European Destination 2: Belgium
It was April 17, 2007 when we went to Antwerp, Belgium. Travel time by train from Dordrecht, Netherlands to Antwerp, Belgium was less than 2 hours. If I remember it right, we probably arrived in Antwerp at past 10:30am. Atinna, Thess and I spent the whole day touring the city of Antwerp.
Before telling you about our trip in Antwerp, I would like to mention that on April 16, 2007 after Beng showed us around the city of Dusseldorf, Atinna and I also left Nettetal, Germany on that same day. Beng brought us to Venlo (already part of the Netherlands), and we took the train from there at past 6:00pm going to Dordrecht. Travel time from Venlo to Dordrecht was less than 2 hours.
We started our tour by walking along De Keyserlei (street), Leysstraat (street), the Meir (street) going to “Rubenshuis” or Rubens’ House along the Wapper (street). “Rubenshuis” is now a museum. Shops are along the streets that I mentioned. I was actually admiring the shops while we were walking. The 18th and 19th century buildings were simply amazing.
Antwerp is the place where Rubens lived and worked for more than 20 years. Rubens’ House is the house where Peter Paul Rubens spent a great deal of his time beginning in 1615.
Peter Paul Rubens was one of the most important artists, a painter at that, during the seventeeth century. He was born on June 28, 1577 in Siegen, Westphalia, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, about 300 km from Antwerp. He died on May 30, 1640.
After seeing Rubens’ House, we roamed around the city. We definitely didn’t forget to visit some churches. We went inside the St. Charles Borromeus Church (St. Carolus Borromeus), and the Cathedral (De Kathedraal), the Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal).
St. Charles Borromeus Church was formerly the St. Ignatius Church, also called The Jesuit Church. It was built between 1615 and 1621 by the Jesuits. Rubens was commissioned to decorate the church. As a painter, he had a hand in the tower, the facade, the high altar, the ceiling ornamented with stucco, and the Houtappel Chapel or Mary Chapel. He was assisted by Anthony van Dyck, another famous Flemish painter of the seventeeth century.
In the 17th century, people could barely find the words to express their admiration for this church. They considered this “marble temple” as the “eight wonder of the world”, a “heaven on earth”.
On July 18, 1718, a fire destroyed the church’s 39 ceiling paintings but it is still the baroque and Rubens’ Church in the former Low Countries.
The Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) is the largest Gothic church in the former Low Countries. It took some 170 years to build this church and was completed in 1521. Described as “stone lacework”, its 123 meters tall northern tower still dominates the skyline.
Today, it is partly seventeeth-century baroque, and partly nineteeth-century neo-Gothic. It houses many works of arts including world class paintings by Rubens, The Raising of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross among others.
The Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal), Antwerp, Belgium
The Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal), Antwerp, Belgium
The Cathedral (De Kathedraal)
The Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal), Antwerp, Belgium
The Cathedral (De Kathedraal)
The Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal), Antwerp, Belgium
After we left the Cathedral, we went to the Market Square (Grote Markt) to see the City Hall (Stadthuis) and the Brabo Fountain, then we followed the Suikerrui (street) which led us to the Zuiderwandelterras, the elevated walkway along the Scheldt river near the Steenplein area.
The Brabo Fountain at the Grote Markt (Market Square), Oude Stad, Antwerp
The Brabo Fountain at the Grote Markt (Market Square), Oude Stad, Antwerp
Overlooling the Suikerrui (street) and the 123 meters tall tower of the Cathedral
At the Zuiderwandelterras, Antwerp, Belgium
As it was already past 4:00pm, we decided to walk back to the Central Station following the streets of the Meir, Leysstraat and De Keyserlei. Of course, we didn’t forget to eat the famous Belgian waffles. We even met the Filipino guy below selling Belgian waffles.
Please read Thess’s blog entry, vacation adventure: part 1 In holland. She wrote something about our trip in Antwerp too.
Antwerp is known as the diamond center of the world. It is the second largest city of Belgium.
We were supposed to take the train leaving Antwerp few minutes after 5:00pm going to Dordrecht but there was a bomb threat near the Central Station so train schedules changed. The train was delayed and we were only able to leave Antwerp at past 6:00pm. We arrived safely in Dordrecht.
The next day, we went to Kinderdijk and Madurodam, and the day after that to Amsterdam.
Note: This is a follow-up to my blog entry, European Destination 1: Germany, last June 15, 2007.
