Antwerp Has a population of 536,079, with the largest metropolitan area of 1.2 million people, next to Brussels in size. The port is second to Rotterdam in Europe. Hosted the Summer Olympics in 1920. First settlement soon after the Year zero, Was once the sugar capital of Europe, importing the raw commodity from Portuguese and Spanish plantations on  both sides of the Atlantic when slavery was in fashion. Soon thereafter in the 1500's became the richest city in Europe. The Reformation religious revolution erupted in Antwerp with violent riots in 1566. Suffered during World War II. Starting in the 1990s rebranded itself as a world-class fashion center emphasizing  avant-garde clothes. So I joined the beer tour. Belgian pale ale is the pride of Antwerp.  Gained fame in the Liege exposition of 1905. Best known is De Koninck. As expected, was led by my Blue-bar Pigeon. Another kind of bird. The Cathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp) began construction on 1521, and at a certain stage...