Peter Bishop’s Antwerp diary
Arriving at the city’s Central Station after, in my case, a smooth Eurostar-initiated journey, the traveller encounters a monumental example of railway architecture with neo-classical facades and a huge glass dome. This is evidence of the economic confidence engendered by a port – Europe’s second largest – which developed as a major international trading centre in the 16th century and has remained a thriving working centre ever since.
Migrants
The station is adjacent to the diamond centre, still massively important as the centre of the world’s business in the product that is ‘for ever’, despite India now being the home of its cutting and polishing operations. Port-side, along the river Scheldt towards the North Sea, there are miles of quays and a huge volume of containers and petrochemical traffic.
It was on the banks of the river that the Red Star shipping line was based, a company that first specialised in oil exports before becoming a hugely active transporter of migrants to North America. It is now a fascinating museum telling the stories of those arriving in, and fleeing, Europe in a period that included two world wars.
A little further down the Scheldt, towards the towering cathedral and the historic centre, lies Museum Aan de Stroom – MAS – a collection of ethnographic treasures which explore Antwerp’s trading past, cuisine and ordeals after the German invasion in 1940. Trade-wise its power was so strong in the 16th century that Antwerp became the main office of the Hanseatic League, attracting traders, artisans, diplomats and artists from all over the world.
The fruits of many of the artists’ work can be seen in the newly re-opened Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, the city’s major art museum with classic works by the city’s favourite son Peter Paul Rubens, famous for his muscular and curvaceous subjects. Modern masters feature too, including Magritte, Modigliani and Dali, and for the first time I encountered work by local artist Rik Wouters.
Dedicated
These were just three of many centres of culture in Antwerp and in my short visit were chosen as ones that suited my general interests. Others on offer include those dedicated to music, printing and publishing, tapestries and furniture, as well as Rubenshuis, the house and studio of the 17th century artist. A celebrated zoo, established in 1843 is home to over 4,000 animals. A skyscraper, known as the ‘Farmers’ Tower, is claimed to be Europe’s first high rise building.
Journalist Agnès Poirier wrote in The Times recently that Belgians were “king when it comes to French fries.” She revealed her favourite chips place “in the whole world” as Frites Atelier in Antwerp. A recommendation worth following up, so I headed to the clearly-popular venue in a side street near the Cathedral of Our Lady. She was right. Double cooked chips in Béarnaise and truffle sauce. Delicious!