Update: Edited some links on August 10, 2007 at 4:21pm.
inday inday sa balitaw, kumustasakalabasa?!
naks, talagang detalyado..bigla ko 2loy kayo namiss ng tokyobruhildamaldita
Ano, balik tayo sa Antwerp para mapasok natin this time ang diamond museum? tara na! Si lolabruhilda sa Bath gusto bumalik (mas lalo na ako! lambot ng tubig eh ha ha)
(Sofia, bc lang ang aking buhay sa ngayon, hindi ko alam kung kelan ako makakabalik ng regular sa blogging talaga…see u at skype na lang, hane? )
GREETINGS TO TITA CACOF!!
Thess!!!
Hehehehe… kaya matagal mag-update ng blog
dahil sa details… para di makalimutan. Ako pa e, ulyanin na. 
Oo nga, nawili tayo sa kalalakad, tingin dito tingin doon, kaya di tuloy tayo nakapasok sa Diamond museum. Hindi talaga enough ang one day to tour Antwerp. Gusto ko ring pumunta ng Brussels, travel time by train, about 61/2 hrs from our place lang nga… Hay…
ngoi ngoi ngoi ngusto ngo nalagang pumunta sa europa, pero gusto ko kasama kayong lahat….gusto ko maperfect ko ang posing ko gaya ni sofia, at ang smile galeng kay tekya at ang simangot galeng kay lukring tinna….
ngusto ngo rin munta brussels at ngusto ko dalaw si sofia sa kanyang palace in the mountain….ngusto ko mangyari lahat yan nek year…..masta ngusto ko….
ngusto ko rin ang camera ni sofia, mukang magandang kumuha…..lalong tumaginting ang mga beauty nyo..anong modelo at brand yan?
Cacofffff… sige hihintayin ko ang dating mo dito next year. Sana, sana!!! Pero no promises kung makakasama ako sa lakwatsa mo outside Switzerlandia unless seguro mga 2 days lang, puwede yon. Basta dito sa Switzerlandia, siempre i-to-tour kita. Sayang yong this year no? Pero di rin kita kasi masasamahan ngayon sa paglalagalag e. Daming trabaho, ayayay…
Hehehe, oks ba digicam ko? Di pa nga ako satisfied sa result e, parang mas gusto ko minsan yong kuha sa lumang Sony ko. Ngayon, Sony DSC-W100 gamit ko, point and shoot digicam pa rin naman. Pero sa kumukuha yon…
ala sa camera… mwehehehe…
sofia, sige sige maski ano basta kasama kita hokey na sa akon yun…:).
oist point and shoot camera lang yan….galeng mo ah…….mukhang okey din ang sony ano, mapapalitan nga itong canon ko, dehins ko like looks ko dito eh…hahahaha…in this case, nasa kinukuhanan ang problema…:)
mamushka mustamos na? bzing bz ka no sa pag go golf? hehe
enjoy enjoy summer manay sofs habang may araw pa,lapit ulet winter
Hello cheH,
Musta manay? Ay naku, lagi kaming wala dito, summer na naman, alam mo naman.
Kaya talagang ine-enjoy dapat tong summer na to at malapit na naman ang taglamig. Kahit nga summer, minsan ang lamig sa umaga. Ay talaga naman ang panahon ngayon, di na talaga minsan maintindihan.
O shya, enjoy the rest of the week!
Hi Soffie, when Cheh tagged me the ‘Face Behind The Blog’, I’d chance upon into blogs who participated and although you haven’t done it yet, I would say, you look familiar, “seen this girl from Beng Hafner’s photos?”, I said.
I love architectural buildings, old buildings, Castles, esp those photos above. I hope to, someday (when I retire maybe) visit Europe. Magnificent!
Sarap ng waffles lalo na with peanut butter.
Hi K… thanks for dropping by. Oh, I hope nobody would tag me… inuunahan na.
I have no time to do it, I can’t even update my blog. 
Di ko na rin kailangan yan kasi kahit saan ka mapunta sa site ko, makikita mo mukha kong puwedeng panakot sa mga ipis. 
Yan ang isa sa mga na-a-appreciate ko sa Europe, kahit saan ka mapunta, very interesting ang mga buildings, churches, castles, houses, etc. at na-me-maintain nila. Lagi tuloy akong huli sa lakaran sa kakukuha ng mga pictures.
Suggestion lang ha, pag gusto mong magbiyahe ng Europe, wag kang bumili ng mga mahal na gadgets,
wag mag-shopping every month, yan ay kung ginagawa mo ha. I don’t really know you but you can save some money for it, posibleng-posibleng makapunta ka sa Europe. Maybe, in a year or two years time, baka magawa mo na. O di ba?
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[...] This is a follow-up to my blog entry, European Destination 2: Belgium, last June 20, 2007. This entry was posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 at 4:59 pm and is filed [...]