Antwerp; Monday, 06 March, 2006

With a large breakfast inside me, I left the hotel and headed back to the central station to store my bags before attempting to find things to do in a European city, which is not a national capital, on a Monday out of season!

So, that will be the zoo then! Well today not, to begin with at least. 8% of Belgium’s GDP comes from the diamond industry (that's just behind Chocolate, Tintin, Fictional detectives with silly moustaches and despotic central African regimes!) The international home of diamonds is Antwerp. It is through here that most diamonds will pass at least once during their transition from ground to jewellery or industrial cutting machine. Just in front on the Centraal station, and located in the same building as the Diamond High Council is the Diamond museum.

The museum presents a down to earth and interesting expose of the worlds most lusted after gem. With an audio guide instead of lots of multi-lingual information boards the museum tells the history of diamond, from its creation 2 billion years ago, through its importance in the past, up to the modern methods of creating spectacular gem stones (as well as creating diamond itself) and the way diamonds are mined and traded today. It is a fascinating museum, which I spent almost two hours looking round (that is about 90 minutes longer than I thought it would take). On each floor of the three-floor museum there are also displays of some spectacular examples of the jewellers art. The only down side (if there is one) is a feeling that despite all that the museums shows it still shines through that the diamond industry is a bit of a protectionist monopoly!!

Just across the square from the diamond museum (a square that is currently being dug up, as is most of Antwerp to build a new cross city underground mainline railway link) is Aquatopia, the cities modern aquarium, and, as it was currently snowing hard gritty snow (think hail stones only much smaller and much more painful!) I though this would be an ideal time to seek shelter there.

From initial looks, it could come across as a bit childish with its talking octopus (so from 'Diamonds are for ever' to 'Octopussy' in one easy step!) But the information on the displays is written for an adult audience (or at least the English translation is) There are lots of displays, but the most spectacular is left for last as you walk through a tunnel surrounded on all sides by fish and sharks.

By the time I exited the aquarium the sun was out and the snow was long gone, so in line with many previous visits that have gone before it, it's time for the last attraction of the holiday, the Zoo, conveniently located next to the central station (just up from the Diamond museum and 2 minutes walk from Aquatopia).

The zoo fits all the usual patterns, except that the animals all appeared, if you can apply human emotions to animals, to be depressed. The great apes and chimps were all sitting down staring. One of the chimps was sitting, holding its knees close to its chest. Without having access to the internet, or a clear grasp of Flemish there was no way of knowing whether it was because they had just been fed, or if Antwerp zoo specialises in traumatised animals, but I wandered round the zoo with a very unsettling feeling that not all was right.

Having dodged into the zoo shop to avoid another heavy snow shower I went back to the station, caught the tram out to the Groenplaats, and did a spot of souvenir shopping before heading back to the station, to start my long journey home.