Bruges to Antwerp..........

Thursday October 13, 2011

After breakfast and leaving the hotel, I caught a 10:18 AM train to Antwerp.  The ride was about 1 ½ hours long.  Once I arrived in Antwerp, I assessed the situation and the location of my hotel, and I decided to walk to the hotel.  It took about 20 minutes and was straight through the main shopping district.  There were a lot of young people shopping, as well as many pan handlers along the way. As in Amsterdam, there were bicycles and trolley cars everywhere.  It is quite obvious, that the extremely high price of gasoline impacts the population of the European countries to use alternative means of transportation, aside from the automobile. Once I checked in at the hotel I was off to see some of the sights and visit the Rubenshaus, which was the former home of Peter Paul Rubens, the famous Flemish painter, architect and overall Renaissance man.  Rubens lived from 1577 to 1640 and was not only a distinguished painter, but a patron of the arts as well.  As a result he had a tremendous collection of art, but only a limited amount was on display at his home.  The museum/home showed how life was at the time Rubens was alive, and displayed some of his artwork.  There was just so much to absorb, especially after visiting two other museums in the previous two days.  Once I left the Rubenshaus, as usual, I just walked and walked to explore and see as much of the city as I could in the limited time I have here.  I eventually went into the Appelmans’s Brasserie for dinner, which was recommended to me by people at the hotel.  It was an excellent dinner accompanied by a few De Koninck, locally brewed beers.  Tired from all the walking, I headed back to the hotel for some sleep.  Tomorrow I am off to Brussels, which is next to the last stop of this magnificent journey.  I guess all great things must, unfortunately,  come to an end.