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Hallo,
We bussed up to Antwerp in the morning. En route, we passed a town called Boom (I'm not kidding). Lonely Planet talks about Antwerp being a pretty city but I prefer Milan's description of the city: "It looks like all the residents set their houses on fire and then went back inside to wait it out." None of us found it particularly pretty.
We wandered through some of the Old Town, and then the Red Light District which was somewhat busy for a Thursday morning before 10am. There were women in the windows like Amsterdam, but it just felt dirty walking around. Payoke happened to be located in the middle of the Red Light District. The reason it is there is because it is Payoke is and NGO that deals in the prevention of human trafficking. Many people who are trafficked end up as slave labourers or sex trade workers in cities such as Antwerp so Patsy Sorensen, a local Antwerper decided to set up an organization to aid people who wanted to escape persecution from the traffickers. She started by sheltering three sex trade workers in her house 20 years ago and now she is a government
funded NGO. She helps and average of 80 people and year and has been the recipient of assassination attemtps on more than one occasion so she is definately having an effect on the process of human trafficking. A brave woman who commands respect and admiration.
After Payoke, I wandered back to the Grote Markt where Cloude, Edith and I decided to follow the walking tour that was in my Lonely Planet book. The tour took us passed the castle and along the promenade on the Scheldt River. Along there we found the building where the items that were raped from the Congo enterred Belgium. Truly a sad part of Belgium's history and a part that I feel is misunderstood and should be more publicized. We continued passed the building and back into the city. Cloude insisted that we stop at a chocolate shop and we found an excellent one and the three of us shared an outstanding chocolate bar. We then wandered back to the Old Town where Cloude tried to steal a puppy. Well, she didn't actually, but she jokingly asked me if I could help her steal it because it was so cute. We walked past the
cathedral, which was beautiful but cost money to enter so we didn't got in. We continyed around the old town towards Rubenshuis, before settling in at a nice patio on the Grote Markt for a Rochefort 8. Afterwards, we headed back to Brussels.
Bye for now,
Peter
Things I've learned in Antwerp:
-I really don't agree with the concept of paying money to enter a religious institution.
-With fries, waffles, chocolate and beer being specialty items here, I don't know how the Belgians stay so thin.
-Buskers in Europe just know how to entertain better. They don't simply juggle balls, they juggle flaming battons and swords, while on unicycle 10 feet in the air!
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