Antwerpen? Handwerpen?

I was walking along a street in Antwerpen when I saw some girls taking pictures with a large hand statue. "Hurm..weird..", I thought to myself. Then later I saw chocolates made into hand shapes at the Antwerpen Chocolaterie. I wondered why the hand symbol is so significant to this city which is widely known as Antwerp.

So I googled, and found out that there's a history behind this hand symbol. Handwerpen means "to throw hand" in Dutch.There was a legend involving a mythical giant called Antigoon who lived near the river Scheldt. Anyone refused to pay the giant for crossing the river will have their hand severed  and thrown into the river Scheldt. Eventually came a young hero named Brabo to save the day. Brabo managed to cut off the giant's own hand and flung it into the river. That's why the hand symbol is very meaningful to this city. From Handwerpen the name became Antwerpen...

Statue of the giant's hand being thrown into the Scheldt River.

The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of our Lady)

Set fire on the water

Cool huh?

Taken at the Christmas Market in Antwerpen

Yeah shit happens... lol

The view of the cathedral from a street in Antwerp

Along the street

Walking towards the Town Hall

Antwerp City Hall

16th-century Guildhouses at the Grote Markt

Grote Markt 

Ayah James and I at the Grote Markt

Fizz and Ayah James

Carousel at the Christmas Market in Antwerp

Stadsfeestzaal

A modern shopping center in a grand historic building in Antwerp. The interior of the building is mainly in the colour of gold giving it a very grand, luxurious and fabulous looking shopping complex. Kalau xnak shopping, cuci mata pon cukuplah... :)

Leonidas Chocolates

This is a must visit shop when you're in Belgium. This shop offers some of the most finest chocolates you can ever find. You will have a hard time choosing chocolates to suit your taste. I simply asked for a mixture of caramel flavoured chocolates..That's it xyah pening2.. :p 

It was my first time in Antwerp a.k.a Antwerpen. I had a wonderful time walking around the city while looking at beautiful classic architectures of the old buildings. Simply breathtaking! Oh other than being a great city for sightseeing, Antwerp is also a shopping heaven for shopaholics. You can find a lot of famous brands and beautiful shopping complexes such as the Stadsfeestzaal. So if u come to visit Belgium, make sure you drop by at Antwerp to experience the wonderful things it has to offer!!!

Till the next post... 

Tschüss und mach's gut!

Weihnachtsmarkt fever!

Weihnachtsmarkt? Remember my post on "Meet the Mugologist"? The term Weihnachtsmarkt has been explained in that post. Weihnachtsmarkt a.k.a German Christmas market is the main reason why people go out during winter. The lovely decorations and awesome food make you forget about the freezing cold weather instantly. It's an amazing place for you to hang out with your friends and family members, drinking hot chocolate or glühwein or simply going around looking at beautiful things and great food that the market has to offer.

German Christmas market fever is very infectious.Once you get infected, there's no turning back ;p. I always look forward to go to the Christmas Market because of the roasted almonds and the beautiful mugs they have there. I would go from one market to the other looking for the best roasted almonds available and if the market has a cute mug, i would buy myself a cup of hot chocolate and take the mug home. Now I got a collection of Weihnachtsmarkt mugs mostly from the cities in NRW.

Okay enough with the babbling, let's take a look at the variety of Christmas markets I've explored... Enjoy!

Aachen

The view of the Hexenhof Christmas market in Aachen

Nani and Darwin waiting for the Flammkuchen

Nobis ni ada merata-rata kat Aachen.. 

Kalau datang sini x beli something from here memang x sah! 

Hee kan dah terbeli... 

Fizz and Darwin promoting Lebkuchen 

Amagadddd look at these lovely Lebkuchen... 

Weihnachtsmarkt near Aachener Dom

A model of the Aachener Dom

Scary x? 

Ni lagi satu spot Christmas market kat Aachen 

Siap ada giant gingerbread man lagi

Hey it's Fizz, Nani and I in front of the Gingerbread man..  

Abe ni tengah roll marzipan untuk buat dessert

The delicious food you can find at the Christmas market here in Aachen.. 

Meleleh air liur.. 

Jalan2 sambil makan.. 

Can't get enough of the Nobis Lebkuchen! 

Dortmund

The starting view of the Dortmunder Weihnachtsmarkt 

Darwin, Nabeyl,  Rumitha,  Rintha and Zikri

Darwin,  Rumitha, Tony,  Fizz and Alena

Oh Karussell... 

The lovely Christmas market in Dortmund

Düsseldorf

Weihnachtsmarkt at Heinrich-Heine-Allee, Düsseldorf 

Beautiful light decoration at the Christmas market 

Another Christmas markt called Sternchenmarkt (stars market) 

Schaumkuss a.k.a Schokokuss

Dapnyeeee

Jalan2 terserempak lagi satu Weihnachtsmarkt... 

Zikri and Zairol

Krefeld

Krefelder Weihnachtsmarkt xde la besar sangat but it's still a fun place to hang out and eat good food

Backfisch! Oily skit tapi sedappppp

Fizz sedang menjamu selera

Went to Christmas in the evening with Darwin and Fizz

Champignons mit Käsesoße (mushrooms with cheese sauce) 

Chomeyl mug kat Christmas market Krefeld ni.. Cam ornament ball..

Köln

Bintang2 berkerdipan... Taken at the Cologne central station 

The Christmas market at Rudolfplatz

Mug dia pon menjadi pojaan hatiku

Interesting light decoration at the Christmas market

The Christmas decoration near Kölner Dom

Fizz

Nabeyl

The light decoration at Markt der Engel Christmas Market 

The best roasted almonds can be found here..  ;) 

No we go to the Christmas market near the Kölner Dom 

Cantik kan the view of the Kölner Dom from the Christmas market 

The light decoration on the Christmas tree

Yeay dapat ambik gambar with the wishing star

Anisah, Rumitha,  Rintha and Darwin

Oh hot chocolate with whipping cream! 

So now you know why the Christmas market fever is very infectious.. I had so much fun with my friends going around the Christmas market and eating good food there. 

This is a really good place to spend your evening during winter. 

Make sure you don't miss it next year! 

Till the next post... 

Tschüss und mach's gut!