Antwerp from Antique to Expensive

June 12, 2013

We arrived at Antwerp very early on Wednesday morning.  Silver Cloud sailed 50 miles up the Scheldt River to this originally hanseatic city, now Europes's fifth largest seaport, before Michael and I woke.  We were ashore early.  The city passenger-ship dock is only two blocks from the center of the old town.  We were in the central plaza, the Grote Markt, taking pictures of the Stadt Huis and a fountain commemorating the alleged founding of the city before most residents were up and about.  The legend is that a young hero fought a monster and cut off its hand.  The hand landed at Antwerp, which means severed hand in Flemish, and then the hand became the city and its surrounding canals. Very fanciful.  We walked around a huge gothic cathedral with a very tall spire. 

As we usually do, Michael and I found the central railway station on our map and headed there.  The route led us through the major shopping streets of Antwerp.  The shops resembled those of Fifth Ave., New York but were located in elaborate nineteenth century former palaces and rich residences.

The railway station, another late nineteenth century confection, was a monument to the age of rail travel.  The historic exterior and waiting room complemented a very modern set of elevated platforms.  The station and train sheds were breathtakingly beautiful.

The real highlight of the Antwerp visit was our walk through the diamond district and tour of "Diamondland", a factory and show room open to the public.   A pleasant attendant admitted us through remote controlled sliding glass doors and allowed us to view diamond cutting and diamond setting through plate glass windows.  Following various exhibits on the way diamonds are valued, cut and polished, we were turned loose in the display room filled with showcased of diamond necklaces, earrings and pins.  I told Michael that nothing costing less than eight thousand Euros appealed to me.  Too bad that was over our budget!

The diamond district, only a few blocks in length, was very international.  Antwerp is THE major diamond center in the world and buyers and sellers from all over the world (South Africa, India, Canada and Namibia are the top producers, New York and Amsterdam the top retail centers) gather to trade raw and cut diamonds.  Michael said that he heard at least five dialects of Yiddish spoken on the street.  We passed many Indian restaurants and a few kosher delis.

On our way back to the ship, we stopped to view the castle gatehouse that was the only remaining part of the early city wall.  Further exploration was curtailed because it rained the rest of the afternoon. I would have liked to visit the Rubins House, a museum in the former home of the famous painter but we ran out of time.

The combination of history and modern livability we found in Antwerp was pleasantly surprising.  The buildings around the Grote Markt have been lovingly restored and preserved without making them into tourist shops or kitschy attractions.  Antwerp is a place I would love to return to.