Waasland

Dendermonde – Antwerp (50 - 55 km)

Today we followed the Schelde River further downstream through the Temse region and the small village of Baasrode to Antwerp. This part of the route is along a beautiful and winding section of the Schelde which over the centuries held strategic importance for the Romans, Vikings, Spanish and Napoleon. Today was colder and we had rain off and on. We stopped for a drink and had the best hot chocolate with Belgian chocolate chips mixed into hot milk. We had a quick stop at a local museum to see the weaved purse collection from around the world. Next was a stop to see a mechanical butterfly on a village building. We wound our way through villages onto the dyke to see the statue of the lady by the river. Her body is curvy and meant to mirror the flowing of the river. We rode to see a tidal mill, the only one of its kind in Belgium. Then it was a 40 minute, wet, windy ride to lunch. At a farm museum and pub. Antwerp, our destination for the day, is a harbor city situated on the river Schelde famous for handling up to 80% of the world’s rough diamonds and is the birthplace of the famous painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens. There are many highlights in the city to discover including: the City Hall, one of several majestic buildings constructed during the Renaissance period, the historical City Square Grote Market, the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Cathedral and the medieval Steen Castle. We arrived on the Waterbus and rode to the oldest underground and under the river bike tunnel which is 33m below and a half mile long. We took the elevator down and rode across and back to experience it. We visited the St Paul's Church outdoor garden with its statues and had a look inside at the original paintings of Rubens and Antoon Van Dyck. We rode 10 floors on escalators to see the view of Antwerpe from the top floor of a local building. We had a nice dinner all together then rode back to the ship.Read more