Day 56 - Antwerp

Great night last night.  The staff and crew put on a concert which was full of humour, dancing, wigs, magic and lots of cross dressing !!

Today we arrived in Antwerp (Belgium) and left immediately for Bruges by bus for a 6 hour tour.

Belgium is known for three things - diamonds, the Port and the painter Rubens.

The country is not without its challenges.  In the north they speak Dutch and in the south French. It is a monarchy, apparently commanding little respect from the Belgian community.  After the last election it took over 500 days to form a government.  The Dutch and French communities could not agree on many issues including what language to speak.  Finally they agreed on no change to the usual two language system !

Belgium is a tiny country which is relatively young.  During the time when colonisation was important, Belgium had Congo as a colony.  King William II was responsible for killing more than 10 million Congolese.  

Antwerp is renowned for diamonds, with more than 3,000 diamond stores in one block alone.  Most of the world's diamonds pass through Antwerp.

Bruges is a pleasant village with many canals, but it was completely over-run with tourists today.

This was one of the more enjoyable parts (Lovers' Lake) but others were bedlam.

Tourists lined up at 5 separate boarding areas to get a 30 minute ride on the canals for 45 euros.

This building is one of the most photographed sites in Bruges.  The guide could not explain why and left it up to us to fathom it out !!!

The entry to the Market Square where it was hard to move for tourists.

We found a quiet little cafe for lunch far from the madding crowd.