Belgium 2017 - Antwerp: MAS Museum, Port Area, Steen Castle

After three days of exploring the south-west portion of Antwerp, the fourth day would see us heading north towards the Port area.  We planned to walk towards the Museum aan de Stroom, a museum of Antwerp history, whose name aptly translates to “Museum by the River”.  After that, we would tour the port area, have lunch at a local pizza place, and then walk back south to visit the Steen Castle.  On the way home, we intended to swing by the De Wilde Zee food shop area again (this time trying not to lose our dinner like we did on the previous day), pass by a few more comics murals and then head home.  This would be another long walking day and we were starting to think that a rest day might be in order soon.

The Museum aan de Stroom (Nicknamed MAS) focuses on the history of Antwerp and contains over 500,000 items including artworks and utensils in its collection.  Progressively telling the story from floor to floor, the museum explores the politics that shaped Antwerp, the importance of ports, influence of food supplies and more.  This massive museum sounded interesting but also exhausting, since we had already spent several days walking through museums and art galleries. We decided that we would not pay to visit MAS, but instead would ride the escalators up to the top floor for free so that we could see the panoramic view of Antwerp.  The 60-metre high MAS building, made from Indian red sandstone and curved glass panels, is quite stunning to behold and is considered to be Postmodern architecture.  The glass openings are staggered so that they face a different direction on each floor, providing a different view of Antwerp as you stop at each level.

From the lower levels, we had some great views of the port area that surrounds the MAS.  There was a majestic building across the River Scheldt that we were not able to get anyone to identify for us at the time of our visit.  After we returned home, I asked our home swap hosts and found out that it was the Pilotage Building, built in 1895 by architect Ferdinand Truyman.  Designed in the Neo-Gothic style, this building provided maritime and port services including housing for the ship “pilots”, office space, warehouses, postal and telegraph offices, and archive space.  We walked up to this building later on, so that we could see its ornate details up close.  At the back, there was a war monument dedicated to the Korean War.

Right next to the MAS, there was a clever set of sculptures depicting figures climbing up the side of a building.  It was interesting to be able to see it first looking up from street level and then looking down from above.  As we rose higher and higher, we could see further out into the streets of Antwerp, back towards the old town and the home where we were staying.  Off in the distance, the tall spire towering over the other buildings probably belonged the Cathedral of Our Lady.

When we returned to the bottom of the MAS and walked across the courtyard in preparation to tour the port area, we stopped to read a plaque describing the 1600 square metre stone mosaic that was imprinted on the courtyard floor. Created by Antwerp artist Luc Tuymans, it depicts the “Dead Skull” on a memorial plaque found on the exterior wall of the Cathedral of Our Lady.  As it happens, I took a photo of that plaque when we visited the Cathedral.  However, from our vantage point standing on the stone courtyard, we could not see the image.  All we saw were a few blotches of darker grey stone mixed in with the lighter grey stone.  I decided to go back up the series of escalators, looking out at level where there were windows facing in the proper direction.  As I got higher and higher, the image started to take shape and by the time I got back to the top floor, I could clearly see the reproduction of the Dead Skull carving.  Rich declined to join me on my trek back up the MAS, opting instead to sit down and rest.  On my last photo, he is the little black speck sitting on the wall at the top of the mural.

In the harbour of the Port area, we saw motor boats, sail boats, a freighter, a tall ship and a “hotel” sailboat called the Majorie that offered 12 rooms.  A sculpture on the other side of the habour across from MAS shows the figure of Jan Cornelis Van Rijswijck, Mayor of Antwerp from 1892-1906, standing at the bow of a steamship.  At the far end of the port, we saw the recently opened Port Authority building, which was created by taking a disused heritage fire hall and adding a huge glass extension on top.  The new structure consists of transparent and opaque triangular panes that sparkle like a diamond and reflect the colours of the water and sky and changes in appearance as light conditions vary.  The building also looks quite different depending on which angle you look at it and from some vantage points, it actually looks like a diamond, paying tribute to Antwerp's Diamond trade.  Designed in 2009 by Zaha Hadid Architects, the addition measures 100 metres in length and brings together 500 Port Authority staff who were previously situated in separate sites.  Because the building below is a heritage site, the extension had to be propped up above it, ensuring none of the original façade was damaged or concealed.  This mix of old and new architecture reminds me of the glass structures added to the Louvre in Paris and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

