Travelogue - Antwerp (9th Sept 2009)

So, the road trip now brings us to...

ANTWERP!!!

Antwerp - a city that assimilates cultural heritage and modernization

The first place we went to was "Het Steen Castle" (simply known in English as "The Stone Castle"). This place was first built to be a castle and a prison which then was partly demolished for the development of the harbour since Antwerp was Belgium's biggest port. Then it was used as the Museum of Archeology with annexures to house the Maritime Museum. There's also a small section that is used as a war memorial for Canadian soldiers in WWII.

Het Steen

Chin Aun and I in front of Het Steen








Several Views of the Castle on the inside






Heading to the harbour behind Het Steen (with the Canadian War Memorial in the background)

On the Harbour (check out the wind blowing my hair into a mad frenzy)

Gawking at the Lange Wapper Statue in front of Het Steen

The Lange Wapper is legend about a giant to irritates and provokes people and is supposed to be well known and told in Antwerp and other Flemish cities - and truth be told, I did not know that until I came home and googled it

The Anchor in front of Het Steen

After we've had enough of the castle (the Maritime Museum is closed and will be relocated elsewhere so there's nothing much to see except to feel the strong wind on the harbour), we walked across the roads and headed towards Grote Markt (The Main Square of Antwerp).

Heading to Grote Markt

The Cathedral of our Lady can clearly be seen in the background as we head straight towards the Main Square

Grote Markt (The Main Square in Antwerp - translated in English means Big Market Square)

Check out the fountain-statue in the middle of the square - in remembrance of Brabo and his defeat of Antigonus the Giant! If you look at the photo clear enough, you'll see that Brabo is holding the chopped off hand of Antogonus the Giant - poised to throw it into the sea. Apparently, it was from this Dutch Fairy Tale that it was how Antwerp got its name (Antwerp means Hand Throwing in Dutch!).

Chin Aun and I taking photos in the Square

Antwerp Town Hall in Grote Markt

Me in front of the Town Hall bearing the flags of EU

Chin Aun imitating the pose of 'The buideldrager' (The Bag Carrier)

Arbeid Vrijheid means Labour Freedom and this monument is to honour the labour workers and their daily hard work

Horsey ride in the Square!

Also in the square is the Cathedral of our Lady, a Roman Catholic parish church. I can't tell you how blessed we are that we actually got to see this church as it's one of the most beautiful buildings in Europe and is listed on the list World Heritage Sites. Some of the masterpieces of Peter Paul Reubens are found in this church - T"he Raising of the Cross," "Assumption of the Virgin Mary" and "The Descent from the Cross"

Chin Aun and I in front of the Cathedral




Inside the Cathedral

The Cathedral Interior

We didn't stay the night in Antwerp but continued with our journey to Paris... which was around another 400km+ away!

And of course on the way there, we got hungry and decided to go for a pit stop to refuel our tummies. We stopped at one of the rest stops only to find that it wasn't the typical rest stop but was instead a small hotel called Nazareth. I, being penny-wise, told Chin Aun that we should just drive on ahead and stop at the next one to find a cheaper alternative for food (say some fast food and coffee to go??) but he refused because he was too hungry. So, Hotel Nazareth it was!

Nazareth at the rest stop

Fuel for our tummies

Surprisingly, the food was rather affordable! We each ordered some sandwiches and some coffee and the bill amounted to only around 20 euros! Similar pricing structure as some rest stops, I would say. But with better service, better food presentation and cleaner toilets! Hehe...

After the food, we continued with our journey and reached Paris close to 7pm.. I'll post more on Paris in my next blog post :)

Till then~