DAY 4

Friday 15 July 2011

"Let's go to Antwerp!" our Dutch cousins suggested. "But that's a different country"... ?, we naively questioned. So smiling, they drove us to Antwerp, Belgium. The name comes from "hant" (hand) and "werpen" (to throw); according to legend, some guy once didn't pay his canal crossing fee, so his hand was chopped off and thrown into the river. We saw the dramatic statue in the main plaza. Nicole took lots of local street art shots on her new Canon.

Antwerp art

From the marina, we gawked through the red light district, got to the church of St. Paul where  prostitutes of days gone by saved paintings by Reubens, Van Dyke and other masters from a fire. Religious statues set in lava rock surrounded the church courtyard.

Henri and Roos took us to their favorite saints' bar which was covered from floor to ceiling with religious iconography. We had a nine beer taste and platters of snacks while listening to a street musician. We picked up famous Leonidas Belgian chocolates and drove home.

When we got back to Neerkant, Holland, Roos whipped up a giant platter of cheese and tepanadas which we enjoyed on their outdoor patio. The evening was topped off with some music making and a call to our families in Texas and Washington through our computer.

Depiction of the hand being thrown