get around. It’s safe and efficient, plus you get to meet the locals. Have a good week, Missy!
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You too!
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I read Jeanine’s post and that tunnel was amazing as was the escalator. What a wonderful old building with such history Sabine! We have an old train station here in Detroit which was known as the “Michigan Central Depot” but it closed up and for years it remained closed, disintegrating walls, crumbling bricks and when Detroit hosted Super Bowl in 2006, they had a company create a fake facade for the Depot so it would look like it was a modern, occupied building when the Blimp hovered over the City and TV cameras pointed to spots around the City. Ford Motor Company has bought the building, gutted some of it, other places are being preserved, but it still doesn’t look half as ornate as this place. I took a train from England to Germany with my parents and passed by Flanders Field. It was in 1979 – I don’t recall if we were in this station – I am sure I would remember, but 40+ years ago.
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Wow! How sad to let these kinds of buildings decay. I can’t believe that they created a fake facade for the Detroit Depot for the Super Bowl! I sure hope to get back there some day and spend a little time in Antwerpen!
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Yes, the City of Detroit had to look good as they knew many journalists and the media would be covering the event – they went all out and they knew that the Depot was such an eyesore and the Blimp would be a bird’s eye view of everything gone wrong in the City. People were upset that they rounded up the homeless people to take them away from the City. They took away all the outside U.S. Postal Services mail boxes, similar to what they did last week for the inauguration, to ensure no bombs were placed in mail boxes. I wish I could remember what train I took to get to Germany when we left England and went past Flanders Field. I think I’d remember this beautiful station.
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Sad to just improve things for the looks of it. But that happens in many places these days. I will definitely go back and visit Belgium. It’s such a beautiful country!
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Yes, it was sad, just like rounding up all the homeless folks and taking them to another place while Detroit basked in the limelight of the Super Bowl. I wish I had been there longer, instead of just passing through on the train.
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