A day of wonder…

… as the magpie greets you with joyful chatter and the jackdaws perform a welcome ballet above the train tracks in your honour upon arrival.

© KV — ballet

… as over coffee and a bun you don’t know what to look at first.

© KV — Antwerp Central Station

… as famous masterpieces turn out to be tiny.

© KV — Jan Van Eyck, Holy Barbara

… as angels apparently know how to read.

© KV — Carolus Boromeus church

… as silence descends the moment you’ve crossed the gate into sacred territory.

© KV — Antwerp beguinage, a haven of peace even as the city is throbbing right outside its walls

… as you are being thanked with flowers, warmer words and more praise than you ever felt you deserved for something that you didn’t even know had an impact.

© KV — Thank you flowers

Antwerp, you keep surprising me.