Antwerp, Belgium--November 15, 2010

Antwerp appears young and energetic, busily developing and redeveloping its waterfront with apartments and parks and an eye toward the tourist as well as the locals.



There are turn of the century areas with good public transportation...






Classic gabled fronts facing the old city plaza...





A decorated city hall--note the Egyptian style oblisks...






Old city walls...







Modern architecture....






Good local brew...






Miles of designated bike paths...






Belgian fries--note the ketchup in amongst the frits...






And a welcome dog who leaned out the window to see who was passing by...


We should have a picture or two of the marvelous chocolate shop "Leonides," but, alas, the photographer was otherwise occupied. C'est dommage.

The Viking Sun

On Sunday, November 14, we left Brugge for Antwerp. Retracing the scene of the crime, we tied our luggage together and over the rail of the overhead luggage rack with a strap. This little step should protect anyone from these common grab it and run thieves. I think we will remember to do it. People who leave larger luggage in the bins at the front of the railway car are fastening the luggage with bicycle locks. This isn't the way Europe used to be, people are saying. That has been true for us, as well, but it isn't the way things are now. So we need to take the time to tie all our stuff together.

On to the Viking Sun....




Yes, it was long...







here we are flying the Dutch flag....







That's Kiwi waving from our room at the back of the ship, right next to the library.

The window washers kept us clean and tidy. Maybe they would like a trip to Montana?







Here are the Sun's vital statistics. We were about 30 fewer passengers fewer than the maximum. The crew was about 30 in number and about 30 in years, as well. They are a very competent group.

One Last Day in Brugge

After boarding the river boat on Sunday, November 14, we had a day in Antwerp, which I'll cover in another post, then we returned on a ship excursion to Brugge. One really nice part of the Viking River Cruises is that most of the excursions are included in the price of the cruise, unlike the large ocean going cruises.

So one more time to Brugge. This time the weather was sunny, and the crowds of the holiday weekend had left town.







Light and shadow play on an old medieval building with the scaffoled church tower in the background.







The Michaelangelo statue in the Notre Dame Cathedral. This marble statue was removed by the Germans in World War II, taken to Germany, hidden in salt mines, and later liberated by the Allies at the close of the war and returned to its place in the cathedral in Brugge.







Flower arrangement in the church...




And another one...







A lovely canal...

Perfect reflections in the canal...






Floating art glass...







Another canal...







The oldest bridge in Brugge.... Today it supports tour buses. Obviously those poor medieval builders knew nothing of planned obselence.







A Renaissance "Bridge of Sighs" simlar to the one in Venice.

Belgian lace made the old way...







And a topiary bay laurel tree...

One Last Tourist Photo

One more poor tourist who has joined others lined up outside the Brugge office (hundreds every week, according to the Brugge police!) to report thefts on the train from Antwerp to Brugge.

Tourist Brugge

Brugge has become a popular tourist destination for both Europe and England which is just across the Channel through the "chunnel.". The weekend we were there coincided with Armistice Day, remembering the end of World War I. The modern day tourist shops with all the souvenirs are at every corner.







How about a carriage ride?






Or a boat ride on the canal....






Take the baby stroller with the plastic cover.






Shop for kooks!!






Eat the treats.



Buy a tee shirt.






This young lad was trying hard to concentrate on the architecture as his girl friend read to him from the tour guide...

More Brugge

Brugge has many beautiful Medieval buildings left from the Middle Ages when it was a major seaport on the English Channel. The harbor silted in, and the shipping moved to other ports. Brugge was left with its many step-gabled buildings and charming canals- a real treat for today's visitors.





This skinny house is now a busy book store. In the old days taxes were assessed by street frontage, not the overall size of the house.






More gables...






And canals...






Lace curtains overlooking a canal....






More roof lines...






And a city gate for welcoming or bidding farewell to the traveler.

Bruges, Belgium

We arrived in Bruges (or Brugge) after having had our backpack with all our electronics (Macbook computer, two Panasonic Luminex cameras, and Jack's Kindle and all his art equipment stolen on the train in from Antwerp! We got our mojo back, picked up a cheap digital camera, an Ipad, and a few paint supplies, then set out to explore Bruges, a beautiful medieval city untouched by the world wars of the 20th century.

The weather was cool and misty (think Seattle), and mussels were in season!!










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