Blogs from Antwerp, Antwerp Province, Belgium, Europe - page 2

Up early due to the excitement of going to Antwerp and meeting Bob, my brother. We'd previously bought some ham for breakfast so it was a matter of grabbing a warm French stick and some orange juice from the local 7/11. Gus and I sat and watched the locals going to and from work whilst having breakfast. Quite a sight really given that some ladies were on their way home after night shift. This was followed by Gus complaining about his haircut and the fact he now looked like Tin Tin but at least he'd got his monies worth even if his comb was now redundant and he wouldn't need another haircut for about four months. Gus and I had preprogrammed our Garmin GPS devices to take us to Antwerp when we were in Australia but ... read more

Following the chase across France, the Allies were faced with an increasingly difficult supply train. The famed Red Ball Express, consisting mostly of African-American drivers, operated nearly 6000 trucks and carried about 12,500 tons of supplies from the Normandy area to the front lines daily. Despite those heroic efforts, supply of ammunition and fuel was significantly constrained, and had to be apportioned here and there as circumstances dictated. 20,000 tons a day would have been needed to keep all the advancing divisions supplied. A significant contributor to this difficulty was the rapid advance itself. The Allies had thought that after the Operation Cobra breakout the Germans would retreat and form a defensive line along the Seine. When Hitler ordered the German VII Army to stand rather than retreat from Mortain, he essentially sealed their fate in ... read more

I left the UK on the 11th with a channel crossing around midday-ish before driving to Antwerp. The next day I visited Antwerp Zoo and because I had an hour left before it closed after finishing the zoo, I visited Aquatopia as well. Antwerp Zoo I thought Antwerp Zoo was good generally; it had a similar feel to Artis Zoo in Amsterdam which I visited earlier in the trip due to both having the same sort of historical buildings and setting. The zoo was also located very centrally in Antwerp so some of the historical buildings in the city could be seen from inside the zoo. I liked the layout of the zoo which can be seen on the zoo map ZOO map · ZOO Antwerp (Note: the map makes the zoo seem smaller than it ... read more

Day 12 - April 26 Antwerp, Belgium Was still not feeling well this a.m. So Jim went and got me a pot of chamomile tea with honey and a croissant. It tasted wonderful but I wasn't up to going on the walking tour of Antwerp (pronounced in Belgium as Antwerpen). I sent Jim with Bill, Jane and the group from the ship. Then I went back to bed since I was up most of the night. I woke at 10am and finally felt better. Enjoyed some of the tea and decided to take a shower. By the time they returned from the walking tour I was much better. I ate a very light lunch and then the 4 of us walked back in to town Since this is Sunday, most stores were closed during the cruise ... read more

Ik zit nu op een bankje te schrijven over de vorige dag wanneer ik word aangesproken door een oud dametje. Of ik op doorreis was, en waar naartoe dan wel. Nadat ik haar vertelde wat mijn plan was werd ze meteen enthousiast. 'Da moet ge allemaal doen als ge jong bent hè', drukt ze me op het hart, 'daar word ge mentaal zo sterk van.' Na een kort gesprekje die onder andere bestond uit een routebeschrijving naar Mechelen, wenst ze me veel succes en wandelt ze, iets opgewekter, weer door. Ik ben aangekomen in Edegem en ik ga eventjes langs de weg zitten om op adem te komen. De zon is zojuist doorgekomen en het zweet gutst van mijn lijf. Plotseling stopt er een dure Audi en steekt de bestuurder zijn hoofd uit het raam: 'Gaat ... read more