If It's Thursday This Must Be Belgium youtube

...This Must Be Belgium in Antwerp

Whirlwind European tours get satirized in If It’s Tuesday This Must Be Belgium, but personally I feel happy on any day in the country. Our fast-paced Viking cruise through the Netherlands included docking at Antwerp with options for bus rides to Brussels or Bruge. Fred and I previously visited Brussels—where the first If its Tuesday movie actually did some filming. Like the movie’s protagonists, we saw the city’s famous statue of a little boy peeing though I focused more attention on Belgian chocolate. The same candy hunt happened a few hours away as I repeated some steps taken by Brendan Gleason during one of my favorite movies, In Bruge. Those past visits and the “been there done that” syndrome led me to new experiences in Antwerp for eight hours of our cruise stop.  I heard of the city from its reputation in the diamond trade—it controls 84 percent of the world’s stones and serves as a location for the movie Stolen: Heist of the Century. A tour of the city’s Diamond Museum neglected the theft but showed a movie connection since stars like Marilyn Monroe agree about just what qualifies as a girl’s best friend. However, Antwerp’s biggest screen link comes from something I neglected to consider until confronted with a statue of a boy and his dog outside the city’s cathedral.  Our guide referred to the story of Nello and Patrasche, a big animated hit in Japan.

Some of the story rang a bell and I realized back as a kid I watched A Dog of Flanders—oh yeah, that’s part of Belgium! The 1959 movie softens the end—no death for canine star Spike, the dog who eventually went on for a sadder finale as the title character of Old Yeller. Newer versions of the Flanders story maintain the 1872 novel’s heartbreaking ending in front of a Rubens painting that still hangs in the city’s Cathedral of Our Lady.  Today, set-jetters rush to take photos or break down crying in front of the painting or statue that lies outside the church.

Me? I stuck with chocolate—and a variety of edibles since Belgium challenges France and other countries as foodie heaven.  Our small group hit the city’s oldest restaurant, offering mussels, fish, steak tartare, and a suggestion of a different beer for every dish.  Oh yes, and Belgian—not French—fries.

We also had time to wander and appreciate Antwerp architecture.  Buildings include centuries old structures. 

A prominence of castles lured Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children to the region. But newer approaches emerge, and I particularly enjoyed the MAS museum for its unusual structure and city vistas.

              Getting to the top reveals a city full of history, whimsey and fun with no worry whether it’s Tuesday, Thursday, or any other day—just enjoy set-jetting in Belgium