ANTWERP

Here we are in Antwerp, Belgium, the heart of Flanders. Of course, the heyday of the famous Flemish artists is long past, but Antwerp is proud to keep alive its claim on Peter Paul Rubens, who lived and worked here in the 17th century. We toured his house and studio yesterday and here is his statue in the main square, near the big cathedral.

Much of the fun of a trip is discovering and doing things you didn't plan. We wandered past this horse-drawn stagecoach near the Rubens statue just as it was about to head off on its slow-paced tour of the city. For 5 Euros, who could resist? A spry old man drove the coach and halfway through the tour, he stopped, dug out a bucket and filled it up at a hand-pumped water faucet in the middle of the sidewalk to water the horses. Since I couldn't convince the group to hire a horse-drawn camping caravan for a week in Ireland, this was the next best thing. Anyone up for caravaning in Ireland?