Peter Paul Rubens is Antwerp’s most famous son and the prolific baroque painter is famous the world over for his pieces that glow with colour and movement. Tomas Mowlam looks at the best places to see his work in Antwerp.

Rubens was born in Germany in 1577 and returned to the family home in Belgium in 1589, following the death of his father.

From 1600 – 1608 Rubens travelled through Italy, where he became influenced by the paintings of Italian masters such as Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto.

He returned to Antwerp in 1609, where he married and became court painter to Albert and Isabella, governors of the Low Countries.

He painted dozens of commissions for the royal families and nobles of Europe. His works shine with colour, and those of hunting scenes and battles have a whirling and captivating energy.

His villa and workshops are now a museum dedicated to him, the Rubenshuis. It shows many portraits and self-portraits by the master himself, as well as work by his apprentices and contemporaries.

It also offers a fascinating glimpse of the man himself, and his way of working, with authentic 17th Century artefacts, sketches, half finished paintings and illustrations.

Many of his pieces can still be found around Antwerp; at the Carolus Borromeus church which he designed, as well as St. Pauls, the little St Jacobskerk, where Rubens and his family are buried.

The most impressive masterpieces are in the Cathedral of Our Lady. In its own right one of the most awe inspiring churches in Europe, it took 169 years to build and stands 123 metres high, and inside is the breathtaking Raising of the Cross and the Descent from the Cross.

The Rubenshuis is open from 10 am until 5pm, Tuesday until Sunday.

Image Credit: dbking

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This year’s Belgian Gay and Lesbian Film Festivial is going on as we speak, in ten different towns for ten days. Rosie Khdir finds out more…

This year marks the 24th festival of its kind, and will be held in ten towns around Belgium including, Anderlecht, Anvers, Charleroi, Liège, Mons, Namur, Tournai and Verviers and of course Brussels.

The event, presented by Tels Quels, is supported by Marthe Alphonsine Djilo Kamga, “an author of recognised works on female homosexuality in Cameroon and initiator of two cinematographic projects on this theme”, and Charles Gueboguo, “author of several books on homosexuality and AIDS in Africa”.

This year events will coming to three new locations in Brussels; cinema Le Vendôme, for screenings, the Palace for 3 shows, the European Gala and the Closing Party and the Smouss Café for a “Special Thé Dansant” (Tea-dance) as an Opening Party.

As for the actual entertainment, there will be films, plays, exhibitions showing photos and paintings and parties galore! The three shows held at the Palace in Brussels are “Comme ils disent” (”As they say”), from Pascal Rocher and Christophe Dauphin, “Le Plongeoir” (”The Diving Board”) by Patrick Lowie and “Mmmmmmh Libido!” by Anne Calife with Rachel Logel.

The various exhibitions explore the questions faced by our communities today, such as Gay and Lesbian rights, Trans-identity in Belgium and homosexuality and religion. These issues will be put to audiences in numerous forms, through performance, films, art and the written word.

The festival closing party is to take place at the Palace on Saturday 6th February featuring music from DJ Walibi. Please visit the official website for more details.

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This week sees a celebration of our 8,000 year relationship with the humble olive. John Hillman discovers a festival that’s a perfect combination on delicious scenery and gorgeous food.
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Olive oil has been around a long time. Long before the Pharaohs, the Greeks and the Romans. Indeed, before any concept of civilization began the peoples of the Mediterranean relied on its properties as a food, body cleanser, perfume and lighting fuel.

It began life in the Eastern Mediterranean and was carried west by Greek and Phoenician sailors, having already underpinned the wealth of the Minoan Empire of Crete a thousand years before.

Such is its ongoing importance to the civilizations of the Mediterranean that Olive Oil continues to be found in the religious ceremonies of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Today it underpins the regional economies of the Mediterranean – we consume 2.8 million tonnes of the stuff each year, with people from Australia to Iceland recognizing its enormous health benefits and willing to pay handsomely for their annual share.

It only makes sense, therefore, that we celebrate the annual harvest of each newest batch, which comes around the end of winter. (Hooray it’s the end of winter!). This takes place at the end of the first week of February in the medieval fortified town of Nyon in the Drôme Region of Southern France.

Known as The First Press Oil Festival, visitors to this delightfully picturesque town are invited to sit at enormous communal tables in the centre of Nyons, at the Place des Arcades, where they can rub toast in crushed garlic before dipping it in the newest batch of local olive oil, savouring the most genuine, fresh and delicious flavours of the Mediterranean.

