Hi guys!
We’re in Antwerp.
This is my first time ever being in Belgium.
I’m so excited.
And it’s my first time in Antwerp but my second time in Belgium
and it is so good to be back.
And we’re excited to explore this new city so we thought we would just look around today
and take you guys with us.
When we realized that the oldest house in all of Antwerp was actually thirty metres around the corner
from where we’re staying at our Airbnb we knew this would be the perfect place to start.
It has this historical marker and it says it’s the oldest house in Antwerp circa 1480.
The last example of medieval style of building.
This house survived six wars and five hundred years of urban planning
Here live, happy and free, Lieselot and Lore with their daddy.
That’s so cute.
And amazing.
Six wars and five hundred years?!
Wow.
What you doing there?
I’m in heaven looking at vintage clothes.
I need a coat ‘cause it’s cold.
This store’s great.
I love it.
We just dipped in quickly to a vintage store called RIOT that looked neat because I need a winter coat.
It’s colder than I thought it would be so I almost found the perfect one but not quite.
But it was neat because you can weigh all of the clothes and that’s how you determine the price.
You’re playing with your favourite new toy?
Yeah.
So sometimes there’s these plaques that are written in Dutch and I can’t read what they say.
So with the Google Translate app I can actually go like this and it translates it live.
It’s so crazy.
Ahhh!
Oh my god!
Look at that.
Wow.
One of this city’s most famous attractions is this guy right behind me named Brabo
and Brabo is actually how Antwerp got its name.
The legend here goes that there was once a giant named Antigoon who lived near the Scheldt River,
which is here in Antwerp, and he always asked the passing boatmen for a toll
and anyone who refused he cut off their hand and threw it into the river.
Until one day this young man who became a hero, Brabo,
killed the giant and cut off the giant’s own hand and he threw it into the river.
And that’s where the name Antwerp or in Dutch it’s Antwerpen comes
from the Dutch words hand werpen which means hand throw.
So that’s how Antwerp got its name.
We just met the nicest group of people.
This woman came up and asked Marc to take a photo of their group
and I saw that she was holding this banner that said Mexico on it.
AFS.
And it’s this exchange program between Belgium and Mexico
and this whole group of people were from Mexico.
And so we…we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve just been there.
We loved it.
We made videos there.’
And one of the men who was from Queretaro he had done an exchange in Canada
and I was like, oh, we’re practically neighbours.
In Barrie, Ontario.
In Barrie, Ontario
So random.
which is right near Toronto so that was just the coolest coincidence.
I love you’re just out in Belgium where I’ve never been before and
meet this huge group of people from Mexico.
It’s amazing.
So cool.
We thought since we saw the oldest house in Antwerp
that we should see the oldest building as well and this castle is it.
This is from the 1100s.
This is called Het Steen which just means the Stone Castle
and apparently there’s been a settlement on this site since the ninth century
made of earth and then they started building this place between 1100 and 1200
and it was changed under Charles the Fifth and it was actually a prison up until 1823
and then it became a museum until 2008
and today it’s a piece of history that you can come and take a look at.
The sign says this is the ‘oldest half hour glass in the world.’
I think you should flip it over.
I think so too.
I love that sound.
It’s so small in here I can’t even sit down.
Yeah.
As long as you’re in the photo.
We’re inside Het Steen - inside the castle - and there’s this photo booth
where for 2 euro you can have your photo taken.
The thing you would least expect to find in a medieval castle.
A photo booth.
So we’re going to do it and then you can leave your photo and they’ll put it up on the wall
with all the other photos.
Let’s do it.
Is that it?
Is there three or four?
I don’t know.
So if any of you guys find yourselves at this castle
please look for our photo on the wall and send us a picture of it!
That’d be so funny.
So we just came out of the castle and walked up this ramp to get a look at the Scheldt River
and found this plaque that has World War Two history about Antwerp on it.
And it’s all about Canadian soldiers and the impact that they had.
And apparently on September 16, 1944
550 soldiers from the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division in Hamilton
advanced into Antwerp to prevent the enemy from destroying the port facilities.
And Antwerp is the second busiest port in all of Europe after Rotterdam.
And for the next three weeks they were supported by the Belgian resistance
and they fought to secure the harbour’s vital equipment.
And it says accompanied by the resistance the Canadians then began to advance
to the Netherlands as part of the overall offensive to free the approaches to Antwerp.
And then on November 28, 1944 a Canadian supply ship was the first vessel to steam up the river Scheldt,
which is right here, into Antwerp Harbour bringing essential materials
that contributed significantly to the allied victory -
Why can’t I read this without getting, like, emotional?
It’s ridiculous.
It’s emotional.
I think it’s because I’ve never been to Antwerp before or to the…to Belgium for that matter
but to…to come across something and know that our countries have this link -
and this specific harbour - have this link
years before I’ve ever been here just…I don’t know.
There’s something sp…amazing about that.
Anyway it says that the ship brought essential materials that contributed to the allied victory
and of the almost 13,000 allied casualties 6500 were Canadian.
It’s so sad.
I think it’s impossible to be here without thinking about all of the history and
I didn’t realize that Canadians had such a significant impact on
protecting the harbour here during the second world war so I find that really moving.
One of the things Antwerp is best known for is diamonds
and there’s a whole area of the city here actually known as the Diamond Quarter.
And up until about 2012 84% of all the world’s rough diamonds passed through that district in Antwerp
and it was the largest diamond district in the entire world
with a turnover of 54 billion dollars.
And since 2012 a lot of the work here - the polishing and the gem cutting that was done here historically -
has been moved elsewhere where it’s lower wages.
But there’s still over 16 billion dollars worth
of polished diamonds that pass through Antwerp every year.
That’s a lot of bling.
I’ve never had Belgian fries before so…
No??
No, what should I try?
A really, really, really, really top is here.
The one on top with mayonnaise.
With chips, stoofvlees and some mayonnaise.
What are stoofvlees?
It’s like a stew.
A Flemish stew. The Flemish speciality.
Oh.
Yes.
That sounds good.
Stew with fries?
Yes.
Oh yes.
My mind just exploded.
And some mayonnaise and that’s really, very, very traditional.
So maybe we should get one of those and another one.
So the other one special. Frite special.
It's with frites, ketchup, mayonnaise, and onions.
All on top of the fries.
Ok, if we could have one of each that would be perfect.
This is the typical one.
The stoofvlees and some mayonnaise with fries.
Stoofvlees.
Ok and it’s like a meat stew?
It’s like a meat stew, yeah.
But this is a Flemish speciality that one.
First bite.
Oooh that is so good.
The stew with the mayonnaise?!
You’re not surprised are you?
No, I’m not.
That’s the way that we eat it.
Have you ever had poutine?
Have you heard of poutine in Canada?
No.
It’s this French…
Poutine - that’s the Russian guy.
No, no!
I really didn’t know what to expect when we decided to come to Antwerp and I love this city.
I wish we were spending more time here.
Me too.
To be totally honest.
The vibe here is so cool.
Yeah, it’s a relaxed pace of life, everyone is friendly,
beautiful architecture in this downtown area.
I wish we were staying for longer because there’s obviously a lot more to see
and a lot more foods to be eaten, more importantly.
Yeah, most important.
So I think we’ll have to come back someday.
I think so too.
Yeah.
Hopefully you guys enjoyed getting to know Antwerp a little bit better as well.
If you haven’t already then please subscribe to our channel for more travel videos
and we’ll see you in our next one.
Bye!