Neptune

The face of Neptune, god of the sea, on a fountain dating from 1883 at the Marnixplaats in Antwerp.

Colourful parade

Another mural from the Antwerp comic book mural trail. This mural called 'Kleurrijke Stoet' ('Colourful Parade') is located at De Oever and was created by Brecht Evens (1986). The works of this young Belgian comics artist and illustrator is known as groundbreaking and his fantasy is boundless. He was the first Flemish artist to win a price at the international comic book festival in France in 2011.

With its huge size it's also the largest mural of the walking trail (see also stripmuren.be - only in Dutch).

I'm linking to Monday Mural.

A gentleman at the zoo

Why throw away your used old bicycle? Think creative!  ;)
Photo taken at the Antwerp ZOO.

At the zoo

Picture taken at the Antwerp ZOO: the baboons knew how to get these children's attention!

Enjoy your weekend.

Weekend reflections

A selfie taken at the right-hand banks of the river Scheldt, in Antwerpen.


I'm linking to Weekend Reflections.

St Anna Tunnel -inside

Following up on yesterday's post this is a picture from half way in the St Anna Tunnel, a 572 m (1,876 ft) long passageway for pedestrians and cyclists. It was built underneath the Scheldt in 1931-1933 to link the old centre of Antwerp with the left bank.

St Anna Tunnel entrance

Here we are taking the first of two original 1930's clanking wooden escalators to go down 31 meters under the riverbed to enter the Antwerp St Anna Tunnel, a pedestrian passageway underneath the river Scheldt.

Brabo Fountain

Silvius Brabo, here as a statue on top of the Brabo Fountain at the Grote Markt in Antwerp, is a mythical Roman soldier who is said to have killed a giant called Druon Antigoon. This giant terrorised the people of the city by asking money from them when they passed the bridge of the river Scheldt. When they didn´t want to or couldn´t pay, he cut off their hand and threw it in the river.
Brabo then cut off the hand of the giant, and the statue shows how he threw it into the river.

Later this story was also used to explain the name Antwerp, meaning Hand Werpen in Dutch or Hand Throwing in English.

Antwerp comic strip wall

This mural at the Kloosterstraat in Antwerp features Marc Sleen´s creation Nero. Sleen (91) is a Flemish comic strip artist. The mural is part of the comic wall trail, a walking route along ten large murals dedicated to the many cartoonists that Belgium has produced.

The Antwerp comic walls are an initiative of the people behind Mekanik Strip, a comic shop and gallery in the city.

For more information visit the official website HERE (only in Dutch)

I'm linking to Monday Mural.

Good start of the day

Due to different working hours (and days) we do not often eat breakfast together, so on holidays we enjoy it and take our time in the morning. Our hotel at the Steenhouwersvest in Antwerp served a 'healthy breakfast' as they called it. No breakfast buffet where you have to stand in line, but served like this at the table: a plate with several hearty and sweet sandwich fillings, a boiled egg, fresh fruit, yogurt, orange juice, and coffee or tea. Plus a basket containing different types of bread. Delicious!!

The green men

Two men in so called ´morphsuits´ at the Meir, the main shopping street in Antwerp.

The latest trend in fashion?

Happy weekend! :)

The Giants

The Giants have settled in Antwerp! This is Grandma Giant sleeping in her bed at the Theatre Square, earlier this week.
She is part of a big festival taking place in Antwerp this weekend, called The Giants. Several gigantic puppets (Grandma for instance is 7.5 m/24.6 ft high) that were created by a French theatre group, will be travelling though the city streets, their movements controlled by huge cranes. Must be a spectacular sight, I wish we would still be there to watch it!

Back from..

..a well spent couple of days in Antwerp, Belgium! Great city with lots to see and explore, and we enjoyed ourselves a lot.
This trolley car was on its way to Hoboken, one of the Antwerp city districts.

From the archives #64

Canada (2012)

This public artwork "(lying on top of a building,) the clouds looked no nearer than when i was lying on the street", are the words from U.K. artist Liam Gillick that we read across the facade of the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in downtown Vancouver (BC).
Back home in the Netherlands I googled the words and learned that the photo only shows the 2nd half of the sentence; we never saw what was around the corner. Oops.

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Orangerie

Following up on yesterday's post, this is another photo of the orangerie. Starting in the 17th century many important houses had an orangerie in which plants could survive the winter. Over time these small and stylish buildings became a fashion. Not only plants, but also guests felt home in them, compare it to the conservatory we know nowadays.

This orangerie can seat 20 people, but when the weather is good plenty more people can have a seat. Since 2009 it is also the wedding location for the municipality of Tynaarlo.

Orangerie, above the entrance door

This is the stylish artwork above the entrance door of the Orangerie, a building on the grounds of Museum De Buitenplaats in Eelde, located next to the museum garden. Another photo and some more details will follow tomorrow.

The Bloody Tour

This small sign in the centre of York invites people to join The Bloody Tour, and learn about the true horrors of the city such as executions and the plaque. Well, how about that?
We didn't take the tour in the short time that we were there in August last year, but it would have been interesting to join and hear 'the dark side' of 2,000 years of history of this beautiful city in Yorkshire. So, maybe another time!
And you, would you like to do The Bloody Tour?


I'm linking to signs, signs.

Cappuccino and poffert in Smeerling

During our bicycle trip last Sunday we stopped halfway at Gasterij Natuurlijk Smeerling, in the small village of Smeerling, for (yes haha, you may have guessed) a cappuccino. This tearoom/restaurant in a beautifully restored farm is located in the Ruiten Aa-valley in the Westerwolde region.
Besides our cappuccinos (served with a cookie named Janhagel, and a candy mint), we both had a piece of poffert, a local dish resembling raisin bread/cake. Served warm, with some butter and soft brown sugar, it was an absolutely delicious treat!
Can life be any better on a Sunday morning? :)

Little Red Riding Hood

This stone sculpture picturing Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf dates from 1959, and was created by Dutch sculptor Kees de Kruijff (1905-1978). It's location is the Julianapark in Stadskanaal.

Bicycle trip

Today was a perfect day for a bicycle trip! This is near the village of Onstwedde in the province of Groningen.
PS. the big black thing on the bottom left is my bicycle bell :)

Allium

Most photos on this blog were taken with my compact camera, but when I go in the garden I always use the bigger Nikon. With its rotatable LCD-screen I do not have to lie on my back in the grass to take photo like this for instance :)

Besides the name 'Allium' this plant is also known as 'sierui' in Dutch.

Happy weekend! :)

My cappuccino in... Bruges

Fully enjoying the Spring sun with a cappuccino on the main market square in the heart of Bruges, Belgium.

And this was our view!
Both photos are from last year.

I wish you a nice Friday! Here it will be a very hot day with temperatures of at least 30°C / 86°F.

Museum garden

Eelde, museum De Buitenplaats.

TOET

En route from Groningen Central Station to the city-centre you are likely to pass 'TOET': a bakery as well as shop/restaurant as well as dessert bar at the Gedempte Zuiderdiep. They serve sweet dishes and desserts, cakes and pies, high tea, slow coffee, juices and lots more. It's all 'natuurlijk vers & puur' (natural, fresh & pure) and 'met liefde gemaakt' (made with love)!

The Artist Asleep

The armless figure (cast and painted aluminium, with a wig) is named 'The Artist Asleep', a creation by Henk Visch (1950) exhibited in one of the hallways of Museum De Fundatie in Zwolle. The gentleman is a visitor of the museum.