Organised by a group known, entertainingly, as the Knights of the Olive Tree Confederation, the festival also includes folk music, dancing, concerts and special conferences. If you are heading through France this week then this is a culinary pit stop that’ll be well worth your gastronomic inspection.

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Image Credit: M. Minderhoud

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Next week, Antwerp will host its first ever Diamond Trade fair in the beautiful and historic Antwerp Diamond Bourse. Rosie Khdir finds out more…

The Belgian city of Antwerp is widely known as the Diamond capital of the world, but it also has a sophisticated financial and trading sector, making it ideal for this Diamond Trade fair.

The fair will have a “members-only” trading floor, open to buyers who can come and make great contacts in the diamond industry. A select group of 43 Antwerp diamond firms have been chosen to display and offer their gems, expertise and knowledge. There will also be a display of the incredible jewels for all the guests’ viewing pleasure.

It will take place at the 105-year-old trading hall of Antwerp Diamond Bourse, where over 2,000 members for around the world have traded and brokered diamonds since 1904.

Although this event is run on an “invitation only” basis, all you holiday makers can still enjoy the sparkling pleasures of Antwerp. The city has four prestigious international diamond bourses: Antwerp Diamond Bourse, where this event is being held, the Diamantclub van Antwerpen, Antwerpsche Diamantkring and Vrije Diamanthandel.

There are dozens of specialist diamond shops around the city and there is even a diamond museum, containing replicas of the British Crown Jewels and two of the world’s largest diamonds.

The Antwerp Diamond Trade fair begins on the 7th February 2010 and ends on the 9th. For more details take a look at the official site.

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Image credit: Swamibu

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In two weeks time it will tick round to Valentine’s Day, and if you’ve still no more idea what to do for your special someone then how about a break in Paris? Tomas Mowlam looks at the options.

Sure it might be bit of a cliché but Paris really is a city of romance and it’s not all sentimentality and soft focus camera shots. There are plenty of things you can do to soak up the passion and the history of this fine old city.

The first is to hit the streets wander from your hotel, down to the Seine and along the river. Feel the crisp wind, and stop in a small cafe and embrace that cliché head on with coffee and croissants.

For all you cynics, remember it’ll be the cheapest thing you’ll do all weekend.

Take a tour round the Louvre stop at the Mona Lisa, and wonder what all the fuss is about a picture so small, then head out into the Tuileres gardens. The 280,000 metre square gardens, between the Place de la Concorde and rue de Rivoli, were designed by André le Nôtre in 1664, and have been place for couples to wander ever since.

Thousands upon thousands of people will visit Notre Dame for a dose of religious splendour, but for me the more impressive, though far smaller, church is Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Built in the 6^th Century, it was pillaged by Vikings, rebuilt in the 9^th century and it’s one of the oldest churches in Paris. There’s something really special about the atmosphere here.

Saint Germain the parish is also home to something to put a little spice into your trip; some of the best North African restaurants in the capital.

Flavours straight from Morocco and Algeria combine at L’Atlas, 12 Boulevard and Chez Hamidi, 4 Rue Boutebrie are two of the friendliest restaurants, serving the best in all things couscous and lamb based.

It’s cheaper and infinitely more delicious than any posh haute cuisine.

It’s hardly unknown, but the Eiffel Tower is always worth a visit, but try going up at night and watching the lights of the capital shine in the chill night air.

Paris is a buzzing metropolis of a city, so why stick to the same old sites? Instead, grab your partner and head off for an unforgettable weekend.

Image Credit: stevenvanwel

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If you want to blast away the January blues, Maastricht is the place to do it! In February for three days everyone will stop work and party hard for the annual carnival. Rosie Khdir finds out more…

Endless street parties, colourful parades, outrageous costumes and food and beer galore; this is what is to be expected during carnival time in Maastricht.

This carnival is a celebration of life and is a time when the world gets turned upside down. It is thought that it is a historical mechanism of escape for those who feel stripped of their freedom and gives them the chance to be an individual.

The festival starts with the hoisting of the celebratory flag among sounds of cannon fire in the Vrijthof Square, all in the presence of the “greengrocer woman”, who is a traditional symbol of good fortune. Every year there is a new “Prince Carnaval” and his “Council of Eleven” who get given the key to the city.

Then the party really gets going as the hundreds of people who have adopted vibrant guises and masks, join the parade of colourful floats that weave throughout the town. Pubs and restaurants usually clear the floors so that all that is left standing are the beer taps.

Festival goers enter pubs then talk, dance, sing special carnival songs and drink with complete strangers and skip on to their next watering hole. It is an event of pure freedom and fun and is the largest in the southern region of The Netherlands.

