I got pretty sick (fever, heavy pills, etc.) this week but I got good enough to visit my good friend Inge in Antwerp yesterday, Saturday. It proved to be a good choice when it came to the date: The Sultan’s Elephant, a production of Royal De Luxe, is in town!
A Great Day It Was!
Pictures: - Flemish Béguinages, Hoogstraten, Belgium - The Sultan’s Elephant - Tour around Antwerpen, Belgium
A Great day it was! It actually started with my improvised visit to Hoogstraten (near Antwerp) which has a Flemish Béguinages. It’s part of UNESCO World Heritage and not unique in Belgium, but it was just on the road.
I’m pretty familiar with Antwerp, but it had been years I drove around. My intention was to visit the second biggest city of Belgium as a tourist. I hope I didn’t irritate my friend to much as I stopped from time to time to shoot some building! The good thing is that I saw places I missed when rushing through the city.
Saint Paul’s Church is probably a highlight. I’m not religious, and sure don’t believe in any god, but it’s amazing what people are making, painting, building! This 16th century baroque church was part of a monastery with paintings from most famous artists Rubens, van Dyck, etc.. I missed the inside of the cathedral though. There was something going on in there (people.. praying to something) and so we couldn’t get in as it was getting late.
There were lots of people this weekend in Antwerp. Probably because of the visit of the Sultan with his big elephant. Yes, it was impressive! When the mechanical mega puppet came towards us, I felt actually getting scared. It was just, I don’t know.. a few seconds I just got scared. Probably that’s a healthy way to feel anyway, and it damn feel good! Really!
If you can, you really have to see this open air mega show of Royal De Luxe. The whole 3 days with all the things in the city going on, because what I saw was actually only a fraction of it.
Anyway, check the pictures!