Chapter Five: Ghent Me To The Altar (Piece) On Time
November 23, 2024
Chapter Seven: No Resting In Antwerp
December 21, 2024Mai Tai Tom Stays On Track Through Belgium, Paris and Strasbourg
Chapter Six – Gotta Hand It To Antwerp
Day Six – Spectacular Train Station, Gotta Hand It To You, Ripped Off, Construction Zone, Art House, Pressing On, Another Gutenberg?, The Masters, Don’t Straighten The Painting, Where’s Neil Diamond When You Need Him?, A Boy & His Dog, Right Down Our Alley & Courtyard Dining
Goodbye Bruges. Hello Antwerp. First, however, Mary and Kim had to have one more fling against the bricks at our hotel.
Arriving from one beautiful train station to another, we were greeted on the platform by an interesting sculpture.
Hand of Peace is a 2018 creation of Chinese sculptor, YAN ShuFen. You know what they about a bird in the hand. Oh wait, we already saw Kim and Mary in the bushes earlier.
Antwerpen-Centraal, like so many in Europe, is really a sight to see. Constructed at the turn of the 20th century it became the “first station of Belgium’s public railway,” not to mention “the first of its kind in Europe.” It’s nicknamed “Railway Cathedral” by locals.
The art nouveau station has been called one of the most beautiful in the world, which would have pleased Belgium’s King Leopold II, who was the reigning monarch when it opened.
We took a taxi to our lodging (Hotel Rubens – Oude Beurs 29). As our cab traveled through town, we remarked on how much construction was taking place. It seemed every zone was under repair. Upon arrival, Mary asked the hotel concierge if the €37 taxi ride was correct, only to learn that it should have been about €20. The concierge said she would call one for us when we were to leave in a couple of days. Note to self, ask someone in charge what the fare should be to your destination before piling in. Since the rooms weren’t ready yet, we set out on foot to explore Antwerp.
Mary and Kim scoured the area for lunch, while Tracy and I wandered toward the Museum Mayer van den Bergh. This sign along the way gave us quite a chuckle.
We love museums in houses, and this one was very interesting. Fritz Mayer van den Bergh was an avid art collector who had more than 3,000 pieces in his collection when he succumbed to injuries sustained in a horse riding accident in 1901.
His mother built this Gothic-style museum in memory of her son. It opened in 1904 (by appointment and invitation only at the time) and was the first museum in the world to have been built entirely to house one existing collection. It opened to the public in 1924.
On this trip one of my new favorite old artists had become Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Many of his paintings reflected my other favorite artist’s, Bosch, influence. Take Dulle Griet, a painting that has “a virago (a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues) leading an army of women to pillage Hell.” Good stuff.
We also saw the softer side of Bruegel with his Volkstelling te Bethlehem.
There were plenty of great paintings in this museum…
… but we really liked the layout of the house …
… especially the biblioheek.
I wished we had spent more time here, because both the museum and the story behind it are quite fascinating. I recommend a stop here when in town.
… it was time to ride into the sunset (or sunshine as the case may be) …
… and meet Kim and Mary to “discover the magic of printing” at the Museum-Plantin Morentus, a UNESCO World Heritage site for the past 29 years. Since I had been a partner in a small publishing company for nearly 30 years, this seemed quite interesting. According to its literature, the Plantin-Moretus Archive is a “virtually intact business archive covering the period from 1555 to 1867.” The museum also houses numerous paintings and artifacts, but books were its business.
It was named after Christoph Plantin, a Frenchman who took up residence in Antwerp to become a renowned publisher and printer. We stepped into the courtyard which receded into darkness.
We learned the darkness is to protect the books because “light absorbs the color and ink” and “pulverizes textiles and gold leather.” I thought Mary might become a printer, so we pressed on.
The Museum-Plantin Moretus houses the two oldest printing presses in the world (right), dating to the 1600s. The other six presses are still in working order. I believe they said it was the only printing house from this era still standing.
This museum was just my type.
This is a 17th-century bible from the collection of Balthasar II Moretus, the family that took over the publishing house from Plantin. The Moretus family sold the works to the City of Antwerp in 1876, and it became a museum in 1877, and is the only museum in the world on the World Heritage list.
