Antwerp
A Fortunate Find
My great-great-great uncle and his family toured Europe in the 1860’s. In one of my parent’s bookcases was a small, fat, battered book called “Harper’s Handbook for Travellers in Europe and the East – 1866.” Inside was an advertisement for The Royal Mail Steamer, travelling to Glasgow and The Highlands, as well as a “Traveller’s Track Chart” of the Atlantic Ocean, with tiny dots marking each day of the voyage between New York and Ireland. There was another soft, much-folded map of Europe c. 1866, showing “Railways Opened and In Progress.”
As I turned the pages, pressed flowers fell into my hands.
“Antwerp contains 80,000 inhabitants…situated on the right bank of the Scheldt, [it] is the chief port of Belgium, and commands considerable foreign trade; its importance in this respect is vastly inferior to that which it formerly possessed, and its general aspect is that of decay. The numerous fine buildings which it contains bespeak rather the opulence of its merchants in by-gone times than in the present day…”
“Bonaparte made it one of his grand naval arsenals, and spent enormous sums on the contruction of its docks…”
“There are few places in Europe so rich in magnificent churches and embellished by the most remarkable works of art…”
“The principal street, Place de Mere, rivals any in Europe. The older and narrower streets, bordered by lofty houses with their gables to the streets, are singularly picturesque.”
“One of the most interesting places to visit in Antwerp is the Zoological Gardens. The large collection of beautiful birds and fine specimens of animals are not a whit inferior to those of London. There are some of the best specimens of the largest kind of blue monkeys there we ever saw.”
“Omnibuses call at the different hotels to convey passengers to the railway station; steamers leave for Rotterdam daily; for London, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. From Antwerp to Rotterdam, fare, 10 f. Time, 3 h. 15m.”
"Behind the cathedral tower, white clouds loomed against an ominous sky. Light struck the stained glass windows and made the shadows deep and sharp. Azuba stood on the wet cobblestones gazing up at the Gothic profusion of spires."
Chapter 14, "Lace and Diamonds"