We have a day off. This morning we cruise to Antwerp so we now are officially in Belgium. Upon arrival, most of the group takes a short walk and I take a nap. Our ship is docked near the MAS Museum and so the tour starts there.

They climb to the top and take a photo of our boat below on the left.

Also of interest is the Cathedral of Our Lady.

After the morning excursion, lunch is onboard and then we leave for another short guided tour by  Vensa.

Antwerp is the second largest city in Belgium with a population of 500,000. She takes us to the old town square from where we see the Cathredral in the distance.

We also see interesting buildings with different rooflines.

The statue in the middle of the fountain is Brabo and he is about to throw a hand. The legend about this is that a giant would cut off the hands of ship captains who refused to pay a toll to moor in the harbor and throw them into the River Scheldt. Brabo, a Roman army captain, cut off the hand of the giant and threw it into the river.

The climbers on the side of the building are called the “Whisperers.”

She takes us next to a building that was the butchers’ guild and a place from where meat was once sold. Pretty fancy.

Then we cut through some backstreets.

Inside a small cafe, we check out the menu.

We arrive at the Cathredral which was built between 1352 and 1521 but the second tower was never fully completed.  Inside we check out paintings by Peter Paul Reubens. He has four here but his most famous is “The Descent from the Cross.”

Another photo from inside the church.

On our own, we search out a cafe called the 11th Commandment.

The interior was interesting,

and we hit all the Belgian specialities here: beer, fries with mayonnaise, and waffles.

Later we walk on Meir Street, the main shopping area.

And we see chocolate shops where Belgium chocolates needed to be sampled.

Then I find the Pandora store and shop for a Belgian charm – a bicycle – to add to my collection.  I have great help in the process.

Dinner tonight is off the boat so we find a restaurant to check out Belgian stew and croquettes, then head back to the boat as the sun starts to set.