Grote Market, Antwerp

The Grote market of Antwerp is worth a stop; in fact it will be ideal to start tour of Antwerp town from here. All major sights are within walking distance from this place. Starting the tour from one side of the town and walking towards the Antwerp’s central market would help to take a short rest, a bite and drink from the many cafes around the market and then proceed for the rest of the tour. That is what we did.

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We sat down and relaxed here in the heart of this old town for a while. The sights of the old buildings, the facades were like from a story book. The guild houses all around were the most fascinating. As if the time stood still and all moving creatures turned to golden statues. We lost count of the golden statues we saw erected over those buildings. I am sure each has a story. I am trying to google out the stories of these wonderful statues, any clues or links to them would be most welcome.

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SkyWatch Friday

Antwerp, Belgium

Antwerp, Belgium is one of the busiest sea ports in Europe. It is also called the city of diamonds. Before I show more of Antwerp here is the story of the origin of its name.

The legend revolving around the story of the city’s name has a giant as its main character. This giant, Antigoon, resided near the river Scheldt flowing by the city. Anybody who crossed the river would have to pay him a toll, failure to do so would mean loosing one of their hands. A ship crossing the river would have to pay a high toll. Refusal would lead to entire crew loosing their arm. The giant would severe one of their hands and throw it in to the river Scheldt.

Soon the role got reversed. A young brave man by the name Brabo cut off the giant’s hand and flung it into the river, ending his tyranny for ever. The name Antwerpen, derived from Dutch: hand werpen, as in Old English hand and wearpan meaning to throw. This story is depicted in a single scene in the form a fountain, at the heart of the city in the Grote market.

Our World Tuesday

Lily Of The Valley

Yet another flower impossible to grow in India; the Lily of Valley Flowers. The remote possibility of finding them would be in the regions that are cold all twelve months of the year. When I chanced upon the sight of this single stalk of bells, I went on my knees. They are tiny, measuring a centimeter, with a gentle breeze blowing; it was a challenge to frame them well. After so many settings I got them standing still in my frame. 

Convallaria majalis, a beautiful little flower, so hard to believe they are poisonous. It is considered as garden weed by some, how can they think so? I thought. There are just three varieties of this flower, the one here is the Convallaria majalis var. montana - from the USA, with green-tinted midribs on the flowers. I found this growing in the gardens of a castle in Normandy region, France.

This flower is the May Birth Flower, and the meaning is sweetness and humility. That is obvious from the way these little ones are bowing down.

Today's Flowers

Faces of India - 60

A brother and sister posing for their parents. They looked good against the background with white roses. I stole a shot.

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various characters of my country. See more here.

Leuven Town Hall, Belgium

Centre of Grote Market of Leuven is an intricately decorated massive structure; it is the town hall of Leuven, Belgium. It is the most stunning town hall I have seen in twelve European countries I have toured so far. It is a fifteenth century town hall, the present façade is seventeenth century version completely rebuilt according to previous details.

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The laced structure looked stunning against the blue sky. Statues are distributed throughout the façade of the town hall. The building has ornate stone carved façade depicting several scenes from Bible. It has three main stories, each representing famous personalities of different time line.

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What I read was: the first layer depicted famous people in the local history of the city, second layer has saints and symbolic figures and the third layer has the Counts of Leuven. A guided tour would be most helpful here. I couldn’t avail one because the tour in English language is conducted only on some specific days. Here are some detailed shots from the façade of the Town hall of Leuven of Belgium.

SkyWatch Friday

Musical Instruments

How well she had dressed herself for the occasion I thought as I took several pictures of the lady. A simple sari and blouse for the musical event that she was organizing, but it was not just plain sari and blouse I soon observed. Her attire had embroidered motifs, all themed on musical instruments. How interesting! There was Veena, one of the most ancient string instruments of India embroidered on her blouse. There were Tablas on her sleeves and I could see a violin too. Needless to say all eyes were on her that day!

Thursday Challenge: Musical Instruments

Modena, Street View

Modena, Ferrara, and Bologna are in news today for sad reasons. Earthquake today struck about 22 miles northwest of Bologna. The origin is in between Ferrara and Modena. Number of deaths has increased to six, hope it goes up no further. 

I was in Modena and Bologna in April 2010 and have pleasant memories of the place. The news reports indicate the plains near Modena suffered serious damages. Some f the historical sites of the Emilia-Romagna region of the Po river valley, have crumbled. Bologna luckily escaped mother nature’s wrath.

 The cities are such that one can hardly resist the temptation of falling in love with these places. Here are some views of streets and cathedral of Modena.

Morning Glory

The back view is beautiful too. A purple Morning Glory from my balcony garden.

Fun and interesting fact: By soaking the flowers from the Morning Glory in water for a couple of weeks you can create a mildly alcoholic wine with a good flavor and mild psychedelic effect. You can add herbs or honey to this to enhance the flavor.

Today's Flowers

Faces of India - 59

A mahout at work. His son gets free rides. The shot was taken in Dubare elephant camp, Coorg, Karnataka.

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various characters of my country. See more here.

Saint Peter’s Church Exteriors, Leuven, Belgium

St. Peter’s is one of the rare incomplete structures that made its way to the prestigious list of UNESCO World heritage sites. The towers planned for the church could never be completed. The old existing ones were damaged in fire and later due to lack of funds and instability in its foundations, the central tower was abandoned at one third its initial height.

