Amazing Antwerp

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This article was published 16/11/2019 (2329 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As I walked through the displays at the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, Belgium, I stopped in front of a photo of the Hotel Winnipeg taken around 1920.

Headquartered in Antwerp, the Red Star ship line was one of the major carriers of immigrants who were seeking better lives in the United States and Canada at the turn of the past century and before.

By the first quarter of the 20th century, the U.S. had stopped accepting immigrants in large numbers, so Canada became the next best place of refuge for the thousands fleeing Russia and other despotic regimes.

Winnipeg was then a major rail centre, so those going west or south often ended up in this Manitoba city.

A few short steps from the Hotel Winnipeg photo, there is a large replica of the ship called the Lake Manitoba, which was apparently one of the vessels used to carry these westbound passengers.

Antwerp is a fascinating city to visit. It is an exceptional walking and cycling city, so much so that people seldom need to use a taxi unless they are going to the outskirts.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, this historic port city was once one of the richest. Today, that history is preserved in its buildings and old cathedrals — but these reminders from the past are meshed with ultra-modern shopping centres and new and progressive architecture, housed in a city with an economic base that has allowed it to hold on to its reputation as a wealthy city.

Antwerp sparkles

Antwerp is the global diamond capital, where diamond merchants gather annually to select pieces such as engagement rings and necklaces for their wealthiest clients.

Along Vestingstraat, there is no shortage of shops that specialize in helping tourists make their diamond selections, which signify love of the most expensive kind.

Since we were looking but not buying, my travel companions and I instead went to one of the newest museums in Antwerp, appropriately named Diva. Also known as diamond land, this museum gives an overview of the history of diamonds, displays a large number of samples of all sizes and demonstrates the craftsmanship it takes to create a product that has enticed people for centuries.

A mall with a difference

Antwerp has become one of the major fashion capitals of Europe. While many of the high-end brand name stores can be found along Meir Street, Antwerp’s main pedestrian shopping promenade, most people will want to go into the Stadsfeestzaal.

For those who tire from too much walking, a rest at the Champagne Bar to take in the uniqueness of the design and layout of this small but impressive mall is alone worth the visit.

Here, as well as along Meir, you will find a number of avant-garde boutique shops with one-of-a-kind fashions.

Antwerp holds an annual fashion festival where — as with diamonds — buyers come from around the world to purchase unique fashions for their stores.

Local artist makes good

Finding a cathedral in Europe with a unique history is easy, but discovering one whose art collection stands above most others is not.

I — along with about 300,000 visitors this year — visited the Cathedral of Our Lady and marvelled at what awaited me inside.

The cathedral is impressive enough, as one of the biggest Gothic cathedrals in Europe, but its collection of artworks is what attracts most visitors.

Many Flemish painters are recognized as among the greats for their baroque-style art. At the top of that list stands the works of Antwerp’s best-known offspring, Peter Paul Rubens.

There are a number of his works in the cathedral, but admiring three of his massive early-1600s pieces — The Elevation of the Cross, The Descent from the Cross and The Resurrection of Christ — one does not need to be religious to appreciate the enormity of Rubens’ talents.

Not far from the Cathedral of Our Lady is Rubenshuis, his former home and workshop, where this master created so many of his works.

While so many others of the period lived meagre lives as starving artists, not so with Rubens. He was also a businessman who seemed to understand the principles of supply and demand.

His house and attached gardens are huge and the studio where he and his helpers worked is spacious and impressive.

Foods from the wild

Belgium is known worldwide for its chocolates, waffles and beers. And so it should be. All three recipes have been honed to perfection over the centuries.

More unique is the selection of wild-hunted game on many restaurant menus. In Canada, duck and deer used in restaurant dishes are farm-raised, because it is not legal to serve wild meat, as such.

In one meal at the Le Zoute Zoen restaurant, we would be served wild boar, deer sausage and a manta ray wing, which were all led by a serving of watercress soup. At another restaurant, we had wild duck breasts, and we were warned in advance we might find shotgun pellets, which one of our group did.

While these unique choices are available, because Antwerp is such a cosmopolitan city the dining options are international, with good food available from small walk-in restaurants to luxury dining establishments beyond the main streets.

The railroad station is a tourist destination.

Often referred to as the Railroad Cathedral, Antwerp’s central station has more than once been judged by a number of publications as the most beautiful rail station in the world.

First opened in 1905 and subsequently expanded a number of times, the station features a huge dome in the waiting room and a vast 185-metre-long and 44-metre-high train shed.

It is difficult to pinpoint an architectural style to the station because of the multiple enhancements, other than to say it is a magnificent structure.

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