Antwerp

 Deb didn't want to go for a walk, so I went on a guided tour of Antwerp Central.

The buildings are a little taller and the streets are a little wider.

The guild houses are considerably larger than in Bruges.

The statue in the square shows a legendary hero who has slain a legendary giant and is now about to throw the giant's hand into the river. Behind him is a catholic church with a statue of Mother Mary at the upper centre.

The church was very upset when the statue was erected because Mary now spent all of her time staring directly at a man's bare bum. They demanded that the statue be removed, but the city refused.

To solve this dilemma, the church changed the orientation of the statue by 20 degrees. Mary could probably still see the bum with her peripheral vision, but she was not staring directly.

The giant's head and hand have been removed and water (blood) is spewing from the neck and wrist.

A small boy and his rescued dog have fallen on hard times. The parents have died and the farm has been lost. They are living on the cold streets. Inside the church (a different church) are three paintings which are only shown to noble people of wealth, except for once a year on Christmas Eve. The boy desperately wanted to see those paintings.

He crept into the entrance of the church hoping to get a glimpse of the paintings after the mass ended. When the bells rang and the doors opened he caught a glimpse of the paintings of Peter Paul Rubens. His dream had come true, after which he and his dog simply lay and froze to death.

The statue is on the ground in the square. The stones of the square wrap them up like a blanket.