Ghent

Our second excursion from Brussels was to Ghent, about 30 minutes away by train.  The city was already charming but it was made even better by the knowledgeable, funny and great storyteller our guide, Mieke, turned out to be.  From the first story of the violent medieval past to modern day she kept us entertained.  

If you zoom a lot you might see his thumb between his fingers - medieval version of the middle finger 

Ghent is over double the size of Brugge and is then further enlarged with about 80000 university students.

We wondered through the streets learning more history about the trading that was so important to the city.  Squares, canals and a lot of churches dominate this city.

A strange combo of lion and bear dating back several centuries

The castle is a highlight and

The old fish market now repurposed

On the strong recommendation of a friend some of us sought out a unique pub where they have a special glass for some beer.  If you order you must give them one shoe which is then put in a basket and hoisted up to the ceiling. It was loud and crowded and no we only had a normal size beer.

One stop listed on every visitor list is the Ghent Altarpiece located in St Bavo’s Cathedral. Created by Hubert van Eyck and his brother Jan, it was completed in 1432.  It is a massive folding altarpiece made of painted panels and is considered one of the great masterpieces.

Brugge

An hour train ride away is the small city of Brugge.   With only a day it was hard to fully appreciate it but we did our best with a walking tour and of course a canal cruise.  Houses have a bit more color here and are slightly different than Amsterdam.  The city was crowded with many, many restaurants and souvenir shops. The historic centre is another UNESCO site.

One of the interesting stops was the Begijnhof. A begijnhof is a walled city dating back to medieval times.  Laywoman who dressed in a specific way lived there and did charity work from behind the walls.  Unlike nuns they were free to leave at any time and marry.  The complexes are peaceful even today.  Today they are used for housing for older women.  We had also seen one in Amsterdam.

A begijnhof woman statue in one building.  Some details like lipstick and jewelry are wrong.

Many of the shops were decorated outside making the walk down the streets very interesting.  

There are 70 protected swans in the waterways and numerous honking Canada Geese - just no escaping them

The local brewery - Halve Moon

And the brewery’s most famous beer

This symbol indicates the chocolates in the dtore are made in Brugge

There was big excitement in town - a brand new building that will hold temporary art displays was opening that night and the entire weekend was a celebration.

There are a large number of churches one could visit but we limited our church visit to The Church of Our Lady to view the collection of beautiful art - the most famous being the Madonna and Child by Michelangelo.