We flew back to Tashkent a day early, on September 16, to allow time for Covid-19 testing before departing the next day to Istanbul. The ewers and melons remind us of the world we're leaving, the Silk Road Rally cars parked outside our hotel remind us of what lies ahead.
Much of the appeal of old European cities, such as Antwerp, is the juxtaposition of contemporary life with ancient walls and buildings. Some examples:
Like any contemporary city, Antwerp has its share of wall painting and graffiti. They add doses of liveliness and color to an otherwise somber old city.
The Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp, a Unesco World Heritage Site, "is a printing plant and publishing house dating from the Renaissance and Baroque periods." For bookish folks like us, it's a fascinating collection of old presses, type faces, books, and paintings about books and printing. It also teaches youngsters about printing at their level. Unexpectedly fascinating.
The silver-gray and red surface of a big ferris wheel, set against a dark gray Antwerp sky, made a strikingly luminous image. I couldn't resist making several variations of the scene.
The DIVA Museum for Diamonds, Jewelry, and Silver in Antwerp opened in 2018, combining two previous museums for diamonds and silver. It's a place of great beauty and luxury, but also with an informative live exhibit on diamond cutting and polishing.
Perhaps the best-known resident of Antwerp was the great painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). His former house is now a museum to his life and work. Rather than try to make photographic reproductions of his paintings, I focused on some sculpture, architectural details, and the garden of the Rubens House, ending with a self-portrait of the painter as a young man.
