On to Antwerp!

We got up at the ungodly hour of 5 am and walked two blocks over to the St. Pancras Eurostar International Station (the hardest part was getting our suitcases up the stairs at the hotel) and, within a surprisingly reasonable amount of time, we were comfortably seated on the train and on our way to Brussels! It took about two hours and we gained an hour in the process. There wasn’t much to see out the window and we had gone under the Channel so quickly, we barely had time to contemplate it. When we reached Brussels, we wheeled our suitcases up many escalators, admiring the design, and found our way to the local ticket office – so efficiently run – with several people helping travelers of many nationalities buy tickets from a machine. My helper even told me when the next train to Antwerp was and the platform. We found our way without difficulty and had about 20 minutes before our train appeared. It was about 45 minutes and as we couldn’t understand any of the announcements, we just hoped for the best and soon arrived (the gap was so extreme between train and platform, I was grateful to a fellow traveler who came back from his own luggage to help us get ours off the train).

Alas, we barely noticed the elegant station!

Armed with the address where the Amadeus was docked in Antwerp, we approached the taxi stand, expecting this would be the easiest part of the journey. The first taxi driver looked dubious and summoned several others to confer. Finally, one guy said he knew where we needed to go and we were on our way! Except he really did not have any clue – “Can you put it into your phone?” I suggested but that didn’t seem to work. We drove quite a way and I was relieved to see the river Scheldt but the pier this guy brought us to had the wrong ship. There was no one to ask for help so he tried to find it on his phone and drove us to another place. I was terrified he would insist we get out of the taxi so I told my mother not to get out of the car. I went looking but found nothing. Driver and I knocked on the doors of several busses waiting for tour groups and one friendly man suggested where to look. It didn’t seem right but finally our driver saw another taxi driver who explained we had to turn in from the main street close to the water, then drive along past all the tour books until we found ours. I was quite relieved to see the Amadeus waiting for us! I gave our driver 30 Euros (which was all I had) and $10, which was less than he wanted but I sort of blamed him for a stressful 45 minutes.

The Legend of Antigoon and the Cathedral

By now it was about noon and although we’d been told not to arrive until 1 pm, I didn’t care and, luckily, we were welcomed and were able to sit down in a lounge. Other travelers arrived and soon we were all eating what they call a light lunch but it includes more courses than I ever get at home! And then our rooms were ready – a small but manageable stateroom with a good closet. We collapsed for a while but rallied for a walking tour of Antwerp at 4 pm. Antwerp is the second largest city in Belgium with a population of 530,000, which is very diverse – over 180 nationalities.  The official language is Dutch but there is a local Flemish dialect called Brabant.  There are substantial immigrant communities from Morocco and Afganistan. 

Guildhalls

Our guide, Paul, was a local who had married a girl from Ohio so his English was very good but it was nearly 80 degrees and we got tired pretty fast. We walked from the pier to the Grote Markt, which is the center of the historic district. We admired the exterior of the Cathedral of Our Lady (later, we wished we'd been able to go inside) and the 16th-century Guildhalls.  

Paul told us there is an apocryphal legend that the name “Antwerpen” is from Dutch handwerpen ("hand-throwing"). A giant called Antigoon is said to have lived near the Scheldt river and demanded a toll from passing boatmen. He severed the hand of anyone who did not pay, and threw it in the river. Eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named Silvius Brabo, who cut off the giant's own hand and flung that into the river.

I was a little worried when I saw a list of Belgian specialties at a local restaurant but dinner on the ship was very good!  We sat with a couple from Colorado we really liked, Teresa and Dan, and two friends from Jackson, MS.