This jacquemart, or golden automaton, which periodically rings a bell near the clock on the gable of the southern transept, above the main southern entrance door is a 1998 addition to the façade. We were lucky to watch the figurine moving at the stroke of the eleventh hour that day.

The original design preserved at southern end of the church.

This is the view from the Grote market at the east of the church. Notice the seven radiating chapels.

SkyWatch Friday

Mother

The theme for this Thursday’s Challenge is Mother. It will be a real challenge to any one who would try to define this word even in 1000 words let alone a picture. For me too, selecting just one picture to depict this powerful word was not easy.

This one here is from my archives… one which was taken in Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy. There is so much of emotion in the mother’s face, the joy of holding her child in her arms is so evident in her smile, it almost looked the statue would straighten herself soon gently swaying the child in her arms. The time stood still and the emotion frozen in that frame. Hope you will like it.

Saint Peter's Church (Sint-Pieterskerk), Leuven, Belgium

From Hasselt we set off for Leuven. Leuven is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites of Belgium. The 50 meter high tower (which was meant to be 169 meters but was never completed) of St. Peter’s church is included in UNESCO's list of Belfries of Belgium and France in 1999. The belfry, the third tower in the urban landscape, symbolizes the power of the aldermen; they represent the influence and wealth of the towns.

Here is a small virtual tour through the interiors of St. Peter’s church. This is one of those quiet churches where you just feel like being alone for sometime and soak in the peace. In terms of seeing things around in the church there are plenty of marvels. The intricate work on walls, wooden carved structures, statues, paintings; all are worth hovering around and taking a good look.

A large and elaborate oak pulpit. Observe the lower portion, there is carved with a life-size representation of Norbert of Xanten falling from a horse.

Nicolaas de Bruyne's 1442 sculpture of the Madonna.

Our World Tuesday

White Rose

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. 

~Emma Goldman

Faces of India - 58

A young Tibetan monk at Bylakuppe Tibetan monastery in Coorg, Karnataka.

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various characters of my country. See more here.

Hasselt, Belgium

After a good tour of the two World Heritage sites of Germany we crossed over to Belgium. Night halt was scheduled to be in Hasselt. Hasselt looked like a quiet city with not much of hectic activity, the day was nearing its final moments too and that could be the reason.

Below is the sight of the sky from the parking lot.

We strolled around a bit through the streets of Hasselt. We passed a cathedral that was well lit, the façade looked grand against the dark sky.

Another view of a street of Hasselt.

SkyWatch Friday

Hairstyles in Ancient Indian Scupltures

This week’s Thursday Challenge has the theme STYLE (Hair). I took this as an opportunity to share pictures of hairstyles of ancient times in India depicted through Indian sculptures.

Women in ancient times maintained long hair which is evident from the numerous sculpted images in ancient temples. The above shot taken in Hampi, Karnataka is one such depiction. At the bottom corner you can see a little monkey pulling her long hair. The sculptor tried to induce some humor in work I guess.

There are other images which depict very elaborate and decorative headgear. In the image above, the sculptor has depicted the male figure supporting the fancy hairstyle while whispering sweet nothings as the female figure rests her hand on his shoulder.

The figure below is one close shot of another hairstyle.

Wolfstur, The Great Bronze Portal of Aachen Cathedral

This is the great bronze portal of Aachen Cathedral. These heavy bronze doors were cast in one piece in 800 AD. This door is also called the Wolfstur (wolf’s door).

There is an interesting story about the lion’s mouth in the right door. If you stick your finger you can feel devil’s thumb. According to a legend, the city fathers of Aachen ran into financial difficulties during the construction of the cathedral. They approached the devil for help. The devil agreed to help under the condition that he would take the soul of the first person to enter the Cathedral as his compensation. He wanted the soul of the bishop who would enter first to inaugurate the cathedral. The citizens agreed and the construction was completed.

Now the citizens devised a plan to trick the devil. They chased a wolf through the portal, and the devil tore its soul out. The devil realized how he was tricked and in his rage he shut the doors with such force that the door cracked. His thumb too was caught in it in this impact and is believed to be caught in the lion’s mouth. I saw tourists put their hand in the lion’s mouth to feel the devil’s thumb. I too tried feeling it. There is a statue of the wolf near the entrance, inside.

Our World Tuesday

Blue Orchid

Orchids are fascinating and what if you get them in your choice colors!

It is a simple science experiment by kids. Within 24 hours a flower in your choice color is ready!

This shot was taken in Lal Bagh, Bangalore.

Today's Flowers

Faces of India - 57

When I requested for a picture, she asked me to wait. She went and got her sheep and putting her arm around it she posed. She was a little stiff, and she insisted on seeing how the picture turned out. Seeing it she nodded her head in approval and then gave a smile.

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various characters of my country. See more here.

Rathaus, Townhall of Aachen

Not a very appealing façade compared to some other town halls I have seen, but definitely one of the oldest one, almost 1200 years old. This town hall of Aachen was built over the ruins of the palace of emperor Carlus Magnus (Charles the Great). The building has suffered damages due to fire and WWII but thankfully not completely destroyed. 

We visited this after the cathedral tour, and strolled around in the market place in front of this townhall.

 

Statue of Charlemagne in front of the town hall.

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