historical – Marilyn Ambach

Touring with Tanguy

August 13, 2013August 12, 2013 by Marilyn Ambach

I have been so incredibly busy these last few weeks that Antwerp wasn’t well represented on our blog. Thank you Marilyn for making up my lack of free time with some great articles about (her life in) Tel Aviv.

Being busy isn’t always that bad though. For example last weekend, i was booked as a photographer for the nice people of the Yelp Community. Yelp is a social local review website, founded in America, with a focus on the “Real Reviews” feature where users could write and publish unsolicited reviews. And the more reviews you write, the more Yelp gives back to you. So from time to time a group of selected Yelp Elite members can enjoy a good Yelp Event, and this time this event was no less than a tour through Antwerp with – according to CNN – “one of the 7 savviest guides in the world”: Tanguy Ottomer.

Tanguy is quite the know-it-all when it comes to Antwerp and he has an entire wall filled with books exclusively about Antwerp to prove it. Like music is to John Miles, Antwerp is to Tanguy: his first and last love. Touring with Tanguy through my favorite city has been on my wishlist for quite a long time. However, our agendas never seemed to match so I was quite thankful to be booked on the special Yelp Tour. Tanguy talks with such fun and passion about his beloved city, it’s hard not to fall in love with it yourself (or re-fall, since i had actually already fallen for Antwerp’s charms when I moved here 10 years ago). He unfolds Antwerp’s little secrets in such an interesting and fun way. Even I didn’t know half the things he told us about Antwerp. Next to a brilliant guide, Tanguy is also a fashion-fixer, a personal shopper or just a guy with the proverbial key to some of Antwerp’s coolest and most unreachable fashion walhalla’s. Of course I’m not gonna spoil the fun and share the secrets here. If you wanna know, you’ll have to book a tour yourself. Tanguy offers a whole lot of special tours on his website. Go check it out. Can’t wait and want a preview? Watch a little tour Tanguy did for the Flemish TV show ‘Fans of Flanders’ here. Typical Belgian weather included 😉

Here are some of my pictures for the Yelp Community Event:

Antwerp · Hotel · Travel guide

Rosier 10

July 2, 2013July 2, 2013 by Marilyn Ambach

Two years ago, interior designer Roxanne Stevens had the opportunity to rebuild a historical townhouse into a bed&breakfast. Roxanne chose to mix modern with vintage, while also adding a lot of personal elements. There are 4 rooms, each representing a moment of day: morning dawn, noon, evening glow and vibrant nighttime. Together with her amazing hosting skills, this Bed&Breakfast turned into a place where you feel at home, even if it’s for only a few days. Roxanne makes a nice continental breakfast for her international guests every morning, presenting a wide variety of cheese, meat, fruit and different bread spreads. She also makes personalized maps of the city, depending on the type of day you want to spend: some shopping, some culture, or maybe a culinary adventure? Roxanne will happily draw you a marker pen-road in all colors of the rainbow and share with you the places she likes visiting herself.

Rosier 10 is located between the trendy South district, the Antwerp port and the Old City. Rooms are provided with flat-screen TV and free Wi-Fi. Rates are starting at €115,00 a night.

Roxy’s golden citytips for Antwerp:

1. Pay a visit to the pedestrian tunnel & use Europe’s oldest (wooden) escalators
2. Go antique & vintage furniture shopping at Kloosterstraat on Sunday (what else did you expect from an interior designer?)
3. Enjoy some coffee at Vitrin Café (Marnixplaats) or Kloonies (Kloosterstraat)
4. Enjoy the sun at ‘t Eilandje (Antwerp’s marina) and have some starters at Markt
5. Go for dinner in Ferrier, located in Antwerp’s trendy neighborhood ‘t Zuid
6. Or go all out and enjoy a delicious, innovative meal at De Godevaart, located in the Old City centre.
7. Visit the MAS museum right before closing time, go all the way up to the Panorama Deck and enjoy the breathtaking view on Antwerp by sunset/night.

B&B ROSIER 10
Rosier 102000 Antwerp+32/ (0)489 27 99 99
+32/ (0)3 345 46 36
info@rosier10.be

Antwerp · Architecture · History

Antwerp from both sides.

February 19, 2013May 26, 2013 by Marilyn Ambach

They say “the river Scheldt (Dutch: Schelde) owes its existence to God, and Antwerp owes its existence to the river Scheldt”. Thanks to this river Antwerp is the 2nd largest harbour in Europe and the 4th in the world. Both the Right (the historical city) as the Left Bank of the Scheldt are unique places to visit. There’s the vivid historical city center, with tons of shops, restaurants and tourist attractions on one side, and there is nature and 20th century nostalgia on the other side. With its Casino’s, the restaurants and even a small beach the Left Bank was indeed a popular place for entertainment. There’s not much left of those glory days now, but you can still feel the swing of the 60ies and the 70ies when you go for some delicious moules-frites (mussels with fries) on the terrace at Sint Anneke beach, while enjoying the view on the historical city across the river. The Sint-Anna pedestrian tunnel, build in 1932-1933, is a true beauty (if a tunnel can ever be called beautiful) which is definitely worth a visit. Let me just tell you with some pictures I took today what I can’t express with words:

Above: The statue of Pieter Paul Rubens, Antwerp’s most famous painter, keeping an eye on the Groenplaats (historical city)

Above: view on the guild halls on the Grote Markt (16th Century)

Above: detail of the wrought iron gates which used to indicate the line between the docks and the public street (late 19th century)

Above: easy Antwerp transportation: these city bikes take you everywhere as long as you dock them in another station within 30 minutes.

Above and under: enjoying a nice stroll on the boardwalk along the Scheldt between Antwerp’s North and South side

Above: time for some nice Belgian fries, while enjoying the view on the Cathedral (under)

Under: view on the Left Bank from the boardwalk.Under: the entrance of the Sint Anna pedestrian tunnel (build in 1933) Above &under: inside the pedestrian tunnel (the wooden escalators also date back to 1933)