Antwerp! Second largest city in Belgium, also a major port
and a major center for the diamond trade.
Lori and Kristin come to visit (see more about
Lori's visit
) - we took them into Antwerp and here we all are by the statue Brabo, a
Roman general who supposedly freed the city from the clutches of an evil giant
(read more about the legend at X:
http://www.trabel.com/antwerp/antwerp-grotemarkt.htm
).
A view of downtown Antwerp from a visit with friends/teachers from our Dutch
classes (the woman in the red jacket is Jet, who, at different times, has
been a Dutch teacher to both of us). The church spires in the background
are from the Onze-lieve-vrouw kerk (Church of Our Lady) (X:
http://www.trabel.com/antwerp/antwerp-olvkerk.htm
) - it should really have two equally high spires, but the city ran
out of money, so one spire was left uncompleted...
At the bottom of the cathedral there are the typical statues, and, as in
most European cities, one of the statues isn't really a statue (it's a person
pretending to be a statue, hoping for donations from the tourists) - can you
guess which one? After you guessed, click here
to see if you are right...
Christmas in Antwerp, at the
Kerstmarkt (Christmas market). In the weeks before Christmas the
towns in Belgium (and Germany, and probably elsewhere too) have Christmas
markets, where you can ride merry-go-rounds, drink hot spiced wine, buy little
hand-made trinkets of all kinds, and just generally get into the Christmas
spirit. The one in Antwerp isn't as well known as the ones in
Leuven or Brussels, but it was fun nonetheless.
John absolutely ADORES these statues and will stand there, fascinated by
them, begging us to give the statue money so that the statue will move. Of
course, having a cute little four year old boy staring in rapt fascination
is also good for the statue's business (we've had grandmothers of practically
every nationality give John money so that he could give it to the statue,
since he clearly enjoys it so much!)
Since this is as much fun for the statue as it is for John, he sometimes
can get quite a show put on for him - as below, when he became part of the
scene!
See John in Amsterdam,
where there are more statues.
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