For our last day in Belgium, Kendra and I knew we had to make it count. She'd outlined a great day following Rick Steve's city tour. Thanks to the excellent city bikes provided by our Bed & Bike accommodations, we were all set to take off and enjoy the sights.
We needed to fuel up for the trip, though, so we rode just a short distance down to the universally recommended Simon Says coffee shop. To make our way around the city, we were going to use the little 'current location' icon in Google Maps on our smart phone, which still holds onto the map if you open it while on wireless. Little did we know Google would release the exact product that we needed right after our trip.
So we rode down to Simon Says, bouncing awkwardly over a few cobblestone streets along the way. We each ordered a breakfast that comes with 3 mini pastries and a Lungo Belgian coffee. Kendra said, "you can have my coffee." My reply, "I've never loved you more."
Another patron used his powers of observation to determine we were tourists, and kindly recommended two apps: Useit.eu and Newplacestobe.eu. We used Useit and it was actually great- it lets you look up attractions, food, and places to stay on the app on an offline map all without internet access. The content is provided by locals so you get legit insight as well. Definitely recommended.
Our first stop was the aforementioned Castle of the Counts, moated castle in city center from the 10th century that has excellent exhibits on medieval weaponry and torture, along with beautiful views of the city from its upper reaches.
We then detoured back to check out a beautiful view of the patershol neighborhood (where we're staying) with some notable building facades. Taking pictures of bikes aligned in front of the photogenic canals remained a favorite pastime.
After that it was over to the Vrijdagmarkt ("Friday Market") square. Fortune would have it that the makeshift marketplace was set up, and we picked up some fritjes and wandered over to the statue of Jakob Van Artevelde, a 14th century businessman who saved the Belgian wool industry when the UK was going to cut them off.
Hopping back on our sweet rides, we made a few turns and found our way down graffiti street.
Ghent has gotten around the problem of tagging by encouraging graffiti to be done in only specified locations. Graffiti street was the most notable and was a crazy, long, narrow alley with murals up both sides from street artists.
On the other side was the old city hall. Ghent is rightly proud of its history of being ruled by the citizenry rather than nobility. This building is interesting because the facades are each distinct from the time period in which they were made. Humorously, after creating one aspect, a photograph was discovered and analysis showed the drain pipe should be colored white and blue. So, props to them, they did, and now locals call it the lollipop.
We then headed down to the piéce de résistance of our tour, the St Bavo's cathedral. A masterpiece in its own right, the 10th century Romanesque cathedral also houses the famous Ghent Altarpiece, known to its creators as the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb and to history as one of the most flippin stolen paintings of all time. This piece was featured in the phenomenal Monuments Men storyline. Reading about the history was insane. Stolen by the Germans in World War I, it was returned to Belgium. With the advent of WWII and concern that the Germans would act German again, it was going to move to Italy. Then Italy declared for the Axis. So it was moved to France, but France got taken over. Arts commissioners from several nations declared the painting could not be moved unless there was unanimous agreement, but then the Germans unanimously declared it should be moved to German territory. It was moved to the otherwordly Neuschwanstein castle, until bombing raids in the area put it at risk, and it was hidden in a mine of all places. There it was ultimately found by the Allied art recovery team, and returned to Belgium. Somewhat humorously, in a replacement ceremony attended by Belgian royalty, all of the allied nations were invited except the French... because it was lost on their watch.
We were able to have a private viewing of a smaller copy of the inspiring painting and able to view all of the subtleties, from Adam's realistic portrait to the incorporation of nobility from multiple cultures. It was beautiful, which is perhaps why the two brothers summarily described themselves in Latin as the best and second best painters of all time.
Having wandered around the beautiful cathedral, including the crypt that had been painted over by the Calvinists (bah!), we headed to the adjacent square to get that most important of Belgian souvenirs- chocolates.
The Chocolateries van Hoorebeke are run by a father and son duo along with their very charming wives. They hand craft phenomenal chocolates, and we had a blast selecting our own custom boxes. Not wanting to limit ourselves to just the work of the elders, we also had plans to visit the son and daughter's shop. En route, Kendra suffered a surprise fall and tragically crushed a few chocolates! Since we were going to stop into the shop anyway, we told the very charming Mrs van Hoorebeke of our misfortune and she replaced the crushed chocolate free of charge. A wonderful gesture from a fantastic chocolate shop.
Armed with chocolates, though, we weren't done seeing the sights. The St Bavo's cathedral is joined by its Belfry, the top of which was actually just created for a World's Fair in the 1900s. In a classy move, they topped it with architecture in the old style, which Kendra and I appreciated as it complemented the architecture of the cathedral and the stunning Saint Nicholas' Church perfectly.
Unlike the modern Stadshal public venue, which the locals humorously nicknamed the Sheep's Barn for its unfortunate appearance.
Walking into Saint Nicholas' church, we were thrilled to find they were holding a practice session on the organ. The cavernous church filled with music as we surveyed the architecture, appreciating how the church fades from gray to tan as it was built over time with an evolving change in stone. From outside, we went to the bridge over the canal and looked back down over the towers of the three monuments all in sight line. Certainly a wonderful send off shot from Belgium.
A late lunch was then taken in the adjacent Korenmarkt square at the Brasserie Borluut cafe. We were filled to the brim by a ham and cheese croquet, spaghetti bolognese, and a shared Gentse Tripel beer.
Quiet moments found us in Belgium and these were often the best. For a brief period we sat alongside the canal and took in the peaceful scenery. They were setting up for a music festival that would take place the next day which we'd tragically miss out on. It was back to the States for us...
But not yet! We had so much fun we did a second lap of the city tour, and then used the UseIt app to see a few other sites, including the humorously titled "Harmless Cannon."
Returning back along the canal later that night, I ordered a dinner of, that's right, a waffle topped with nutella gelate from a super cool waffle guy. Kendra and I then sat down at an outdoor restaurant to try to get a beer and wring every last drop out of our trip, but were thwarted by our lack of cash and unwillingness to over-purchase to use our credit card. With the rain starting up again - weather that we'd miraculously avoided during our two week stay - we were ultimately driven back home. It was an unceremonious end to an incredible two weeks in The Netherlands and Belgium, and we left with a deep appreciation for the culture and cuisine of both countries.
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