On the road again ...

Now it's serious. The sabbatical begins. We started... without a brass band, without a thunderclap, without fireworks, no bottle of champagne has shattered on the car ... just drove off like that; tired from the short night before. That felt odd. Something special, great starts so quietly. My emotions are completely mixed up - Micha is sleeping next to me.

We make our first stop just before Hamburg and let Ulrike & Wolfgang spoil us royally. The next morning, we head 550 km west to Antwerp. Amsterdam was actually planned, but that's how it goes with plans... at least Antwerp also starts with 'A'.

The city tour starts with the free crossing of the Schelde (which I wouldn't swim in!). Antwerp doesn't capture my heart. Would an architect clap his hands over his head or be fascinated by the diversity? I don't know. Gothic, 70s architectural sin, Baroque, modern glass facades, Renaissance and simple plaster ... everything is side by side. Just as colorful and seemingly peaceful, people and cultures move through the city, often with a bicycle. It is the first major city where I have seen Orthodox Jews; in their shops, with their families, on the street. We pay a visit to Mr. Rubens. He had the small palazzo built according to his Italian-influenced ideas - quite nice, but gloomy (which could be due to the leather wallpaper or the closed shutters ,-)). The old trading house and the shopping arcade impressed us and the Belgian beer was good.

Tomorrow we will continue towards Bruges.