Ka Pai has a Cultural Day in Antwerp

Tuesday August 10th

This was the second day in Antwerp and so there was no need to get up early and rush. The bag of washing is getting full and there are no machines at this camp so Mary inquired from the lady who runs the place about nearby Laundromats. She drew a little map and they walked off to locate it but try as they may couldn’t find it. So they gave up on that idea and went off to catch the tram back into Antwerp for the rest of the day.

Today they wanted to visit Ruben's house, which they had a bit of trouble finding. They managed to walk themselves in a giant circle but it didn’t matter as there were interesting things to see on the way. They finally found it and bought a ticket for Mary. Elderly people were free but she was not elderly enough on this occasion; you had to be over 65. This reconstructed home is right in the heart of town. Situated on what is known as the Wapper, Rubens designed the house for himself when he was in his early thirties. You can wander around his impressive art gallery where he indulged his passion for collecting, his studio and lovely outside gardens, but it is also a home and there is a kitchen, bedroom and linen room complete with linen press.

The ticket was a combined one ,with the Museum Mayer Van Den Bergh. This was a short walk away through the theatre district of the town. This is certainly one of Antwerp’s gems. It is the work of one man Fritz Mayer Van Der Bergh who was passionate about art. There is an impressive collection of art from the 13th to 18th century, including retables, pieces in alabaster, ivory, woodcarving, etc. There is also silver and gold, tapestries, lace, porcelain and illuminated manuscripts. It was not huge and easy to look around with a guide published in English.

Mary had hoped to get free internet at Food Maker, but when she inquired they said they had no cards with the access numbers left on them. There was no obvious free wifi in the street, so she had to flag the idea of publishing the blog today. She bought me a huge traditional Belgium waffle with chocolate on it but had to help me eat it. It was starting to rain so they went back to the supermarket at the station to stock up for dinner and caught the tram back out to the camp. By the time we got out there it was pouring and umbrellas were needed again.

A large group of cyclists arrived and set up small tents nearby. They were young and old together and seemed to be in an organised group. They were trying to boil a jug , but couldn’t find anywhere to plug into the power, so Alan offered to do it for them. They didn’t speak much more English than thank you, but were very grateful. They were on small wheeled folding bikes so presumably had come by train.

As it was raining it was a good opportunity to sit inside and get the diaries up to date and sort out photos on the computer.