TULIPS AND WINDMILLS VIKING RIVER CRUISE- SERIES #8

"If my city were a pet it would be a butterfly, small but nice to look at." - (Igor Daems - Grew Up In The Suburbs Of Antwerp And Finally Moved To The City Center). 

ANTWERP, BELGIUM - MARCH 31, 2014

Welcome To Belgium! "Welkom In Belgie!" ( Flemish Language). Sounded Close To English But Different. Our First Port In Belgium Was Antwerp.

Partial View Of Antwerp From The Ship. The Port Linked This Beautiful Medieval Town. A Fascinating Port Area. One Of Europe’s Largest Seaports, And Its Precisely Thanks To Those Prosperous Industries That The City Can Boast Such Opulent Architectures.

 

Antwerp Is Belgium Second Largest City. The City Sits On The River Scheldt. Today It Is Europe's Major Seaports And Is Also Known For Being At The Heart Of The Worldwide Diamond Trade.

 

Disembarking From Our Ship For Our Morning Walking Tour Of Antwerp, Belgium. Yes, Prettiest Among European Ports.

Posing Beside This Colorful Double Decker City Tour Bus Parked At The Port. Wished We Were On This Bus, But We Had To Do The Viking Walking Tour. It's Easy To Get Around In Antwerp. The City Was Small Enough To Be Explored By Foot.

 

Where In The World Were We? A Big Sign Of Antwerpen Waiting For Us. This Small Great City Is Located on The Bank Of River Scheldt. Antwerp Actually Had Quite A Fascinating History.

While Walking Along The River Front, We Came To The Steen Plein (Het Stein) Which Was A Medieval Riverside Castle. The Oldest Building In Antwerp And Was  Built Around 1200 (About 800 Years Old). This Medieval Fortress Once Dominated Antwerp Landscape.

 

Rhod In Front Of The Het Stein Castle. The "Steen" Was Built At The Site Of An Older 9th Century Fortress. It Was Named Stein As It Was The First Large Building Constructed In Stone.  

At The Entrance Of Het Stein Castle. What We Saw Now Was Only A Part Of The Original Castle. Most Of The Castle Was Demolished  And Only The Gate And Burgrave's Have Now Stood The River.
 

A Beautifully View Of The Palace Across The Street. Still A Raving Beauty Despite Of Many Cosmetic Changes.

Antwerp Is An Architectural Museum In Itself. Its Point Of Interest, Featuring A Mixture Of Styles, Old And New Fascinating Architectures. Truly Populated W/ Many Great Architectural Designs.

We Wandered And Walked Along These Cobbled Stoned Stairways On Antwerp Alleys And Back Streets.

 

Today, We Walked To The Grote Markt Along Cobbled Pathways. The Center Of Historic Antwerp. What We Discovered Was A City Of Medieval Square.  This Building Was Antwerp Palatial City Hall  Which Was Built Between 1561 And 1565. Its Flemish Renaissance Style Architecture. It Was Influenced Heavily By Italian Architecture Style And Was A Flemish Version Of Florentine Palace.

The Front Of the City Hall Had A Terrific Inspiring Decorated Facade.

The Grote Markt Was Best Known For Impressive And Ornate Guilded  Houses Aligning The Square. 

 

The Original Guilded Houses Were Destroyed In The Fire Of 1576. They Were Rebuilt In Flemish Renaissance Style But Were Revamped Again In The 19th Century. Resulting In The Current Lavishly Decorated Guilded Houses. Note, The Beautiful Statues On Top Of The Guild Houses.   

 

Vlaeykensgang - A Favorite Among Tourists Is Along Vlaeykensgang, A Small Alley Close To The City Hall. This Small Historic Alley Is A Throw-Back To The Middle Ages, A Time When Many Streets Weren't Wider Than A Door Way. Today This Alleys Look Idyllic.

Photo W/ The Famous Flemish Painter, Paul Rubens.  He Was One Of The Most Celebrated And Prolific Artists In Europe During His Lifetime As Well As The Entire Baroque Era. His Patrons Included Royalty And Churches, And His Art Depicted Subjects From Religion, History And Mythology. Ruben's Style Combined A Knowledge Of Renaissance Classicism With Lush Brushwork And A Lively Realism.

 

I Knew That Van Gogh Discovered And Learned From The Work Of Peter Paul Rubens. He Took Advantage Of The Proximity Of Antwerp To Holland.  He Once Wrote His Brother Theo About Him. "Rubens is certainly making a strong impression on me; I think his drawing tremendously good - I mean the drawing of heads and hands in themselves. I am quite carried away by his way of drawing the lines in a face with streaks of pure red, or of modeling the fingers of the hands by the same kind of streaks. I go to the museum fairly often, and then I look at little else but a few heads and hands of his and of Jordaens'. I know he is not as intimate as Hals and Rembrandt, but in themselves those heads are so alive."

 

 

The Skyline Of Antwerp Was Dominated By The Tall Cathedral Of Our Lady. Inside, We Viewed Many Awesome Huge Oil Paintings By Rubens.

 

 The Area Around Grote Markt And The Cathedral Of Our Lady Is Without A Doubt The Most Picturesque – It’s Everything You Imagine Antwerp To Be. Antwerp W/ Its Towering Cathedral At Its Heart And Other Close Towers, Was A Belgian Hidden Gems.

When The Cathedral Of  Our Lady Was Built Between 1359 And 1520, It Was The Largest Gothic Church In The Low Countries. The Splendor Of  The Church Was Enhanced By The Many Major Work Of Arts By Rubens And Other Artists.  The Cathedral Was On The List Of World Heritage Site.  

An Awesome Painting By Peter Paul Rubens - "The Raising Of The Cross" Oil Painting.

What a Gem! Very Realistic And Inspiring Oil Painting By Paul Rubens - "The Descent From The Cross." During His Art Career, Rubens Was Influenced By The Great Works Of El Greco, Caravaggio,  As Well As Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, And Michelangelo.
 

"Assumption Of The Virgin Mary" - Another Brilliant Masterpiece By Paul Rubens.

Peter Paul Rubens Returned Home To Antwerp In 1608. He Was Appointed Court Painter To Archduke Albert And Archduchess Isabella, Who Governed The Southern Netherlands On Behalf Of Spain. In A Time Of Social And Economic Recovery After War, Antwerp's Affluent Merchants Were Building Their Private Art Collections And Local Churches Were Being Refurbished With New Art.

Rubens Received A Prestigious Commission To Paint Two Large Religious Works, "The Raising Of The Cross" And "The Descent From The Cross," For Antwerp Cathedral Between 1610 And 1614. In Addition To Many Projects For Roman Catholic Churches.
"My passion comes from the heavens, not from earthly musings." (Peter Paul Rubens)
 

I Was Speechless After Seeing All These Great Art Works And Architectural Wonders. I Gave Tribute To God For Giving Us This  Wonderful Opportunity To See And Enjoy All These Beautiful Man-Made Things In Our Lifetime. Our Uplifting Cultural And Historical Tour Of Antwerp Ended Here. We Walked Back To The Ship For Our Delicious Lunch.  More Stories To Share After Lunch. "Goedmiddag!" (Good Afternoon In Flemish).