Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Antwerp


With a lazy start to the day, it was 10am before we caught an Intercity train from Brussels Central station for the 45 minute trip to Antwerp. We had a great day walking from the station through the centre of the town to the Scheldt river, visiting several attractions on the way.

Antwerp Central station
After passing through the diamond quarter near the station, our first stop was the beautiful Stadsfeestzaal shopping mall where Ian had a great time taking photos while I checked out some of the shops.



Continuing on we came to the Rubenshuis, the home of artist and diplomat, Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens lived here from 1610 until his death in 1640 and the house has been restored to show how a wealthy and influential person lived in Antwerp at that time. We followed a most interesting audio tour and also saw many of his paintings, although the main salon is closed to visitors at present.

Rubens' self portrait

The inner courtyard at Rubenshuis
We walked through the Grote Markt, Antwerp's main square, which is a bit dilapidated compared to Brussels, and then to the waterfront at the Scheldt River. Here we bought some frites, a famous Belgian delicacy. They were the most deliciously crisp chips we have ever had - they came in cardboard cones and were topped with our choice of sauce (tartare for me and curry for Ian).


On our way back through the city, we stopped at the Old Meat Hall, a most impressive brick palace which gave an indication of the sort of power and influence that members of the butchers' guild would have had in medieval cities.


Finally we spent over an hour in the Museum Plantin-Moretus - and we would have spent much longer if it hadn't closed then! This is a museum about the history of printing and still contains original sixteenth century printing presses. The building was the home and business premises of the Plantin family and later the Moretus family, and contains some beautfully decorated aristocratic rooms as well as the printing works and a collection of antique manuscripts. One remarkable book was a sixteenth century polyglot bible, printed with five languages on each page.

Courtyard garden of the Museum Plantin-Moretus


We returned to the area near the station for dinner and then back to Brussels by train, feeling very pleased with all we had managed to experience in Antwerp in a day.

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