Antwerp, Belgium - 17 Dec 2001 My photo album of Antwerp
	The Port of Antwerp is 42 miles from the North Sea up the River Scheldt. We berthed at 11am just next to The Steen [stone], the oldest building in Antwerp, one of the first to be built of stone, dating back to 1200, now housing the Belgian National Maritime Museum. Unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world, Van Dyck was born here in 1599, and has many museums and other building and places of interest to visit. It is a lovely city just to wander around; if only it wasn't so cold, misty and drizzling. The weather did dampen things down a bit. Town Hall, Antwerp The Steen After an early lunch aboard we set off walking to explore the City centre. We covered the main area, up Meir and all the side streets, to the Central Station, described as a "Monumental Railway Cathedral", with an enormous domed ticket hall built 100 years ago. Top Antwerp Cathedral The Cathedral in Groen-Plaats is the largest construction in the Low Countries, completed in 1521 and became a cathedral in 1559. There are a couple of Rubens within and it has 7 aisles. It has recently undergone 20 years of restoration work. Marine Park Next to the Maritime Museum, and forming part of it, is a Marine Park containing all sorts of old river boats/barges, lifeboats and patrol boats. As it was closed we could only peer in from the railings and couldn't see much, but there are a few nice photos on this site. The shopkeepers were friendly and chatty; well not many tourists around this time of year! Diamonds, Lace and Belgian Chocolates are the 'best buys', my pocket only extending to the latter. An ice rink and wooden raised kiosks were being erected outside the Town Hall for a party/celebration of some sort, looked as if it would be quite fun. Top

	The Itinerary
	The Ship
	Cruise Intro
	Photographs