This is a celebration of life, fertility and nature, all topical themes for a post winter period. It is traditionally a Catholic festival and in keeping with their Lent traditions, many people do not eat meat during the celebrations.

This year the festivities begin on 15th February and look set to be better than ever! Visit the official website for more details.

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Once off the ferry and in the car many people tend to race through Northern France, to slightly more exotic locations, but just 90 minutes drive south of Calais is an often missed treat, writes Tomas Mowlam.

The city of Amiens was the chief town of the medieval area of Picardie; it was fought over repeatedly, it suffered in WWI and WWII as well.

St. Leu is the city’s medieval quarter, renovated throughout the 1990s it is a tourist attraction in its own right, with puppet shows in the Picard language called Chés Cabotans.

But towering above St Leu and the rest of the city, is Amiens real attraction, Cathédrale Notre-Dame d’Amiens, often simply called Amiens Cathedral it is one of the biggest ever Gothic buildings.

Work started in 1220, construction was finished in 1266, and it took a further 22 years to decorate and finish. The nave vaults are 42.30 metres high, making them the highest in France.

Supported by 126 pillars it has the largest interior of any French cathedral, and the vaults and buttresses give a staggering impression of space, designed to make mortals contemplate heaven and look skyward.

Hundreds of intricate sculptures, carvings and reliefs adorn the walls with memorials to martyred saints and reminders what would happen to Christians who strayed from the flock.

It was paid for by the proceeds of the cloth industry and, fittingly, one of the most glorious parts of the church is the Drapers Chapel.

It even has a reliquary containing the head of John the Baptist a relic brought from Constantinople by Wallon de Sarton as he was returning from the Fourth Crusade.

During laser cleaning in the 1990s it was discovered that the façade was of the cathedral was painted. After painstaking research elaborate lighting techniques were developed to light up the statues, and bring them to life.

If you want to experience the wonder for yourself, then check out the Son et Lumière (sound and light) shows.  With the church lit up, it gives you a spine tingling experience of how the cathedral would have looked in the 13^th Century; the statues gaze down over the medieval congregation and the church dominates the surrounding town.

Check out visit-amiens.com for details of cathedral opening times and other information.

Image Credit: Cornell University Library

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Why on earth would the French be trying to claim Calais as English? Peter Moore investigates

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On the first day of her last year in her miserable reign as Queen of England, Mary Tudor – or Bloody Mary, as she was to be remembered – woke up to discover that Calais had been lost to the French.

It was a desperate blow. Calais was to the Tudors what Gibraltar became to Georgians during the empire-building days later on. It was a toe-hold on the Continent: a place for plotting, for trading, for spying and for peacocking. And in 1558 – for the first time in a good few hundred years – it was gone.

‘When I am dead and opened,’ the terminal Queen complained to her doctor shortly before she died, ‘you shall find Philip (the Spanish King and her husband) and Calais lying in my heart.’

Any sensible person would have concluded that Calais had been lost forever. But four hundred and fifty two years later, in one of this year’s more peculiar twists, a number of French politicians are attempting to realign Calais’ identity as ‘British.’ And what’s more, they are doing it without being asked.

Their motivation for such an odd move is to cash in on the expected millions that will be accompanying the Olympic Games into London in 2012. Calais, a number of town councillors have asserted, is a perfect destination for hundreds of travelling athletes, fans and journalists.

‘We are the south of England and because we’re the south of England it’s normal that we would associate ourselves with this extraordinary event,’ claimed Dominique Dupilet, the chairman of the Pas de Calais regional council.

Mr. Dupilet is at the centre of a drive to rebrand the town in anticipation of the Games. New hotels are being constructed alongside expensive training facilities, bars and restaurants.

Moreover, Mr. Dupilet contends that as Calais is perfectly served by a continuous flow of ferries and trains that it excellently positioned to carry visitors into London in record speed.

‘It will take no more time to get to events than if you’re in North London,’ he told the Times.

What might appear to be a rather far-fetched plan has already achieved a touch of validity after officials signed a contract with Chad’s boxing, wrestling, judo and athletics teams. More recently the canoe and kayak teams from Uzbekistan and Senegal also added their names to the list.

It is a peculiar story and one which reminds us that national identities are no longer fixed – but fluid. We now live in a world where a city or town might be willing to swap it allegiance or identity for a short space of time in return for a few pennies and a bit of attention.

Goodness knows what Mary Tudor would make of that.

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image credit: LordFerguson

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