Of course, Antwerp is beautiful on the inside. With her cozy side-streets, the fantastic architecture and her opportunities to go wherever you want to go, and do whatever you want to do. But sometimes you need to take some distance to see the real picture. Linkeroever offers you that picture, and will draw you an even better one. You’ll see Antwerp from her best side. The front-side.
In the tourist shops, you’ve probably spotted them: T-shirts, postcards and posters with an image of Antwerp as a whole. ‘t MAS at the left side, ‘t Steen, the Cathedral in the middle, and the prominent building of KBC on the right. In one clear view, it shows you Antwerp. Beautiful isn’t it?
But what if you get home with such a T-shirt, and your friends ask you ‘is that Antwerp?’, what are you going to say? Do you say: ‘Yes it is, but I haven’t seen it like this, but it was nice anyhow’, or are you going for the real thing? The latter I hope! And this is how:
Go to Sint-Jansvliet (nearby the Hoogstraat). You’ll see a basketball court, and a cubic building. In that building there’s a elevator and some escalators. These will take you to the Sint Annatunnel, which is an experience by itself. Walking underneath the Scheldt; you haven’t seen Antwerp if you didn’t do that. They’ve shot music videos in there, and many creatives have been inspired by the strange and unique architecture of this tunnel.
When you’ve past the tunnel, you’re at the other side of the Scheldt: at Linkeroever. The only thing you’ll have to do next, is to walk as close as you can to the water. Take a seat, grab a Bolleke and enjoy the front-side of the city. Thís is Antwerp!
Text by Tim