Abandoned Stock Exchange - Belgium
The abandoned stock exchange rates highly with urban explorers and it was high on my list of 'must see' places. We got to the city in the morning to meet up with another mate who had done this haunt a few times before and made our way towards his usual entrance. It was boarded up with no chance of getting in.....so we walked around the back and, as soon as the coast was clear, squeezed our way through a locked gate. We pulled on a heavy door handle and, to our luck, it opened and we walked straight in. The interior was amazing but I was a little upset that the loose planks of wood strewn all over the floor (that I'd seen in previous explorers pictures) had now been cleaned up and stacked into neat piles and placed in rooms off to the side....so it looked a little too clean for my liking.....but still beautiful. We started shooting our pictures and then security rocked up....oh shit, we ran up a stairway and snuck across one of the upper balconies and lay on the floor for about 20 minutes while we heard the two guards talking to each other. We stayed silent knowing that any noise we made would be heard (the space is very echoey and even a pin drop would prick their ears). Sweating because we were in a foreign country (and didnt want to get charged for trespassing) we waited and waited.....they left and we heard a loud bang (a door being closed). After about 5 minutes, we got up and snuck back down to the ground level and took a few more pictures......then went to our exit door to leave.....and it was locked. Realising we were locked inside the stock exchange was kinda funny but kinda scary and we had a few giggles. After a half hour, we found our way out and climbed over a huge wall and landed on our feet in front of a few people in the street and just walked off casually.
