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Page name: 9 Nov - Day 3. Antwerpen - Breda [Exported view] [RSS]
2005-11-12 17:49:41
Last author: May-lea
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9 Nov - Day 3. Antwerpen - Breda

After a much better sleep than the previous day (The allergies started to clear up a bit), I decided to go around and visit Antwerpen, knowing my next stop, Breda, was only 50 kms away. For once I decided to stop listenning to my music to enjoy the local radios, and listen to spoken Dutch. A good way to see if I can understand any of it, and to learn some pronounciation, too.
As I didn't know what was worth seeing in Antwerpen and as I didn't have a map anyway, I used my favourite way of visiting a town: driving at random, and stopping to take pictures when anything was worth it. My first stop did not happen in Anwerpen itself, though, but in Deurne. I came acrosse a very interesting building -that incidentally happened to be a museum- that looked a bit like a castle. Definitely worth seeing, even if you don't get in. I didn't get in because I didn't feel like, but the inside's full of silver objects. I liked the outside a lot anyway.
<img600*0:stuff/museum.jpg>
Interesting architecture for that museum

I then drove some more until I came across a giant block-like building, that was in fact a church, or a temple of some kind. The architecture is quite impressive because the whole thing looks massive. The bottom part had a lovely pattern.
<img300*0:stuff/Temple.jpg>

I saw a city map nearby, so I looked at it to figure roughly where I was, and I noticed the road I had just planned to take to get to the city center was closed. And this for a good reason: There was a street market. I went there to have a little look. Most people had started packing already, but I still managed to have a good look. I even bought some sweets (Without saying a word, for I wouldn't have known what to say, but I think the man who sold me the sweets knew I didn't speak dutch) Then I walked back looking at the shops eating my sweets, when some old guy started talking to me. It sounded quite funny, but I couldn't get a word of it. I went "Ik spreek niet Nederlands" and the guy went "Sprechen Zie Deutch ?". Technically, I could speak some German, but I'm not sure I would have understood what he would have
said... So I went "Néé". And I went "Ik ben Franse". And the guy started talking in French... In fact, all he wanted was one of my sweets ^_^. And that was just for fun. He didn't really want one, he just wanted to ask for one.
After that, I went back to my car and drove until I ended up next to the city center.
<img600*0:stuff/Court.jpg>
Nice flag-full building

In the center, there was quite a few interesting things to see. The cathedral was very nice. With only one tower,
it reminded me a bit of Strasbourg's in France.
<img600*0:stuff/Cathedral_Antwerp.jpg>
Is the second tower missing or...

The inside was not bad either, but I haven't been far, because you had to pay to get in and the pictures I make in cathedrals are often blurred.
Outside, the cathedral was surronded by buidings with the same typical rooves.
<img600*0:stuff/Rooves.jpg>
The rooves in front of the cathderal

<img300*0:stuff/Roofstreet.jpg>
More rooves, in a nearby street

9 Nov - Day 3. Antwerpen - Breda Part 2
Back to May-lea's roadtrip to the Netherlands





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