Jet and Liesbeth on an adventure in Antwerp
for the Giftsuite
Whenever Jet and I travel together, it somehow always turns out to be quite a disaster. Transportation-wise, that is. Last February we were in London for Fashion Week and we missed just about every bus and subway, which meant we ended up in screamingly expensive taxis way too often, and it was the same last September. The highlight was of course our dramatic car ride to and from Paris, where we still sometimes wake up sweating. When we started our train journey to Antwerp on Monday evening, just the two of us, we were quite anxious that it would go hopelessly wrong again.
The outward journey went smoothly, at least. We caught the train perfectly and had thoroughly studied the route from the station to the hotel, and that went like a breeze. Because not only did we get to admire the brands participating in The Giftsuite, we also got to spend a night at the hotel. That hotel was The White Lily and if you ever plan a romantic weekend in Antwerp, go there. Our room had a mega large terrace, a bed we would want to live in immediately, and a shower bigger than my entire living room.
Monday evening started with a drink at the hotel, and the next day the real work would begin. The Giftsuite is an American concept where brands give products to celebrities in the hope that those celebs will use their items and be photographed with them. The Dutch Karlijn Visser brought this concept to the Netherlands, and after a few editions in Amsterdam, it was now time for Antwerp. About twenty BV’ers (Famous Flemings) were invited, and a handful of bloggers were also allowed to come and snoop around. Including us.
We were amazed by the sensual suite where the latest collection from Marlies Dekkers was displayed, learned all about the latest products from Dermalogica, received explanations about tea made from saffron, suddenly had a temporary tattoo on our wrist thanks to Bohotas, and danced to the music coming from the Ultimate Ears music box-for-on-the-go. And we got to go wild in the suite Albert Heijn with shelves full of superfoods and healthy supplements. And yes, even I got excited about that.
As all the BV’ers and bloggers trickled out of the building, we packed our things and prepared for the arduous journey back. With hundreds of bags, we waddled out of the hotel and looked for a café for a quick wifi moment to send our posts to the editorial team. But the danger of opening your laptop is that before you know it, you’re doing three thousand things again and forget the time. I had neatly written down what time the train left, and we still had aaaall the time, until I discovered that the time I was looking at was the departure time from Roosendaal, not from Antwerp.
And then there was suddenly stress again. Loaded down, we ran outside towards the station only to find out after 5 minutes of walking that we were heading in the WRONG direction. Turned around, lugging and hauling, we barely made it to the station and raced onto the platform. We sat down. For the transfer in Roosendaal, we had four minutes, so that is super relaxing. Not. Jet had to risk her life by jumping off the train very quickly at an intermediate station to check us in, because that hadn’t worked out in the rush, but in the end, everything turned out fine and we returned to Amsterdam tired but very satisfied. Thank you Giftsuite, we’ll come visit you again soon!
