Image by Ysabel Jongeneelen

The Zwarte Panther (Black Panter) is a famous art gallery in Antwerp where I walk in from time to time. In the Hoogstraat, a small street where no cars are allowed, you wouldn’t expect this interesting complex building with nice spaces, a cute inner court, a chapel, a cellar and a little house behind the chapel.

In 1303 it was a little guesthouse (Sint Julianus Gasthuis) where poor pilgrims could stay a while. In 1968 the gallery opened. They say it is the oldest gallery in Flanders and the second oldest in Belgium for contemporary art. Adriaan Raemdonck, the gallery owner is passionate and takes his job very seriously.

There are almost permanently exhibitions by famous artists like Fred Bervoets, Jan Cox, Pjeroo Roobjee, Sam Dillemans, Jan Vanriet and many others.

I find it a an interesting place, not only because of the great art you can find there, but also because of the location from the Middle ages. The chapel (restored in 1956-1958) is simple but beautiful, the art in it is special. The inner court is idyllic, the rooms upstairs are light and pleasant. The art of Fred Bervoets is impressive.

Once in a time I walk in, and enjoy this oasis in the city. It is a spot where art meets history and that’s a good marriage.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Zwarte Panter | Art & culture | Free
Hoogstraat 70-72-74 | Meir | +3232331345
Thu – Sun 13:30 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by Ysabel Jongeneelen

A couple of years ago the neighborhood around the falconplein was a different world. It was a square with dubious shops ran by the Russian mafia and Georgian gangsters. They say it was possible to buy grenades under the table, and the smuggling in fake products and girls from the east were big business then. The falconplein was/is also at the edge of the red light district.

When the city decided to ‘clean up’ the square in 2007 this was very successful. Not so adventurous anymore but today it is a more pleasant square where crime isn’t longer the most important thing.

On the first and the third Sunday of every month there is a market for biological products. And on the square you can find the nice café Bartilia. It is called Bartilia because of the former trees that stood on the square. They were all limetrees (‘Tilia’). When they redesigned the square all the lime trees had to go.

The owners of Bartilia wanted to make a statement and they named the cafe after the trees. Bartilia is a cosy cafe for young and old, but especially for the young. In weekends it can be busy but it is always nice to be there. It is allowed to smoke in there. The atmosphere is good.

On Sunday it is nice to combine the market with a coffee in Café Bartilia. But be careful, sometimes the café opens a little bit later than planned…

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Bartilia | Bars, Coffee & tea
Falconplein 43 | Eilandje | +32484157995
Autumn/Winter 15:00 – 03:00 daily | Spring/Summer 11:00 – 03:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by Ysabel Jongeneelen

We have a very small Chinatown in Antwerp. It is only one street. But in our small Chinatown is a very large Asian supermarket: Sun Wah. I don’t know what the name means but it is like a trip to Asia: Everybody speaks Chinese, the products are strange and beautiful, and it smells intriguing. Sometimes I don’t know whether it is a vegetable or fruit and when I have a box with strange signs on in my hands it can be impossible to understand what is in it. My mother bought once a can with snake in it. I didn’t want to taste it.

But it is a great experience to come here. I really love it!

I come there when I want to prepare some Asian dishes or when I’m looking for a special oystersauce for example, but I always buy something new, something I didn’t try before, or something completely mysterious.

I suppose it looks really like Asia in this wonderfull supermarket, but it probably is an asian supermarket with a Belgian undertone.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Sun Wah | Shopping
Van Wesenbekestraat 16-18 | Stationsbuurt | +3237707714
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by Ysabel jongeneelen

In Antwerp we have a controversial building at the outskirts of town: The Law Courts. We call it also the ‘Vlinderpaleis’ (Butterfly palace) because it has strange ‘wings’ on the roof. A sweet name for such a building.

It was designed by the famous architect Richard Rogers. When it was finished in 2006 everybody spoke of it. Some people thought it was ugly, others thought it was a spectacular beauty. It cost a fortune and it took years to build it. The roof is made of stainless steel and looks like shark fins or waves. From a lot of places in the city you can see the threatening rooftops.