On loan from the Rubens House in Antwerp (currently under renovation), we saw his home altar.
The center contains a miniature of a painting by Rubens. We also learned that Plantin hired Rubens to make the engravings for his best selling books including the Adoration of the Magi and Ascension of Christ.
Also, we saw a bust of Hercules. However, no Xena, much to my disappointment.
In this painting Plantin shows Arias Montero a copy of the Biblia Regia (King’s Bible), which was printed by Plantin between 1568 and 1573.
A painting of Balthasar I Moretus on his death bed was very near his death bed.
Every trip needs a good library or two, like the Great Library from the 17-century …
… full of books, busts and globes
We stepped into this Drawing Room from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Through our travels we have seen more than our fair share of Gutenberg Bibles, but this one is different. After Gutenberg’s print shop burned to the ground, he sold his print type to Plantin, and this is only the second bible to be printed with this typeface in Europe. As the website states, “Printed with Johannes Gutenberg’s original type, it takes you right back to the invention of printing.”
For an interesting lesson in publishing and printing history, be sure to book the Museum-Plantin-Moretus.
We stepped out into the Vrijdagmarkt (Friday Market) on this Sunday afternoon.
At the Monument to the Russian Tsar Peter the Great, citizens of Antwerp have chosen this space to pay tribute to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who “died” in a Russian gulag in February 2024.
We grabbed a quick snack (yes, these are Nachos, Antwerp-style. Nothing but the finest cuisine for us) …
… and it was off to our last stop of the day, the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Royal Museum Fine Arts or KMSKA), which was a short 15-minute walk. Along the way, we admired street art depicting a scene from The Adventures of Nero, a popular Belgian comic strip that ran here for decades.
We would witness a slightly different type of art when we visited KMSKA.
In 1944 and 1945, Antwerp and Brussels suffered attacks from German V-Bombs. Near the museum was a memorial.
More than 200 years old, KMSKA contains artwork from the 14th through the 20th centuries. The museum closed in 2011 for 11 years for renovations. 
It’s a striking museum.
Upon entering, we viewed a Rubens’ painting under conservation, Madonna Enthroned Adored by Saints.
Anthony van Dyck, a disciple of Rubens, painted the altar St. Augustine in Ecstasy on the left, while Jacob Jordaens created the Martrydom of Saint Apollonia. Now I know why she is the patron saint of dental diseases and helps those with toothaches.
In an Addams Family moment, Tracy blurted out, “What’s that Thing?”
Hans Memling is the artist behind God The Father with Singing and Music-Making Angels.
We visited with the Dauphin François and Charles V as a Child.
Hello Dali!
I liked The Temptation of Saint Anthony The Great …
… but then again I’m a sucker for crazy looking creatures. It originally decorated the St. Antony altar in Antwerp’s Onze Lieve Vrouwkathedraal, which we would visit the following day.
Wandering the two floors, we were reaching our daily (maybe yearly) allotment of artwork.
Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Clergyman was not too far from a painting depicting The Death of Peter Paul Rubens.
We joined in a Brothel Scene, took aim at an Archers Festival and waltzed over to The Wedding Dance by Bruegal The Elder.
Next, we encountered a display that seemed a little off kilter. There were two crooked paintings just begging to be straightened. However, this is how they are supposed to be displayed. “By presenting the painting crooked, we stress the comic and dynamic aspect of the painting, which was also van Ostade’s intention,” said Nico Van Hout, head of collections at KMSKA. “Nevertheless, we hope the visitor understands such jokes without explanation.” As Kim and Mary had come across these paintings before us, we hoped she didn’t attempt to straighten them like she tried to dust the unicorn in Bruges.
We admired Rogier can der Wyden’s Portrait of a Tournament Judge.
Then we shuffled straight over to deal with The Card Players.
Nearing the end, we came upon a unique Madonna, which at a glance looks like a very contemporary painting. Au contraire mon ami. Madonna Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim is a 15th century painting by French artist, Jean Fouquet, and was commissioned by Etienne Chevalier, treasurer to King Charles VII of France. Rumor has it, the model for the Madonna is Agnès Sorel, the mistress and counselor of Charles VII.
