Again, I don't have much to say about Antwerp. We didn't see much of the downtown, due to a festival. We went to a large museum and saw a lot of beautiful art. We walked around on our own. And, most importantly, there was the captain's farewell dinner and a lot of goodbyes.
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Hall of Justice. It is made of glass to symbolize transparency in the legal system, which has been reformed in the last few decades. |
Downtown Antwerp. |
The festival. It was the Catholic Feast of Assumption and Mother's Day. |
I asked one of the merchants about the costumes. They have to wear them and they are uncomfortable. I was also surprised how many booths sold underwear. |
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This is the art museum. A nice Flemish (Belgian) high school student helped pick out the pictures (she's actually from San Francisco, though). I sat next to her on the 8 and 1/2 hour flight to DC. She is a lover of fine art and I'm sure she has better color vision. ;) |
Entrance and stairwell. This museum had some of the biggest paintings I have ever seen. |
This is the serious art student. She had her folding stool and the audio tour. |
Click on the picture for a larger view. |
Click on the picture for a larger view. |
Click on the picture for a larger view. |
Click on the picture for a larger view. |
Click on the picture for a larger view. |
I at least know that the picture at the left is by Paul Reubens, one of the most famous Flemish paintors. His works were all in the central room of the museum on giant walls. This was the best picture I could get. Most of the attempts failed due to glare. |
In many places in Europe they have urinals just in the middle of the street, as Jenny is demonstrating, though not really using (I hope). I know Denece was very jealous. |
Captain (left) and Hotel Manager, Thomas. |
Daytime staff at the counter. Left to right: Alex (from Mexico); Lucia (program director from Slovakia); Martin (front desk); Franziska (assistant program director from Austria). |
Night time staff: Nikki (the pianist) and Yanka (the night time desk clerk), the only Bulgarians on the crew. Apparently most of the crew is Slovakian. |
Nadin (on the right) is one of the wait staff. Most days she looked very tired. Finally I learned why: she was dating the breakfast chef and their schedules were such that they could only see each other during what should have been sleep time. Ronnie served the soup at lunch. Lunch was always buffet-style (pronounced "boo-fey" in Germany) with lots of greens and other things for salad, soup, small sandwhiches, and 4 or 5 hot dishes. I didn't try the soup the first day, but Ronnie's cheerful demeanor and encouragement got me to try the second day and each day afterwards. He was also very fun (loved Amsterdam and fishing) and would tell me what was in each of the dishes. Dad didn't eat most of the delicious soups because they contained cream, which is bad for his heart. Eventually Ronnie got the chef to make a clear soup OR to make just a bowl for Dad. |
Sorrin was one of the wait staff. Everyone of the staff was very good and professional. Sorrin also managed to add some levity. If you said "I'm sorry", he would reply "No I AM Sorrin." This picture was taken during the Captain's dinner, the fancy dinner, the last night. Usually dinner consists of an appetizer, soup, main course, and dessert. Usually you have two choices for each and a third for the main course. Not so for the Captain's dinner. There are so many courses that only the main course has a choice between fish and beef. Dad was dejected, but firm: he wasn't going to eat the soup (more cream) or the beef (he had eaten the lunch in Bruges and that was enough beef). Sorrin comes out with clear broth and chicken - probably the only substitutions of the entire 200+ people attending. It is worth noting that Dad's iron clad adherence to the his doctor's perscribed eating guidelines is probably why, at 73 and 9 years post heart attack, he was able to walk so far, bike, and climb cathedral towers. Amazing what happens when you actually do what the doctor orders! |
This guy is amazing. I believe Roger is a research doctor in Houston (he told me 2 weeks ago and I don't exactly remember). He is brilliant and in so many topics. Often I was fortunate to be awash in European history, medicine, or his fervent love of art. I wish I could have enjoyed the Van Gogh museum through his eyes! After dinner I finally took time to talk thermodynamics with him. Thermodynamics is one of my weaker topics (since it is hard to study on your own) and Roger's forte. It is not very often that I feel this stupid. I tried to keep up and did learn some things. I wish he lived in DFW. |
Dad had everyone enthralled with one of his Navy stories. He was at one of the atomic bomb tests in the south pacific. He even got to see the bones thru his arms (he was facing away from the blast and had his arms over his eyes) and the mushroom cloud. |
This fine blond german fellow is the youngest of the sailor staff, Patrick. Jenny and he started talking after three or four days. It was good for her to have someone to talk to that was closer to her age. Oh, yeah, and that's Brennie, of course, in front. |
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The End.
