A Day In Antwerp

 The day started gray and a bit menacing. All during breakfast we weighed the possibility of staying in or torturing our already sore knees and legs and feet by walking some more to explore Antwerp further. There were some excursions offered by the Uniworld guides but we didn't want to commit and cover much of the same ground we'd been over the day before.

There were two things left on our GPS My Walk app that we wanted to see and hadn't so we took a deep breath and donned warm jackets and started out. The first stop was the St Anna Tunnel. It was a bit of a walk and we'd actually been past it once before but didn't realize what it was. 

Reading the commentary we found that the tunnel was the preferred option in 1931 to building a bridge over the river Shelde to connect the two banks. Since a bridge would interfere with river traffic and navigation, the city decided to build a tunnel--under the river. I don't know about you but I'm imagining the engineering feat it took 92 years ago to construct such a tunnel. 

The tunnel is for pedestrians and bicycles and scooters of course. It extends almost 1900 feet from one side of Antwerp to the other connecting the old town with the developing new one. At a depth of 100 feet, I expected that it was safe from the ship traffic above.

We entered the building housing the escalators that take you down two levels to the tunnel. They are wooden and original to the building and are still in working order--well three-fourths we discovered were. Once at the bottom of the escalator, we entered a white tiled tunnel with a concrete floor. The tunnel was well lit and reminded me of a long hospital corridor.

Even in the tunnel you had to be careful of the fast moving bicyclists and scooter-riders who seemed to come in groups. We discovered that a large elevator would take groups of them down to the tunnel and back up again and at one end of the tunnel where we found that one set of escalators was out of order, it was the only way up or down. Of course at the working side, the bikes rode the escalator up and down. Not sure that was supposed to happen.

At the other side of the river we emerged into a whole different world. It was much quieter, less traffic, and there was a nice little park area behind the entrance building where we could look across the water to see our boat, the River Empress. We sat for a few minutes and pondered the skies that were still gray. There was no rain in the Weatherbug forecaster so we decided to set out for the Rubenhaus when we returned through the tunnel.

The house where Peter Paul Rubens lived and worked and had students who studied in his studio was a little farther walk than I'd anticipated. I knew it was closed for renovation. I'd searched it out before our trip. But I did not know the renovation would cover most of the front of the house. We found it, took our required picture to document our find and started back for the boat. Not bad digs for an artist.

On our way we discovered lots of very nice clothing stores and jewelry shops and other types of retail you would find in a nice shopping district. We had to stop a couple of times and rest weary legs that threatened to give out but eventually we made it back and collapsed on the bed for a few minutes before getting lunch. 

After lunch, Bob took a long nap and I caught up on some of my blog posts. Then came a seminar on Belgian beers by a local guide who explained how some of the breweries operated, including the monasteries who made special beers. Each beer also has a special glass that their beer must be poured into to drink. That means that a bar has to not only stock the beer but the glass it is served in as well. By the time he was done, I understood that not only are there wine connoisseurs, there are also beer connoisseurs. And I was wrong. There are not 300 different Belgian beers. It is more like 3000. No way are we taste testing them all. 

We sailed away from Antwerp as the sun was setting and we were having dinner. Dinner is a bit late for us starting at 7 and we're never done until 9 but it was nice seeing the sunset as we ate and made our way on the water. Sleep however was interrupted shortly after we went to bed when we felt several strong bumps. Bob jumped up and looked out our window to discover we were in a lock. I heard the water rushing in as it lifted the boat and then fell asleep as we sailed out of the lock hopefully to sleep through the rest of the night.

Brussels To Antwerp

Antwerp train station

A leisurely breakfast this morning, repacking a few things and we were off to the train station for our ride to Antwerp to meet our river boat. There was a man who was there to help passengers with information and Bob introduced me to him. Seems my husband had made a new friend and the man had shown him where he could find an ATM and then get change and possibly a few other things along the way. I don’t think the man smiled much on his job but I thought I noticed a slight quiver at the corner of his mouth.

Grote Markt

It’s always a little nerve wracking to find the right platform and train when the announcements and signs are not in your own language. It was easy enough this time however since you could pick out the name Antwerpen and Centraal to know we were in the right place. Apparently the train that had just pulled out was the direct one with no or few stops. Ours had many but that was okay with us as we had all morning to get there and since the train went slower, we could get a better view of the countryside which turned into farmland and then back again to city as  we neared Antwerp.

Antwerp Central Station is amazing, large and bustling but not so much that we felt lost. I stopped to snap a picture before we went outside to determine our mode of transportation to the river boat—Uber or taxi? Since the taxis were already lined up by our exit and we were unsure of where an Uber might pick us up, we chose the first one in line. I also thought that a taxi might be more familiar with the are where our boat was docked. The last river cruise we’d taken, the driver couldn’t find the spot to drop us and we managed rolling suitcases quite a ways before we reached our destination. I was to discover that the taxi wasn’t much more informed. He was good enough though to get out of the cab at the address we’d given and cross the road, climb the embankment and make sure the boat was there. It was a little walk and we rumbled over cobblestones to the River Empress and watched as two other taxis actually found an entrance to the area and drove right up to the boat.

We dropped off our luggage since the rooms were not ready yet and left to walk to the historic area called the Grote Markt for lunch. It was a bit of a walk and much of it was a matter of threading through some construction going on. The center fountain of the area was also surrounded by construction fencing. To say the least, it was a bit of a disappointment. What wasn’t a disappointment though was the place we found called Balto’s where we ate lunch. I had the most delicious grilled chicken sandwich and Bob had a bowl of tomato soup and yes, we tried another Belgian beer. This one was not vanilla and much more tasty.

Close by was the huge Cathedral of Our Lady. You can see its spire from most anywhere. Rarely do  churches charge admission, usually it is just a requested donation. This one charged 10 Euros and that was the senior rate. The inside was massive with towering pillars and lots of side chapels. There were numerous works of art and many from the painter, Peter Paul Rubens who lived in Antwerp and others were of his contemporaries. A crypt below enticed Bob to visit but I looked at the steps and said I’d wait for him.

The cathedral reminded me of others we have been in where important people have been buried beneath the floor. It’s a little unnerving to me to walk across the grave markers but there is no other way to get around. It also sported a huge pulpit like the cathedral in Brussels and had an spectacular choir area of carved wood. There were at least two pipe organs and a long spiraling staircase for the organist to climb to get to the keys. It was a fascinating walk through time dating back to the 14^th century.

On our way back to the River Empress, we stopped at the castle along the waterfront. It’s called Het Steen and is used as an information center for tourists now. We did get to walk through a small part of it, mostly courtyard area.

If legs and feet and thighs had a voice they would have been screaming out for rest. In fact, I think I did hear them. Both of us were hurting by the time we made it back to the river boat. Thankfully our room was ready and we spent the next half hour unpacking and trying to decide where to put things. It is the smallest room we’ve had in a long time and the room, as well as the rest of the boat, is covered with more mirrors that I’d like. Sometimes it’s disorienting. We looked at each other and laughed  when we each caught the other looking up at the ceiling. “Whew! No mirrors up there at least.”

Safety talks, orientation and dinner followed after a short respite with our feet up. All told, we had again walked more than 10,000 steps, a total of almost five miles. At least Antwerp was less hilly.