Today I was off to Antwerp to see Rubens’ House. Trains on the weekend being half price, I thought I might as well make the trip. Unfortunately, I didn't think it would be so cold and windy and wasn't dressed appropriately, and then it started raining as well... luckily there were buildings/museums I could see from the inside and thus get out of the weather.
I arrived in Antwerp around 11:30am and headed down Meir Street towards the Rubens House. There were some pretty buildings along the way that had to be photographed, though. And a hot cup of coffee was also required so I could map out my itinerary for the day:
Next stop was Rubens House, which was not so easy to find. This painter had to have been rather well off back in the day, and being friends with the mayor helped. Admission was rather steep at 8 Euro I thought. And you had to ask for a vouche to use the toilet, which was only indicated at the reception building by a little sign saying "ask us about the blue card". Lots of people didn't and therefore didn't know so had to pay to use the toilet. Pretty stupid. This was another place with no photography allowed, which was strictly enforced. You were only allowed to photograph the outside - the place was packed anyway so it would've been impossible to photograph anything. There were surprisingly few Rubens painting...
After stretching my visit out to almost 45 minutes (since it had cost 8 Euro after all!) I headed off again, back onto Meir Street and then in search of a church or two:
St Jacobskerk was interesting, but closed:
Again with the construction:
I stopped in at Keizers Chapel. I'm not sure if this was still a church or not - it seemed to be decked out like any old church, but there was also a book sale going on....
Rockox House (the abovementioned mayor) was next on the agenda. This place was a sight cheaper at 2.50 Euro, and while not as ornate, still nice, and you could take photos inside:
One of the guards/guides asked me if I was interested in culture, and when I said yes, showed me a 20 minute movie about Rockox and his times. Quite interesting.
The courtyard garden here was nice too:
I think I ended up spending nearly 2 hours here - it was warm :-)
I headed off towards Carolus Borromeus Church:
which was again in a great hurry to kick out the tourists:
I wandered off towards the next item on my itinerary:
Next destination was the Cathedral of Our Lady, which looked really nice on the outside. They wanted 5 Euro admission to view the inside, but from what I could see from the shop entrance, it was really not worth it:
I wandered off to the Grote Markt and the Stadhuis (Town Hall) outside of which a film crew was set up and blocked off half the view:
It was getting quite cold, but I wanted to see the harbour, so headed down towards it, past the Vleeshuis and Maritime docks:
Last stop before heading back to the station was the the Steen ruin of an old castle. It was turned into a cafe and information centre, so I had a nice hot chocolate while it rained and was just generally cold and 'orrible outside:
But I couldn't stay here forever, so headed back to Meir Street towards central station. There was a shopping centre I'd walked past on the way in this morning. It was really nice on the inside. The photos don't do it justice:
Back along Meir Street for some more pretty buildings:
and then Antwerpen Central Station itself, which is built like a church inside with its frescoes and domes etc. Really quite gorgeous:
I got back to Brussels in time for dinner. I'd toyed with the idea of going back to the Rendez-Vous des Artistes, but thought I'd try something else. I went instead to a Moroccan restaurant in a street near the hotel. I had a nice dinner of chicken with lemon and olives with some nice bread. It was quite yummy!
I was sitting by myself but overheard a couple from another table talking to the restaurant manager (I think). They mentioned being from Australia, though I could hear a European accent. After I'd finished eating and noticed that they had as well, I went over and started chatting with them. It was so nice to talk to someone from home-ish (Ania and Marek live in Melbourne but are originally from Poland). They were in Europe to visit their daughter in Scotland and do some sight-seeing on the Continent as well. We had a lovely old natter for ages and were the last in the restaurant to leave. I hope that I hear from them again.
Tomorrow afternoon I get the train to Duesseldorf, so I'll have the morning to work on my blog a bit.
