ghent
De Warempel vegetarian restaurant
(DAY 7)
To complete our third goal of the day, I found a restaurant on our map that was close to the cathedral. The street was completely empty and there were no other businesses around. Eric was beginning to doubt the map and/or my map skills, then there it was:
Self portrait with Ghent
(DAY 7)
Belfort
(DAY 7)
Arriving at the belfry, the very friendly ticket man asked us where we were from. For simplicity’s sake Eric just said “Canada”. Then the man asked us what Canadian building was modeled after the belfry of Ghent? Part of me wanted to wait to see if Eric could pass this test on basic Canadiana. The only building I could think would be a possibility turned out to be the correct answer: the Parliament Buildings, of course.
You can see better photos on the Belfort website’s “virtual tour of the Belfry“. Here are mine:
Saint Bavo’s Cathedral
(DAY 7)
We had three goals to accomplish before leaving Ghent on Monday:
- see Jan van Eyke’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at Saint Bavo’s Cathedral
- visit Belfort, the Ghent Belfry
- eat at a vegetarian restaurant listed on the veggie map
Everything about Saint Bavo’s was incredible. First, I spent half an hour listening to an audio guide about the altarpiece (a few panels of which we’d seen in restoration at the Museum of Fine Arts, a five year project that began this October). I cut it short only because we did need to catch a train some time that day.
Not only are the altarpiece and the cathedral building itself awe-inspiring, so are the wall paintings, the windows, the organ, the oak and marble pulpit, the illuminated manuscripts, and the 12th century frescoes in the crypt…
Despite all the “no camera” signage, I snuck one photo of some newer stained glass:
Spooky me
More of Ghent at night
Ghent illuminated
(DAY 6)
The city of Ghent has won awards for its light plan which illuminates its historic buildings and monuments creating a walking tour that takes a couple hours. We wandered some of it, but didn’t stick strictly to the lights. If you can believe it, I think we ended up in a bar…
Mussels and beer
(DAY 6)
So, yes. Despite choosing Ghent over other cities because of its vegetarian options, Eric decided he couldn’t wait any longer to try mussels. I had a yummy kirr with my fresh pasta and pesto– it was one of the more delicious pastas I had in Belgium.
Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent
(DAY 6)
I could have spent all day at the Museum Voor Schone Kunsten. The museum’s website has a nice showcase of its collection in English. My favourites were Hieronymous Bosch, Jules de Bruycker, and the Expressionist stuff.
Afterwards, we crossed the street and spent maybe half an hour at S.M.A.K. (the museum of contemporary art) and then headed back to the hotel for a break before dinner.
