Antwerp Steintrip September 2010 - Day 3

Jim, no Meat, but plenty of Veg

First, breakfast at our "regular" spot:

then Julie and I walked to the nearby central train station, a very impressive place that reminded us of Grand Central in New York and St Pancras in London.

Here Julie spotted Antonina ...

Meanwhile, Markus was taking a photo of me taking a photo of Antonina!


Within a short time we also bumped into Tall Will then Hennie and Anny,  The station is quite the magnet!


Back to the hotel to check out, then the matinee show where Chagal recovered from a couple of foobars and the Professor got some of his books mixed up.  Nevertheless we all enjoyed the show again.


So, finally, some group shots before most of us left for home.

Tall Will nearly towering over the giant poster:

... and Will eating again ...

Nothing changes!

Antwerp Steintrip September 2010 - Day 2 (The Show)

So, after resting our feet for a short while, we joined the rest of the group to find somewhere to eat before the show.  As per his job description, Will inspected some restaurants and their menus ...

... but this one got rejected in favour of the one hiding in the photo behind Tall Will, where the staff hurriedly re-arranged their tables to sit all 18 of us ...

No sooner had they done so however, the group split between us rugged outdoor types and the namby bamby indoor foursome of Markus and Antonina (I guess they're used to warmer climes after their recent holiday) plus Hennie and Anny.

Here's the obligatory shot of Will eating (joined by Renardo and Sandra, and the apparently unjoined hands of Henry and Julie) ...

plus the other end of the table ...

And here some close-ups.  Markus, you could at least have shaven before meeting us ... ;-)

And a possible caption competition here with Tall Will and Jacqueline:

So, to the theatre.  Here's the VIP section:

and one of the many group shots

After the show we went back to the hotel, a journey of oh, several seconds.

And another group shot, with Markus returning the favour:

In the hotel, Markus got out his whopper again ...

to take a photo of Jacqueline phoning Jim on the Bat-Phone.  Due to some technical problem possibly something to do with pressing the wrong buttons, she got through to her sister instead of Jim.  Now, I'm not making any comment here, but compare and contrast the first photo where she had her sister on the line, and the second where she did manage to get through to Jim ;-)

Jacqueline then sent the willies up all of us by asking Jim to talk to each of us in turn.  Fortunately, whilst our minds froze, Jim suddenly had a second call (yeah, I've used that excuse before too!) and had to go, promising to call back.

Next morning, Jacqueline told us that Jim did call back during the night, saying "OK, I'm ready now, pass me round to the fans".  Too late !!!!  But anyway, contrary to some lyrics I once heard, the nice ones do call back.

Antwerp Steintrip September 2010 - Day 2 (Antwerp)

So it's the next morning, and I manage to take a photo of Will whilst he's not eating.  But there's a reason ... notice not only the lack of food, but also the shades atop a dour face.  Yes, he's suffering from the youthful excesses of the night before :-)

After a small but nice breakfast, most of us (in other words, the ones without hangovers) trundled off to explore Antwerp.  We passed through a "graffiti park" with a quite accurate depiction of one of our cats:

Accurate that is aside from the flora growing on its head.  And the pyjamas.  And the rainbow shining out of its arse.

From there, on to the riverside to investigate Antwerp's foot tunnel built in the 30's.  The escalators are, look and smell original but do still work.  Here's a view of Hennie and Anny about to embark on the walk through the tunnel.

The tunnel is about half a  kilometre long, with next to nothing the other side except for a nice view of the city:

Back to the main side of the tunnel, we spied a car sporting a DdV advert.  It doesn't quite match up to the Vienna trams but at least it's something :-).  It's one of the cars owned by the theatre company who had all of their cars stickered specially for the show!

A short walk along the riverside brought us to Het Steen which, at 800 years, is Antwerp's oldest building.

Standing near to the entrance of the castle is a statue of the giant Druon Antigoon looking down on 2 men.  Evil Will felt instantly at home in Antwerp, declaring that any city that immortalizes the tall in bronze is OK in his book.

The story goes that Druon charged a toll on boats that passed on the river, and removed the hands of those that refused to pay.  This gave Antwerp its name (Antwerpen means "to throw a hand") and inspired this statue:

in the main square

Shortly after, the group split up.  Julie and I visited this church

and the old Slaughterhouse

and then dined on Belgian's finest (fries and mayo)

before going back to the hotel for a quick rest before the evening's entertainment.

Antwerp Steintrip September 2010 - Day 1

Julie and I opted to drive over, and here she is tucked into the BatMobile ...

... which we took over to France via a Eurotunnel train:

We made good progress (ahem) till a few miles from Antwerp when the city welcomed us with an hour stuck in the traffic:

So we were a bit later to the hotel than we'd hoped, but in time to meet Henry, Tall Will, Normal-Sized Will, Renardo, Hennie and Anny.  The hotel has a DdV sign outside and is just the opposite end of the square from the theatre.

Soon we went out for a meal.  Antwerp is a tiny city and even Will couldn't stretch the walk to the customary hour, so we were soon eating.  Here's a shot of Will to keep up my record of taking a photo of him every time he attempts to put food in his mouth ...

After the meal, on to a bar for some drinks.  We searched for a while to find somewhere not too busy and not too loud so we could chat, but having found a place ...

... the management decided we wanted it turned into a disco ...

Either that or Renardo was trying to get some laser eye surgery on the cheap!


Back to the hotel where the youngsters stayed at the bar whilst the more genteel 50's set retired for some sleep.  The next morning revealed who made the better decision :-)