In total, this post’s photo series was captured over the course of ~19.5 miles (31 km), with just over fourteen of them trekked on Saturday alone. Public transit is available too, but the city is so dense with historical buildings that traveling by foot is the only way not to miss the viewpoints in between stations. Some of the main attractions are reserved for a second trip through the city with Annette, so there’s still more to come beyond this post, which is, by the way, being written at the end of another long day covering nearly 12 miles in Valkenburg and Maastricht, both located in the southernmost province of the Netherlands, Limburg.
What’s Ghent All About?
It’s the third largest city in the country, behind Brussels and Antwerp, located to the west of the former. Speaking of location, it was built at the junction of two rivers, a position which gave it an extreme economic advantage, leading to it being larger and wealthier than most contemporary European cities. A long period of prosperity has left the city littered with sights around every corner.
Subjectively, this has an odd effect that plays at a shortcoming of human psychology. There’s so much to see that it’s desensitizing. Is the city beautiful? Absolutely. It just lacks a focal point, perhaps leaving visitors thinking, “Did I love this city? I’m not sure that I did. I should love it. It’s got everything I could ask for in a historical city.”
Think about the top attractions in each of these places:
Paris: Eiffel Tower.
Venice: Grand Canal.
Rome: Colosseum.
Ghent: ???
Nothing comes to mind, or rather, at least four things come to mind and there’s no choosing. This really isn’t fair. Hopefully a second visit in two weeks stimulates a change of heart with something yet to be experienced.
Taking it Easy on Day 1
The day was milder, spending several hours relaxing (i.e. sorting photos and working on the last post) in an AirBnB while waiting to go to a “Dark Side” tour of the city. These are present in many old cities, with the name referring both to the time of day, and to the tour’s content. This one included stories about people being boiled in the city square, with oil added because people got tired of scraping burned flesh from the cauldrons all the time. That is the sort of story to expect on these tours.
Ghent, and Belgium in general, is sadly no stranger to violence, so it wasn’t difficult to fill a 1.5-hour tour without getting too historically “creative.” Some of the worst included thousands of protestants being killed by the Catholic regime. It’s an oversimplification, but this religious divide is largely what led to protestants fleeing north, eventually to gain independence as the Netherlands.
Day 2 Photo Tour
The chronological series has a clear break from nighttime to the next morning, and the day is better expressed with pictures. (or by saying, “14 miles. Ouch.”)
Fast-forward 90-minutes. Touring with poor lighting, chatting with fellow travelers, and listening to sometimes fascinating stories led to a lack of photos for a bit.
St. Bavo’s Cathedral (next day)
St. Peter’s Abbey
Hotel d’Hane-Steenhuyse (museum)
From St. Michael’s Bridge and Cathedral
Views from the 92m (~298′) Belfort – 350 stairs are worth it
DreamCATchers Cafe
DreamCATchers takes in the most difficult felines of Ghent. They’re generally not used to humans and would never get adopted. Twice a week, visitors are asked to help (gently!) socialize them simply by being present and perhaps having interaction at a distance with a toy. Over a long period, they discover that people are okay, and may even be useful as companions servants. So far, 117 have gone to a new home after making this realization.
What’s next?
Today (now yesterday – it’s 2 AM!) was spent getting to the Netherlands and exploring both the small, yet bustling, tourist-town of Valkenburg, and the comparatively larger city of Maastricht. Tomorrow morning, it’s off to Aachen, just across the border into Germany, then back into Belgium to stay the night in Robertville. That’ll be a launching point for a valley-hike to Malmedy in time to catch a bus toward Luxembourg.
The next post may be delayed on account of this ambitious agenda. For now, a preview of Maastricht.
