Antwerp

Well, I saw Antwerp every day since that's where Ine lives. So, these pictures are in no particular order and are from random moments throughout my trip.

A battleship in the harbor


All the buildings in Grote Square (Town Square)have gold statues on the top of them.


Brabo fountain (but it is turned off in winter) in the center of Grote Square


According to a legend, a terrible giant, called Druoon Antigoon, lived on the banks of the river Scheldt in ancient times. Whenever sailors on the Scheldt river refused to pay toll to the giant, he punished them by cutting off their hand. A Roman soldier, Silvius Brabo, managed to kill the giant. Brabo cut off the hand of the giant and threw the hand away in the river.

Here is the giant


Antwerp is actually named for this legend. The city name comes from 'hand' and 'to throw'. The 'hand' is the symbol of Antwerp. There are hands in the town flag. Also there are several sweets in the form of a hand.

There is also a great 'hand' statue. Taylor and I couldn't resist having a picture with this great, umm, monument.


Our Lady's Cathedral




Inside view


The 'Steen'

'Steen' is the Dutch word for 'stone'. In Antwerp the 'Steen' is the name of the little castle that can be seen at the entrance of the city center, on the border of the river Scheldt. The castle is called that way because it was one of the earliest buildings in Antwerp constructed with stones (at a time when most houses were still built with wood).

Ine and I doing what I do best--taking pictures of myself with friends


P.P. Rubens--Antwerp's most famous artist


Central Station






We ALMOST ate here.


An hour later, it caught on fire. I guess it was a good thing it was too crowded for us since we were hungry.

The movie theater where we saw 'Brokeback Mountain'. We were sitting next to 2 guys, so I'm wondering...For my guy readers, I have a question. Would you go see that movie with a guy friend?

It's the biggest theater in the world.