Wandering through Antwerp

A few weeks ago during my parents' visit to Brussels, we spent some time exploring the town of Antwerp, the 2nd largest city in Belgium. We decided to get our first taste of this city by exploring its old town. Upon exiting the parking structure, we found ourselves in the center of Groenplaats, a popular meeting place, and greeted by a statue of Peter Paul Reubens (no, not Pee-Wee Herman as Ray had thought!), the famous painter who lived here in the early 17th century.

Close by and dominating the Antwerp skyline was our first stop - the beautiful Our Lady Cathedral.

A short walk later, we found ourselves in the heart of the splendid Grote Markt and surrounded by the Town Hall, houses of the Guild, shops and outdoor cafes. In the center of the square was Brabo fountain, created by sculptor Jef Lambeaux in 1887. If you look closely at its' picture, you will notice the water of the fountain is not caught in a basin, but simply disappears through the stones of the monument, where it enters a closed water circuit.

Continuing on our walking tour, we stumbled across the Steen (meaning "stone" in Dutch). This small castle can be seen at the entrance of the city center, on the border of the river Scheldt. It was one of the earliest buildings in Antwerp constructed with stones and was probably built to fortify the city in the 13th century.

At its entrance, the statue of a man with "spread out legs" can be seen. Interestingly, this statue used to be "very well endowed" and was therefore visited by numerous women looking for a cure against infertility. Found to be too obscene for the 17th century, his "manhood" was removed off the statue -- poor guy! (In a country where the iconic symbol is the Mannekin Pis, what was wrong with this guy?) Since then, the Steen was used as a prison, an archeological museum and now currently houses the National Maritime Museum.

On our way back to the city centre, we passed the Vleeshuis or Butcher's Hall, one of the oldest buildings in the city (built between 1501 and 1503). It was once the only place where you could buy meat in the city.

We walked by St. James Church before stopping off for lunch near the entrance to Grote Markt. As my Dad was really hungry and needed a break, we stopped at the first restaurant we came across -- Chinese food at the bargain deal of 7 euros for a 3-course lunch.

We strolled through the Vlaeykensgang -- an alleyway which dates back to 1591 -- before heading back home to pick up the kiddo's. In this alley, we read that "time has stood still and you can see how the people of Antwerp lived in the 16th century". After walking through the alley, we thought "was that it?" It took us all but 5 minutes to walk through! (perhaps we missed something???)

Our last intended stop was to drive to the diamond area of the city, however the "crazy" Antwerp traffic just didn't allow it. So, I guess those diamonds will just have to wait for another day.

Maybe Ray and I can visit sometime in December!