Antwerp

Friday, July 10, 2026

At the bus rest stop this morning, Jenny got Grillz. She and Steve modeled how we think they are supposed to be played with before being eaten.

We went on a walking tour and saw the butchers’ guild house with bacon themed brickwork

other guild houses with shinies on the top

the statue of a guy throwing a cut-off hand of the giant bad guy (hant werben is an approximation of hand throwing in Dutch and is said to be the way Antwerp got its name. City hall is behind the guy

an Italianate church that’s pretty inside and outside

part of the original city wall, and an indication of where the wall used to be

the “stone” – looks like a castle, but was a jail

this tree

a statue of Nello and Patrasche – characters in a very popular Japanese story that the Belgians knew nothing about until tourists started arriving at the cathedral to see where these characters lived. Ummm? Okay! We will embrace the story and make tourists a cool statue

this sign

and this sign

and this sign

a terrific dinner that ended like this

A thing to remember was that our guide called wells water pits and it was adorable.

Tonight’s concert was in a church that has been converted into a concert hall. Keith said the sound on stage was stellar. In the hall sounded good too. They were three big works of art that sort of glowed with their irridescence. Mary asked if I thought they were made of glass. I said no, I thought they were made of bugs. Rob, our guide, went off to ask. Jewel beetle shells!! I win.

The cathedral looked lovely as we walked back to the hotel.

Belgium lost their World Cup match against Spain in the 88th minute. I was sad.