Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Tuesday, 4 August. We woke up to a beautiful, sunny day. After breakfast there was an 8:30 briefing about the tour and a description of all the optional excursions. We would be going through 31 locks on this trip (3 in the Schelde; 10 in the Rhine; & 9 in the Mosel). At this point the 134 passengers were divided into three groups of about 45 persons, each led by a different Tour Director. We were assigned to the yellow group. At 10:00 each of the three groups was taken on a walking tour of old Antwerp. The Rhapsody was moored in the Schelde River right in the heart of Antwerp. We walked a short distance along the river, through a vast outdoor (but covered) market to the Steen (Stone), an early 13th castle that is Antwep's oldest building. (Our fours sons had really enjoyed playing in the castle when we visited here in 1970.) The interior is exposed on one side where part of the castle has been demolished to make room for a road. The Steen is now a maritime museum.
Walking through the narrow old streets, we came to the butchers' guild house (Vleeshuis
or Meat House). A couple of blocks
further and we entered the Grote Markt (Main Square), lined on one side by
several more 16th century guild houses, much more delicate and ornate than the
Vleeshuis. More ornate still was the adjacent flag-bedecked Stadhuis
(City Hall). In the center of the square was the large statue celebrating the
legend of the origin of the city's name. And dominating the Square, though not
on it, was the Cathedral of Our Lady (begun in 1353, but still missing one of
its planned spires).
Our walking tour had just left the Grote Markt and was turning into a narrow old lane when Jane suddenly felt sick, and we had to leave the group. After a short rest and a little water at a sidewalk cafe, she was able to walk slowly back to the Rhapsody. We arranged for her to have a small lunch in our room, and she spent the rest of the day resting.
Continuing down Melkmarkt and some of the smaller streets, I found Nieuwstraat, a huge
pedestrian shopping street. In a few blocks I came to Sint
Jacobskerk (St. James Church)(1490) where Rubens is buried. A couple blocks to
the right I found Rubens house and adjoining studio. A ticket office/bookstore
and
a sidewalk cafe fill the middle of the street in front of it in what seems to be a
deliberate attempt to prevent anyone from getting a decent picture of them.
Consulting my map, I managed to follow tiny streets back to the river, coming
out exactly where the ship was moored. It was about 4:00 p.m.
Jane was still resting but feeling a little better. The ship sailed for Rotterdam at 6:30. We skipped a lecture on the European Union, the Captain's welcome drink, and the port talk. We arranged for Jane to have "dinner" (steamed rice, applesauce & tea) in the room, but I went to the special Captain's dinner at 7:00. (These special dinners had five courses instead of the usual four; they included both a cold and a hot appetizer.) Jane enjoyed her meal, too.
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