They used also a lot of glass. ‘They’ say they want to make every visitor at ease by the glass and the open character of the building. I don’t find it a reassuring place. It looks dangerous and impressive on the outside. The hall is enormous.

I go there sometimes for my work (Juvenile Court). Behind the glossy facade it is a sad place where they made some crucial errors in the design and for people who have unpleasant business to take care of it’s cold and hostile.

I live very close to this building. At night it can be special – like a big dragon in the dark. It is great for photographers. I can recommend everybody to pass by, to look inside, but remember: in the belly of the dragon there is mostly misery.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Court house of Antwerp | Art & culture | Free
Bolivarplaats 20 | Zuid | +3232578011
Mon – Fri 08:30 – 12:30 & 13:30 – 16:00, closed on holidays

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by Ysabel Jongeneelen

In the Hoogstraat (close to the Zwarte Panter, check the Zwarte Panter article) there is a little shop called ‘Achter de Maan’ (Behind the Moon).

It is not so easy to tell what they are selling, but it is always fun. They have a lot of design things, and a lot of toys. One of the characteristics is that almost all objects are funny. They make me smile. There are original umbrella’s (in the shape of little persons), bags, funny kitchen stuff and Japanese toys. The sell similar things to Akotee (check the Akotee article) on the Melkmarkt, but yet they have their own style. In Dutch we call the things they sell ‘hebbedingetjes’: little things you want to have, but that are mostly not needed.

What I don’t like is that they sell a lot of plastic and that it is a little bit too expensive. But is is really a great shop to find the perfect present. For somebody else or for yourself.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Achter de Maan | Shopping
Hoogstraat 45 | Meir | +3232907292
Mon & Wed – Sat 10:00 – 18:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by Ysabel Jongeneelen

A couple of years ago, when I lived in the north of the city – which is a relatively poor part of the city – there was one specific object that stole my heart. It was Pepto Bismo…

This extraordinary nice ‘Panamarenko’ lands on the corner of the Sint-Jansplein, which is the biggest square in Antwerp. Pepto Bismo is a statue of the strange Belgian artist Panamarenko, who’s called a great visionary. He was born in 1940 as Henri Van Herreweghe and choose his artistname from a combination of the Pan American Airlines and the Russian ending -enko.

Panamarenko is world famous for his scalemodels and drawings of bizarre spaceships, aircrafts and submarines. He donated Pepto Bismo in 2003 to the city and Pepto was placed in this poor neighbourhood where Panamarenko lived almost all his live.

A lot of people were surprised that a such a nice statue was placed in this ‘ghetto-area’ of Antwerp. And it was also placed on a low socle. Everybody thought that Pepto would be molested very soon.

But today he is still there. Shiny and unharmed. Pepto Bismo is a wonderful statue. He makes me happy. In the time I lived there, I had to pass Pepto Bismo every time when I went to the shops. I looked up to him many times. For me he represents believe and hope.

And what do you think… Is he taking off or landing?

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Pepto Bismo | Art & culture | Free
Sint Jansplein | Eilandje
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by Ysabel Jongeneelen

Even when you’re not a metal or Gothic or a punk-fan, there’s a shop in the Kammenstraat in Antwerp that is great fun and worth a visit. ‘Fans’ is a clothing shop for Gothics and vampires, and other subcultures and species… You can almost permanently find youngsters with extreme black clothing in this strange shop that has opened the seventies.

The owners of the Fans faced a lot of difficulties and lawsuits over the years because the neighbors considered them dangerous and provocative. But the people that come here may look dangerous, they are often insecure and mostly very nice. When I spoke to the owner last week, he told me: ‘We only get bloodthirsty after closing time…’ I thought this was very funny. In September they wrote `Black to School…’ on the windows.

I used to be afraid to go inside, but since a while I go there sometimes and wander around in the very little shop. It is a lot of fun. They sell the strangest things. I got me a ‘Giant Microbe’ – they’re like teddy bear microbes. I got “the flu”. They also sell coffin-shaped wallets, and of course a lot of clothes. Some are really wearable for ‘outsiders’.

