Antwerp Again!

Let me just stop you right there. Yes. I did just go to Antwerp a couple of weeks ago. But if you've ever been to Antwerp, you will fully understand my desire to go back again. And again. Let's face it, it's a huge and amazing city, and I barely scratched the surface of it during my last visit. Besides, there is nothing more enjoyable or relaxing as a nice train ride to the city of diamonds. (Even if you don't actually buy any diamonds, it's lots of fun to admire their sparkly charms through the store windows.) Dawn came along with me on today's adventure. After a brisk walk down from the train station, we visited The Cathedral of Our Lady in the Groenplaats (Green Churchyard). I thought the side view was impressive, but check out the front of this beauty! All of the carved detail around the massive door was very intricate. From best I can tell, it illustrates that some people go to heaven, and others take an unappealing, and slightly warmer, path. This is the largest church in The Netherlands, and it took 183 years to build (1352-1535). This statue is just to the right of the main entrance. You are allowed to take pictures inside the Cathedral, but you are not allowed to use your flash. I'll just share a few of the 50 or so pictures that I took inside. The architecture is stunning, and there are lots of paintings by P.P. Rubens and detailed wood carvings all over the place. It is a little overwhelming, because you feel like you have to look everywhere at once. This view is looking straight up while standing in front of the pulpit. Now you are looking forward, and a little high, so you can admire the beautiful cross.And this is right in front of you. Here is a close up of the painting on the ceiling of the Cathedral's dome. One of my favorite things about all of the churches here, is the fact that they have such amazing stained glass windows. This church was no exception. They are all beautiful!After exploring the Cathedral, we stepped back out into the little square called the Handschoenmarkt (Glove Market). It was still early morning, so things were pretty quiet. It gets a lot more lively around lunch time. I loved the name of this little cafe. It's literally called In De Schaduw Van De Kathedraal (In The Shadow of the Cathedral). And yes, it was. In this little square is De Quinten Matsijput well. It's a stone well with very fancy ironwork decorations the top of it. When you head down a little street from the Handschoenmarkt, you will soon find yourself in De Grote Markt (The Market Square). On a normal day, it is a large, open square, but not today. They were setting up an enormous set of bleachers that actually surrounded the fountain/statue. You know what this means, don't you? Yep. Now I have to come back again. How can I not get a clear picture of the Stadhuis (Town Hall) and statue? This is the famous De Brabofountein ( The Brabo Fountain). For fellow Starbucks mug collectors, this is featured on the Antwerp mug. I'm just saying. The fountain is of Silvius Brabo, a nephew of Julius Caesar. Legend has it that there was once a huge and terrible giant named Antigon, that lived on the side of the Scheldt river, where the city of Antwerp now lies. When someone wanted to cross the river, they had to pay the giant a toll. If they could not pay the toll, the giant cut of their right hand and tossed it into the river. The giant terrorized travelers for a long time until young Brabo came upon the scene. He killed the giant, and then chopped off it's hands and tossed them into the river. Antwerpen got it's name from hand werpen (to throw hand). At least this is one side of the story. Others insist that it's name came from the words An t' werf (at the wharf), because it is a large port city. There is some debate about this issue, but you know how I love a good story, so I go with the first version. Down another little street, and you will end up at the Scheltd River and Het Steen. This is the former home of the previously mentioned giant. It was turned into a prison in the 18th century. Now, it's the headquarters for the National Maritime Museum, which is just to the right of it. This is a statue of Lange Wrapper, who is known as The Teaser of the Antwerpeans. I'm told that he started out as a normal sized man, but when he went out at night, he could make himself bigger and bigger until he was a giant. Then he would torment the locals, mostly those who were drunk. During the day time, he would relax on the banks of the Scheld. I think there are about as many legends about giants here as there are statutes of fellows who look like Shakespeare. On the other side of the Castle is the National Maritime Museum. It's free, so be sure to just walk around and check out all of the old boats. It's really interesting. We saw everything from tiny one person dingys to huge sailing ships. Soon, it was time to return to the Grote Markt, get some lunch and head back to the train station. As we entered the square, we noticed this large horse and carriage.

This is an absolute must do, if you ever find yourself in the city of Antwerp. For a mere 5 Euro, you can enjoy a leisurely 45 minute ride in a horse drawn carriage, driven by this dapper gentleman in a top hat. He leaves every hour, on the hour, starting at 10 am and ending at 6 pm. (I think, but don't sue me if I'm off an hour.) What a wonderful way to see such a gorgeous city! Hmmmmm. Maybe on my next visit...