The conference was in Antwerp (about an hour's train ride from Brussels). Yes, I was there the day that the police foiled a terrorist attack, but I was safely in an academic building in another part of town, so no worries. ("A
man who drove at a crowd in Antwerp has been charged with attempted terrorism, Belgian prosecutors say. No-one was injured but shoppers in a pedestrian zone were forced to dive out of the way in Thursday's incident.")
On Friday evening after the conference, we did a walking tour, which was fun despite the chilly weather. I don't think Americans think much about Antwerp, but once upon a time it was a major port city, and it's still a center of the diamond trade.
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| "The Eleventh Commandment" -- filled with old church statues |
The myth about how the city got his name is that there was a giant who had been threatening the city, and a Roman soldier named
Brabo defeated him and cut off his hands. "Hand-throwing" in Flemish sounds like "Antwerp", and there you are.
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| Brabo |
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| "The Book Toilet" |
The conference was in Antwerp (about an hour's train ride from Brussels). Yes, I was there the day that the police foiled a terrorist attack, but I was safely in an academic building in another part of town, so no worries. ("A man who drove at a crowd in Antwerp has been charged with attempted terrorism, Belgian prosecutors say. No-one was injured but shoppers in a pedestrian zone were forced to dive out of the way in Thursday's incident.")
On Friday evening after the conference, we did a walking tour, which was fun despite the chilly weather. I don't think Americans think much about Antwerp, but once upon a time it was a major port city, and it's still a center of the diamond trade.
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