This shop is an icon in Antwerp; almost everybody knows ‘the Fans’ and it is a part of this city. They say it’s a gate to the Underworld, but it is also an interesting place with interesting objects…

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Fans | Shopping
Kammenstraat 80 | Meir | +3232323172
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by ysabel jongeneelen

The Witzli-Poetzli is a very small café in the center of citycenter. It is next to our great cathedral. In the summer there’s an unique terras in the shadow of the cathedral. In the winter it is a cosy place where people come to drink coffee and read a newspaper.

In the narrow street of the Witzli are no cars allowed and there are practically no shops. It is a passing-through-street. A lot of people pass by and from the Witzli-Poetzli you have a perfect view! In winter there’s a lot of wind in the street, so you can see very funny situations that happen to by-passers.

The former owner – Guido – died very suddenly in December 2008, a couple of weeks after a fight in his cafe. This was a enormous shock for a lot of people in Antwerp. And of course: what would happen to the Witzli?! Antwerp wouldn’t be te same without! We are very lucky that a former barman took over the café and that he keeps the Witzli like it was.

I visit the Witzli-Poetzli a lot. It is the most ideal spot to meet friends or to rest after a walk in the city. But the most important reason is their white coffee (café au lait). Normally I never drink white coffee, but it is such a genius form of it that I always drink it when I come there.

Don’t leave Antwerp without tasting the Witzli-coffee!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Witzli-Poetzli | Bars, Coffee & tea
Blauwmoezelstraat 8 | Meir
From 10:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by Ysabel Jongeneelen

I often go to café/restaurant K. Zeppos. The name comes from a Belgian tv-programme for kids: Kapitein Zeppos. It played in the years 1964 till 1968 and was very successful.

When you enter the café you see a very big picture of the actor that played Kapitein Zeppos (Senne Rouffaer).

K. Zeppos is a very ‘practical’ café/restaurant. It’s in the middle of the city, but not in the heat of the tourist-zone. It has an enormous terrace on a big square in summer and in winter it is very comfortable inside. Good atmosphere, nice food for an okay price. It’s not cheap, but also not very expensive. Only their tea is way too expensive. That’s why I never drink tea in the K. Zeppos.

It’s a perfect meeting-place for little groups. If I want to see a bunch of my friends we think easily of K.Zeppos. Especially if some people have to eat. You can eat classic Belgian food, but they have also meals from all over the world. And it’s no smoking… It’s a good place where I like to come from time to time..

Details about this spot (Show on map)
K. Zeppos | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Intern.) | Main meal from € 15.00
Vleminckveld 78 | Meir | +3232311789
From 10:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp

Image by Ysabel Jongeneelen

On a lazy Sunday I love to walk through the Kloosterstraat. It’s my favorite ‘window shop street’. Most of the shops sell antiques: furniture, books, nice African antiques, etc. Some sell bathroom antiques, others sell Christmas decoration or fifties-objects. The fun is that there is this great amusing diversity and incredible curiosa.

The Kloosterstraat is like a constant changing open air museum where you can buy the strangest objects. If you have enough money of course. That’s an important detail: almost everything in the Kloosterstraat is heavily overpriced. But it is a pleasure to discover all the secret objects that are lost in time and lost in the Kloosterstraat.

They say that this street has an international reputation and that a lot of wardrobes and tables and books and stuff are sold overseas, but that I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m full of plans and dreams when I walk through this street. Plans for how I’m going to decorate that really big castle when I have that disgraceful amount of money.

I find it an amusing walk to the city center because every time I see things that I cannot believe or things that I never expected to see ever again. I can recommend a spaziergang to the South through the Kloosterstraat. And if you can resist all the beautiful things, it’s free…

On Monday and Tuesday the most shops are closed. The weekend is the best moment to visit this street…

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Kloosterstraat | Art & culture, Shopping
Kloosterstraat | Sint Andries
Aproximately Wed – Sun 10:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Antwerp