Belgium Adventures Day 8: Antwerp (Anvers/Antwerpen)

I checked with the locals. They assured me train troubles (planned strikes) only happen on Tuesdays. I'll be fine the other six days of the week.

Deep breaths. 

I decided to spend the day in Antwerp. As is true for most Belgian cities, Antwerp is also known as Anvers and Antwerpen. Liege is also Luik. Brussels is also Bruxelles. It can make for confusing conversations.

Google gave me a quick list of must-sees: 

• Central Train Station
• Meir Shopping Street
• Rubens House
• Graanmarkt Shopping Area (the fashion district)
• Plantin-Moretus Museum (newly designated a UNESCO site)
• Groenplaats
• Cathedral (more Rubens)
• Grote Market (the main square)
• Hel Elfde Gebod
• St. Carolus Baromeus Church and Hendrik Conscience Town Square
• Veleshius--Meat house/butcher house/oldest guild house
• Het Steen Castle
• Ferris wheel (moves around the city)
• Red Star Line Museum
• Chocolate Nation -- largest chocolate museum, close to Central Station

Reading the list you might assume I left Central Station and made a beeline for the Chocolate Museum, and you would not be wrong. I walked around the gift shop and decided to walk to the Plantin-Moretus Museum instead.

Fortunately Google Maps planned out my trip so along the way I walked through the Meir Shopping Street and the Graanmarkt. I did not pause long enough to shop.

As we drew closer to Antwerp, the first thing I noticed was the bike lane. Inside the immense train station I saw they have 24 tracks (easily twice as many as in Liege). Outside the station, I saw my first bike share program in Belgium. Then I noticed the trolley. As the day went on, I noticed tour groups. As Don and I have started talking about returning in late November or early December to see the holiday markets, I mentally planned to center our trip around Antwerp. It is an easier train ride to Amsterdam and Bruges -- two places I want to visit next time.

The area in front of the Plantin-Moretus museum is in the process of being renovated. I studied the signs afterwards, I just missed their dig site where they found materials dating back to the Bronze Age. To do archaeology in the middle of a city would be fun -- indoor plumbing and lots of places to quickly grab lunch. The downside might be lots of tourists asking questions an interrupting progress.

The museum deserves its new UNESCO status. As I was paying my entrance fee, I overheard one of the clerks saying she expects this place to become a lot busier. I was lucky to be able to just walk in. I want to return with Don on our next trip as he would really enjoy it.

On each doorway is a QR code. Scanning it you learn a little bit about the room in the language selected at the beginning. I had my notebook with me, so I took notes in each room, as well as a lot of pictures.

The museum is housed in Christophe Plantin's 400-year old mansion. His grandson is the one who turned his home into a mansion and added portraits of his friends that were made by his friend, Rubens. 

Christophe arrived in Antwerp at the age of thirty with six daughters and one son. He is a printer. His daughters are trained to be proofreaders and lace makers (tatting for the linen trade is a huge industry in Antwerp). He has offices in Paris and Frankfurt. Christophe has three homes built on this street that he turns into rental properties for extra income. He is a self-taught man. Started as a book binder before going into the publishing field.

Many of his proofreaders and correctors are priests because they are knowledgeable in Dutch, English, Spanish, Aramaic, French, and Latin.

This room is filled with Rubens. Each is a painting of one of his friends. I like how the style in each is similar, thus making none of them stand out. In my parents' house there are portraits of myself and my two sisters. Rebecca and I had ours done at the same time. Melissa was a baby and had hers done when she about five years old. In that time, the artist's style changed. She added a lot more details and spent much more time on them. This is not the case with the Rubens. They all have the same style, even though it must have taken him awhile to create them.

We walked through a courtyard. 

In another room we saw row after row of fonts. He had a collection of 90 different fonts. Amazing to think our computers hold that many (and more), but in his day each one needed a separate case. Brought me back to the printmaking special I had in middle school.

These are the two oldest printing presses in the world. They are each over 400 years old.

We went up a wide wooden staircase to the second floor (European first floor). We learned more about Plantin and the world in the 16th century. Back then there were no fixed rules for spelling in the Dutch language. I learned there are still many different Dutch dialects making it not always easy to understand each other (as was the case with Yoran (my host son) and Renee (my host mother)). Cornelius Killiaan created the first Dutch dictionary using the Brabant dialect, includes 40,000 words.

The library is jaw dropping. All of the books were printed by Plantin's company. There are busts of famous authors and Greek scholars that appear near their work. I learned you can borrow books from them because they also house a scientific library.

The floor of the print room is tile in case the furnace (which was rarely used) caught on fire. 

Under glass are some of his more famous books: the 1570 book that described the entire Netherlands (Pas-ba) and has had 60 editions since. The 1570 Atlas that standardized maps and now has 40 editions in six languages. 16th century almanacs, sadly only a few have survived. They printed the second Gutenberg Bible. The bible was the "blockbuster of the day." His version was considered a luxury item. There are also all eight volumes of the 1572 King's Bible, a multi-lingual bible, and much more.

 

On July 8, 1641 Christophe's grandson, Balthazar Moretus dies at the age of 64. He has a funeral that shows off his social standing.

They are world renowned printers.

I don't have any more notes about my day in Antwerp, so I end with pictures. Next time I hope to take a walking tour of the city. The Guild Houses glistened, but I'd like to learn more about their history.

Huh?

All four languages recognized in Belgium

The train station is stunning. A great example of taking the original building and seamlessly adding a modern section. My directions back to the train station took me a different way, off the tourist path. I went through a park.I felt safe the entire time.

The train ride back seemed to take two hours instead of 90 minutes, even though it was the same basic route with the same amount of time to transfer. Still better than having a car and trying to figure out directions and parking.