While we were in this area, we had a special place planned for lunch.  We learned that the brother of our home swap host was co-owner of Otoman Heavenly Pizza, which specializes in creating pizza crust made from the yeast of the popular Belgian Duvet beer.  We found it interesting that beer is so prevalent in Belgium that it is even found in pizza. The menu featured multiple tomato based “Otomat” pizzas, as well as white pizzas made with a sour cream base that are cleverly called “Notomat” pizzas (pun obviously intended).  We chose a tomato-based pizza with chicken, mushrooms, bacon, ricotta and mozzarella topped with arugula, as well a white pizza that was a play on a traditional Flemish dish.  This was a white pizza with white asparagus, hard-boiled egg, fresh parsley, nutmeg, and old cheese.  Being asparagus season, Asperges à la Flamande featuring white asparagus, hard-boiled egg and mousseline sauce is a specialty dish that we tried several more times during our trip.  We also ordered the most delicious salad made with chicory, sliced apples, pecans, crispy onions and a honey dressing.  Chicory is not an ingredient that we are familiar with but it is definitely one we will try again in the future.  We really enjoyed our meal at Otoman and it was an extra treat knowing the connection to our home swap hosts.

After lunch, we walked south along the east bank of the River Scheldt until we reached Steen Castle, a Medieval stone fortress built after the Viking invasions in the Middle Ages that was used to control access to the river.  The oldest building remaining in Antwerp, the castle got its name since "steen" is Dutch for "stone" and this was one of the few structures built in stone at a time, when most other buildings were made of wood.  The fortress was used as a prison until the early 1800s, then a residence, a saw mill and a fish warehouse.  Most of the structures were demolished in the late 1800s.  The remaining building was turned into a Museum of Antiquities, and then the National Marine Museum until 2011 when MAS opened and the artifacts in Steen Castle were moved there.  Today, the castle seems to be a Visitors Centre holding workshops for children.  The remaining part of the castle is still quite impressive and it is free for people to roam around the grounds.

At the entrance bridge to Steen Castle is a large bronze sculpture created in 1962 by Albert Poele, depicting two humans looking up at the Flemish folkoric shape-shifting giant Lange Wapper, who played tricks on and teased drunks and cheats.  He seems like a nicer giant than Druon Antigoon, the vicious giant depicted in the sculpture at the Town Hall, who cut off the hands of the townspeople.  A memorial to Canadian World War II soldiers describes how 550 soldiers of the 2nd Canadian Infantry division defended the Antwerp port against enemy attack, securing the harbour’s vital equipment.  Around 6500 Canadian soldiers were killed in this campaign.  On November 28, 1944, a Canadian supply ship became the first vessel to traverse the River Scheldt, bringing supplies that contributed to the Allied Victory.  It was quite poignant and made us proud as Canadians to see this plaque in tribute to our troops.

Across from Steen Castle, we spotted the 16th Century red brick and white sandstone building with the central crow-stepped gable flanked by stairwell towers on either side.  This was the Butchers’ Hall or Vleeshuis (translated as Meat House), the former butchers’ guild hall and possibly also the slaughterhouse.  The butchers’ guild was the oldest trade guild in Antwerp, resulting in many wealthy butchers.  Today, the building houses the Museum of Sound and Music, with artifacts including musical instruments, manuscripts, paintings, and models reflecting 600 years of musical history.  The museum follows the changing musical entertainment styles through history, including minstrel singing, bell ringing, opera singing, church music, public concerts and dance.  We didn’t go into this museum either, since by this time the day was waning and it was time to go in search of supper and to start the long walk back home.

On the way home, we continued with our Comics Mural tour, passing by three more large-scaled drawings.  On Keizerstraat, we found the mural depicting the character “Cordelia” who is considered a to be semi-autobiographical representation of the artist, known as Ilah.  On Paradijsstraat, a scene from artist Merho’s comic strip “De Kiekeboes” shows father Marcel and mother Charlotte on a stroll, while daughter Fanny rides her bicycle and son Konstantinople rollerblades.  On Frans Halsplein, numerous characters from the comic strip Jommeke by Jef Nys are depicted, including the titular blond-haired protagonist and his best friend’s black poodle Pekkie in the foreground.  It took a bit of effort to locate some of these murals since we often only had a street name to go by, as opposed to an exact address, but it was always thrill when we finally find them.

We returned to the De Wilde Zee shopping area and picked up enough food to last us for our next two dinners.  Having scouted out meal potentials on the previous day, we were able to make our choices quite quickly.  At Pastaiolo, we ordered a tub of mushroom ravioli in truffle cream sauce, and a zucchini tortellini in a tomato sauce.  From the seafood deli Van Bladel, we had our eye on the shrimp salad, and the seafood paella with large prawns, mussels, calamari and clams.  These dishes made for a hearty main course that we accompanied with the big bag of shredded greens that we bought from the local supermarket on our first day in Antwerp.  It is nice to be able to eat a meal at home after a long day of walking around, as well as having a quick breakfast in the morning before heading out for the day.  This is one of the nice advantages of home swapping that we appreciate the most.