Het Zuid

The neighborhood in Antwerp that we live in is call Het Zuid, or the South. At one point, the Zuid would have been described as up and coming, but now it is known as the trendy place to live. I thought I would take some pictures of some of the interesting things and wonderful buildings we see on a regular basis.

We live just off of the main shopping street for antiques. There are also a couple of fashion concept stores along this street. On the weekends, it is normally crowded with shoppers. There are also several cafes along the street and the weather doesn't even have to be nice to make it difficult to find a seat outside.

Below is an art gallery with an elaborate wood sculpture attached to the facade of the building. It is next door to one of our favorite restaurants, Chez Fred.



Just down the street is another restaurant/bar, Heilig Huisken. The name translates in to The Holy House. Heilig Huisken is a typical example of a stepped gable house that you see all over town. You will often see with them with the year they were build in wrought iron on their facade. I have seen them as early as the 1400's. Heilig Huisken is know for their good service. I would normally consider the phrase 'good service' an oxymoron in Belgium, but they do take care of you here. This is where one of our favorite servers works, Kenny. You may remember him from the Bollekesfeest Tandem Bike Rice.



Heilig Huisken





This is the infamous bar on our corner where the Belgian Beer Pouring Champion works. He also owns the bar along with his father. It is called De Vismijn or Fish Market. The bar has been here since 1930 when the street we live on was the Antwerp Fish Market. It is a landmark in Antwerp and most people know it. It is definitely a hang out for all ages and you can frequently find people dancing inside. On the weekends, there is one man who takes orders and serves all of the drinks. You are not allow to walk up to the bar and order a drink from the bartender. It is suprisingly efficent. The owners are quite friendly and they are nice neighbors to have. With the exception of the Vismijn, our street is full of modern apartment buildings and several high end design shops.



De Vismijn



Even though we only live about 4 blocks from school, there are many interesting sites along the way. Only about 2 blocks from our house is a local Steiner school. The building is probably one of the most well known Art Nouveau buildings in town. 



Art Nouveau Steiner School

Just one block further, in Marnixplaats, stands a large statue of Neptune. There are 7 streets that lead up to this circle, so you are able to get a great view from many places.

Marnixplaats

After I drop the kids off at school, I often walk over to the food store. Along the way is the Royal Musuem of Fine Arts and just behind it is another popular building in Antwerp, t' Bootje or The Boat. It is another Art Nouveau building from 1901.

't Bootje

This apartment building is around the corner from us along the river. The design was inspired by a building designed by Adolf Loos for Josephine Baker in 1928. The original building was supposed to be built in Paris, but never was. Our friends Amelia and Rajat live across the street and have a great view of the building. What you cannot see from the street is a wacky mannekin leg sculpture on the roof. 

                                               

The buildings in Antwerp are pretty diverse. There is a nice mix of old and new with a bunch of Art Nouveau thrown in. We have been pretty lucky with the weather this fall but as you can see, it has turned very grey recently.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Craig has been away all week, so we will be celebrating tomorrow.

Thanksgiving, Belgian Style and Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

What started out as a simple Thanksgiving dinner with another American family, turned into a somewhat large celebration including some of our Dutch friends. My friends Amelia and I had been working all week planning the right menu and dividing up who would make what. Our biggest obstacle turned out to be the turkey. We knew that we would be able to order a turkey from a butcher but could not stomach the idea of having to pay the equivilent of about $8.50 a pound. I even tried to see if the food store could get one in for me but was told they would not have have them until Christmas. We were told that a German food store chain carried frozen turkeys, so Amelia and I set out to the closest store in the bordertown, Aachen to get some. We were able to buy 2 - 6.5 pound frozen turkeys for about $2.50 a pound. The next day, I almost lost it when I went to the food store down the street and saw huge fresh turkeys in the case. 

Getting dinner on the table was a little hectic but convincing 9 little pilgrims to sit down and eat was easier than I expected. Our meal turned out great and it was so nice to be able to share some of our Thanksgiving traditions with friends who had never experienced it before.

The next day, we sent the kids off to school and went to Brugge. We didn't have much time there, but were able to squeeze in a brewery tour, which we would never have been able to do with the kids.

Saturday, Campbell's hosted Sinterklaas and his 2 of his Zwarte Piets. The event was really nice with pancakes (crepes), ice cream and candy. Campbell's gave us a choice of gifts for the kids. All of the options were very nice. Sinterklaas called each child up indiviually and gave them their gift. Seeing Sinterklaas is always nice but I still find the Zwarte Piets very odd.