We spent the day exploring the lovely city of Ghent.
We started out with breakfast at the hotel (the oldest hotel on our trip was also the only one with free breakfast.)
Then we set off. H. and I spent several hours walking around the city. We visited Citadelpark as well as several churches.
I kept seeing unusual architecture and snapping photos.
^Malevolent infrastructure, or an homage to LEGO? Or both?
We visited Saint Bavo's Cathedral (free to enter)...
These photos are a bit out of order, but oh well. This was in Citadelpark...
We also visited Our Lady Of St. Peter's Church (also free)...
Like many European cities, the farther you walk, the fewer crowds there tend to be. If you visit Ghent, don't just go for the main tourist attractions! Wander and be amazed...
We passed over a bridge and saw some guys "fishing." They were tossing ropes with magnets on the ends into the water and trying to collect metal objects....
They'd already collected several bicycles, it seemed...
It was really interesting to watch!
The Outside of St. Bavo's Abbey (the interior wasn't open yet that day)...
Mid-afternoon, we headed back to the hotel for a short rest.
We wanted to visit Gravensteen (The Castle Of The Counts), so while at our hotel we made reservations for around 4:30, one of the latest times you can enter. Basic adults tickets were €12 each.
Ticketholders can borrow a free audioguide, a little box you hold up to your ear -- or you can plug in your own headphones. Each time you enter a new room/area you can listen to a description about it as well as some backstories and goofy humor. There were a few languages you could choose from -- French, Dutch, and English... I'm not sure what others.
H. and I both gave up on the audioguide before it was over. The farther along you go, the more it devolves into weirdness... until suddenly you're learning about the atmosphere of the castle toilets. I'm sure it goes over well with the 12-and-under set, but we decided we'd rather focus on the amazing city views you could get from the ramparts...
I would advise against visiting Gravensteen if you have major mobility issues -- though you could visit the courtyard of the castle, you'd be pretty limited otherwise. Also skip it if you have an intense fear of heights. While you don't climb more than about three stories, there are some sections that don't have railings/barriers. The walkways are wide, but something about those non-railings is a little freaky. And with that, yeah, I wouldn't bring young kids here.
Well, in case it wasn't obvious from the MANY photos above, I loved Ghent. I especially loved the architecture. Bruges (which we visited the next day) was equally stunning, but in a slightly different way. I am SO glad we spent time in both.
That said, tomorrow... Bruges!
No comments:
Post a Comment