OVER ANTWERP -- A fellow just got on this tiny commuter plane with his wife and tiny baby.  He settled them into row 3.  And promptly disappeared to the back of the plane.

How can he get away with that?  The plane is half empty. 

It takes all kinds.

This morning the good people on this VLM flight out of London offered me breakfast.  A meatloaf sandwich.  Now, maybe it lost something in translation, but that doesn't sound like a good way to start your day at all.

As my client met me in the heavily fortified diamond district, he pointed me into town to kill some time and said: "we don't have a lot of civic pride here."

And I think that is unfair.  Antwerp is not a traditionally pretty city, but it has many charms.

The service industry appears nicely focused on service.  The architecture is patchy but with moments of brilliance.  But the business flair seems quite strong.  There are many interesting shops, a truly remarkably re-designed train station, no Starbucks, and a real warmth. 

Which is quite something for a city in which you can operate quite comfortably in Flemish, French or English.  So what if they have meatloaf for breakfast.

Places like Antwerp will continue to brew up creative business ideas for the rest of the world.  And be a pleasure to visit for people who are looking for inspiration.

/df