My motivation for wanting to come to Antwerp was that I visited once in 1996 for work - my first full week of work for Wetzel Associates, a now defunct Museum, Aquarium, and Zoo design firm. I was the assistant to the head of the company. Wetzel Assoc. had designed some of the signage for the Antwerp Zoo and the goal was to convince some folks to build an aquarium on some now defunct docks in the north of Antwerp. I loved the city, but did not have much time to explore since I was working much of the time. I remembered a wonderful old town full of cool shops where I bought a watch and a black briefcase, seeing a store with hundreds of different types of beer glasses, each Belgian beer getting its own special glass, and the diamond district with many Jews, something I was interested in, but didn't get much time to explore on my work trip.
Henry's motivation for coming to Belgium: waffles.
After we checked in, we went in search of a specific waffle house that was suggested by the woman who worked at the front desk. She said we'd see street stands, but that Antwerpians (is that what they're called?) love this place the best and it was famous for its waffles. We trudged out in the misty rain, hungry and a bit weary from travel. (Why is sitting in a car for two hours tiring? A mystery I've never understood - you'd think sitting for that long would be restful if you're not the one driving.) As it was Sunday, most everything was closed, but we did stumble upon a farmers' market. I was thrilled, of course, because aren't pictures of bunches of flowers and herbs obligatory in a traveler's log?
The boys, however, were grumpy and not so interested - they wanted waffles. I took the photos anyway before going on to find the waffle place. What was its name? We couldn't quite remember.
We followed the map towards the X that the desk-woman (concierge? reception worker?) had marked on our map. It took us past Rubens Haus, the house where artist Peter Paul Rubens lived and worked. We did not venture in, however, as waffles were the first order. At the end of the plaza where Rubens Haus stands is a waffle stand. I forced the boys past it, venturing forward on our quest for the X in the map with the famous waffles. We walked past a myriad of clothing stores whose vivid displays of bright clothing were sharp contrasts to the dreary grey day. We got to the place with the X on the map and, well, nothing resembling a waffle was anywhere nearby. Henry began sniffing his way through the streets, determined he could smell his way to the waffles. No success. We'd catch a scent, then it would be replaced by the cold, wet smell of cobblestones and metal grates.
Defeated, we trudged back towards Rubens Haus and bought the waffles from the street vendor who was quite cheerful and lifted the spirits of the overly hungry and tired boys. And, despite the warning that the street waffles were not as good as the ones we couldn't find, at this point the warm, chewy waffles with crystalized sugar on the outside were the best!
Warmed by waffles and knowing that there were only a couple hours left in the day, I dragged the boys into Rubens Haus to see the architecture, including a gorgeous bed that I remembered from my previous trip. It was only about five feet long as people slept more upright, their backs supported by a mountain of pillows which was thought to be a healthier position. On this I agree - anyone who's had a horrible cold knows that lying flat makes it impossible to breathe, but sitting upright makes it possible to get some sleep. Anyway, the boys were reluctant, but in fact seemed to really enjoy the museum. I read the interpretive signs to them and we learned about how Rubens style changed when he went to Italy to study the works of the mater Italian artists. We looked at the splendid furnishings he had, talked about how the house copied the Italian style of having a large patio in the center with the house surrounding it, and we looked at the paintings. There were many artists represented, including Frans Snyder who painted many animal scenes with vivid realism, including game brought back from the hunt and of roosters fighting. Of course I wanted to show the boys the paintings of the naked women to show them the meaning of the description, rubenesque since it's an apt description of me. Surprisingly, there are not many of this type in the museum. Nonetheless they now know that curvy and rounded woman used to the be IN thing. If only I was alive in the 1600s. Anyway, the thing that fascinated us most was the paintings that showed objects that were silver and gold, but there was no silver or gold paint. I showed the boys that if they looked up close they would see that the metallic appearance was just a trick of shadows and light with the use of white, yellow, brown, and black. Here's an example of Rubens' work that shows off the metallics without using metallics (click here).
Following the cultural experience of Rubens, we went to the Diamond Museum (normally two museums back to back would be a no-no since burn-out is easy, but it was Sunday and the museums would all be closed on Monday so it was a now or never decision). The Diamond Museum was okay. We saw the carbon structure of diamonds and some fake crowns and a few small gems. Nothing worth writing home about so that's all I'll write.
The next day we went wandering again, and this time were successful in finding the waffle spot, Desire de Lille. We had to eat some healthy food before the waffle, but then the boys finally got the promised waffle, with ice cream and whipped cream and chocolate. I had one bite - not nearly as good as the one on the cart on the street. Arg. But they were happy.
With waffles warming us up, we wandered the streets of Antwerp. I wanted to see the historic buildings and sites. The boys wanted to play soccer. We compromised and the boys played soccer in historic sites. They also lit more candles in churches, sampled Belgian chocolates, and discovered the traditional gum drop of Belgium. A good day all in all.
For more photos please visit the album for Antwerp. View Album
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