Antwerp, Belgium

Monday April 15, 2013.  We docked here in Antwerp last night during our dinner.  So after dinner we walked up on the top deck of the ship and spoke with a few local men who had been drinking.  They told us how they loved the USA.

I slept in and Bob had already gone to breakfast with the gang.  We were skipping the optional tour this morning.  So I dressed and Bob and I had breakfast with Richard and Ellen from southern Illinois.  They were also not going on the tour.

After breakfast, I returned to the lounge and worked on the pictures and blog for yesterday.  It is tough to keep up as the pace of this trip is quick.

Bob and I decided to walk into town and try and find some vodka.  While we were walking about, it started to rain.  So we broke down and bought two umbrellas.  The Cathedral was closed as there was a funeral going on.  It was raining quite hard, so we returned to the boat.

The town square in the morning.  You can see all the different guild houses that surround the square.

The center of the square with the fountain.  Notice the golden statues on the top of the guild houses.  They have all just been redone so they are bright and shinny.

 I tell the story of the statue later in the blog.

This is the town hall.  Most local people do not come to this part of the city unless they need to go to the town hall.  This is the historic part of the city.  But there are lots of restaurants in this part of the city.

Lunch was with Kathleen and Bill from South Carolina and Ray from Virginia.  Ray's wife was on the tour and they were late getting back due to a traffic accident.  Kathleen and Bill have done 27 Vantage River Cruises.  They have done this one 5 different times.  They have different last names so we do not know if they are married but they live together, I think.  We then joined the gang when we were finished.


Antwerp is the largest city in Flanders and one of Europe's busiest ports.  It began as a settlement on the banks of the Scheldt River in the 2nd century AD.  Its golden age came during the era of Spanish rule, when it was illuminated by the artistic genius of its most famous son - Pieter Paul Rubens.

We started our walk toward the castle which is still standing.

This is a statue of the giant and the sailors.  It sits outside the castle.

This building is called the meat building.  It was the original butcher shop and home.  They call it bacon as you can see the bricks of red and then white.  Like a strip of bacon.

Grote Markt, Antwerp's central square,  holds in the center the Brabo Fountain.  It is commemorating the legend of a Roman Soldier, Siilvius Brabo, who killed the evil giant who had been terrorizing shipping.  Legend has it that he beheaded the giant and cut off his hand and threw it in the river.  The giant had been making the sailors pay and if they did not pay, he would cut off their hand and throw it into the river.

 Just closer of the guild houses at the town square.

The old city was surrounded by this wall.  This is all that is left of it that we could see.\

The tour in the afternoon was a walking tour of the city.  Mark was our local guide.  We had him in Brussels.  We saw the castle, the meat building, and the Cathedral.

The Cathedral took almost two centuries, from 1352 to 1521 to complete.  The Cathedral has a large collection of paintings and sculptures including three works by Ruben.

The entrance to the Cathedral

The figures above the doors to the Cathedral.  The top level is Jesus and the angles.  The second level shows the figures on the left going to heaven and the figures on the right going to the devil.  The figures on the lower level show angles and figures celebrating.

 Inside the Cathedral.  This is a beautiful building.

One of the three Rubens.  This is the carrying of Jesus.

This Ruben is at the front of the Cathedral

Another view of the Carrying of Jesus.

We got directions to the market and was able to buy some vodka.  We returned to the boat and I attended the chocolate demonstration while Bob napped.

Back on the ship I attended a lecture on making chocolate.  Then worked on pictures until time to dress for dinner.  Tonight in the lounge they had a Mexican theme.  Dinner was good.  Robert, our waiter from Poland, got talking to us and would not stop.  Told us he used to work for Celebrity and met his wife there.  She is from Peru.  They have two boys.  Funny guy.

We were entering a lock so we stood on the dock and watched the lock fill up with other boats and barges.  Interesting.

Back to the cabin where we learned about the bombing at the Boston Marathon.  A tragedy.  Then lights out and sleep.