Finally, something that was contemporary was Conflict Painting. Only five people could enter at a time, and I must admit I was conflicted about the meaning behind it. We scurried out before we got Vertigo.
Leaving the museum, I stopped at a piano that I assume was where Neil Diamond had written his 1972 hit. Instead, patrons could sit here and tickle the ivories if they are so inclined. Since I had not played The Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet or Windy by The Association for 50+ years, I passed.
As we were winding down our time in Belgium, I reflected how much I enjoyed the Flemish style of painting. Recalling the first time I visited the Louvre and viewed the Mona Lisa, I said, “Da Vinci must have had a great press agent,” but I always liked the Flemish artists better, and it was nice to be reacquainted with them and learn more about their styles and lives.
Back at the hotel we checked in, got a little (very little) rest and it was back out on the town. We walked through the Grote Markt and its 16th century Guild Houses that line the square.
It was bustling even on an early Sunday evening.
Tonight we were going to dine at a late 16th-century building that houses what turned out to be, in my opinion, the best dinner of the trip thus far. Restaurant ‘t Hofke is a family-run restaurant located in the oldest alley of Antwerp, de Vlaeykensgang, which refers to a pie house. Close friends of Rubens lived here, along with shoemakers, bell ringers of the cathedral and a host of others over the centuries. 
The family (mom, two sons and cousins) has run the restaurant for the past 30 years. Each member of the family we met was wonderful as were the the others who worked there.
And ambiance? Entering its gorgeous courtyard, you feel transported back to those 16th century times (well, except they do have electricity).
There is a downstairs cellar dining room, however that would have been the last anyone would have heard from Mai Tai Tom. One of the waiters was quite tall, and we worried if he could make it down and up the steep stairs safely, but, of course, he did. It’s good to be young.
It was such a calm and peaceful place to dine, and what a great meal. I started with a Burgundian escargot with garlic, followed by a Filet Stroganoff with frites. Both dishes were really, really good.
Tracy’s tagliatelli with shrimp, pieces of chicken and wok vegetables in a light curry sauce earned a Wow!
As did Kim’s New Zealand lamb with pesto, vegetables of the Provence and rosemary cream.
Finally, Mary eschewed her usual fish choices (miracoli) and ordered a Steak Filet Mignon with salad, mushroom or pepper sauce.
The only bad part, we were too full for dessert. I hate when that happens!
All in all it was a marvelous time as we chatted with members of the family who ran this place like a well-oiled machine. The kitchen is very small, but the dishes came up large. It was so good that on the following day, Tracy and I would return for lunch.
You could say that Restaurant ‘t Hofke was right down our alley.
We hit the streets, and although it was relatively early to pack it in (even for us), our afternoon of virtual non-stop museum-hopping had taken its toll …
.. so it was back to the Hotel Rubens to rest up for our last day.
After making our own pancakes at the hotel, we headed back out to the streets of Antwerpen. Sadly for Kim and Mary, with most of the museums closed on Monday, a few of our stops would be (don’t tell them) churches. We’d start at the big ticket cathedral with the tallest church spire in the Low Countries, walk by a boy sleeping peacefully curled around his dog, make a quick stop at a medieval fortress on our way to a closed church that I believed would eventually open for us and visit a closed house with a nice garden.
We stopped inside a building that was formerly Napoleon’s Imperial Palace; but was turned into a Royal Palace for a Dutch King, which is now … well that’s for tomorrow. We’d also check out that closed church, which also had a “mountain” of statues. Finally, we’d dine at a 150-year-old restaurant that was established as a nunnery for the nearby cathedral. As we’d see, it was far from a nunnery today.
Next – Chapter Seven: Our Final Day In Belgium
Day Seven: Take The Ticket and Go Away, A Boy and His Dog, ManSpreading At The Castle, “It’s Closed Today”, Wouldn’t Want To Be Thierry Jaspart, Come Back In 2030, Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This, “No It’s Not”, The Stolen Caravaggio?, Waffling and Second To Nun
