Belgium - So Far

Yesterday we explored Ghent and what a lovely (little) city it is.  It has a small town feel, but quite genteel and cultured.  There are fantastic medieval buildings all around, a great tram system, all the major shopping labels, some fantastic food and Belgium is seriously serious about their beers.  There are hundreds of ‘local’ beers and they’re all quite strong in comparison to ours – some around 9 – 10% alcohol and a few are higher.  Not only that, but they MUST be served in the appropriate glass.  Each beer company has a specific glass designed for them as they believe that the proper glass brings out the very best in their type of beer.  So far we have avoided the very high content beers, but sooner or later, I guess we’ll give it a try.  The strange thing is, they don’t taste strong, so we may very well fall over in the process.

Ghent’s major attractions include the Belfry, with its dragon weather-vane, built in the 12^th century and the bells used as an alarm system in medieval times, but now the carillon records the quarter-hours and chimes the hours – quite beautiful.   St.Michael’s Church and St. Michael’s Bridge on the Leie River are spectacular and the surrounding squares are crowded with restaurants and crowds. Along with the Leie River is a system of canals similar in many ways to Amsterdam, but not as crowded.  St. Nicholas Church was built in the 13^th century in gothic style and is only a couple of hundred metres away.  In fact, the whole of the centre of Ghent is quite walkable and many of the streets have distinctive characters of their own.  Other features include the Town Hall and Guild Hall and many other beautiful buildings, but the piece de resistance is St. Bavo’s Cathedral, which was consecrated in 942, but has grown with the years into a spectacular cathedral, but the major attraction is the altar-piece – “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb” which was painted by the Van Eyck brothers and has a fascinating history dating back 300 years.  Not the least of its historic story is the fact that it was stolen by the Nazis in 1942 and hidden in a salt mine in Austria, along with some 7000 other artworks, for Hitler’s great “Arian Museum” which he planned.  It was found in 1944 by an American recovery team.

Today we had a great trip to Brussels to meet up with Nina, our guide for the day and a friend we met in KL last year.  Nina works for the EU in Brussels, is a native Scot, but has been in Brussels for 22 years.  She was a wonderful guide and introduced us to the major sights in Brussels and we had a wonderful day with her, not only for her knowledge of the city, but also her warm friendship and great sense of humour.  We had a fantastic day – Thanks Nina!