Ghetting to Ghent was easying... Ghetting a cab in Ghent was not... but Ghent was cool
I promised that I would wrap up our Brussels adventure, but I feel the need to skip forward a tad.
We did end up at the Museum of Musical Instruments and had a great time. I recommend it if you end up in Brussels. The ticket includes a ride up to their 10th floor restaurant and terrace where you can take in some spectacular views of Brussels. So we did after spending an hour or so at the museum. You could easily spend 2 - but the museum was hot and stuffy in some areas and as a group we had other things to conquer.
With the weather iffy, we had decided against Bruges on Wednesday and instead decided to go when it would be clear and sunny on Thursday. So when the weather cleared up Wednesday afternoon and we felt content with what we had seen in Brussels (at least with two 12 year olds driving the ship) we opted for the ultimate adventure which was an afternoon trip on the train to Ghent.
We jammed down the hill to the train station, the ladies found a Starbucks of course for a light snack and I got us 4 round trip tickets to Ghent - come and go as we pleased.
Ghent is a city of about 250,000 people and I believe is a University town. Like Brussels, Antwerp, and Bruges, Ghent had spent time as a cultural and political center of Northern Europe at one point in time. This means it has an impressive and well preserved medieval center adorned with several spires from large gothic Cathedrals. The main attraction for history and art lovers is the Cathedral of St. Bavo's which houses the Ghent Altarpiece - considered one of the most remarkable of its kind and created by the Flemish master van Eyck (make sure to really accentuate the "ck") in the 1400s.
Much like the Bruges Madonna, the history of this altarpiece involves the Nazis and World War II... it was stashed in a salt mine in Austria after the Nazis had seized it for their own planned museum of "the master race" in Berlin. You can see this altarpiece featured in The Monuments Men movie starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and others.
Having no real plan of action, we just kind of floated into Ghent, spend a bit of time trying to figure out how to get to the center, arrived via cab to St. Bavo's too late to see the altarpiece, but still enough time to enjoy the majestic interior, and then head around town.
Tons of scaffolding everywhere - Friday was the beginning of Ghent fest... their biggest party of the year. So it kind of ruined views, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. Within a mile are three major cathedrals/churches. St. Bavo's, St. Nikolaus, and St. Michaels...and between there is a large and imposing bell tower. So a lot of spires and clocks and stone buildings from the 1400s and beyond.
I could spend more time here, but after we wandered around a bit and grabbed dinner at an Irish Pub, it was time to head back to the train station. Only we could not for the life of us find a cab.
We finally gave in to the light rail system, figured that one out, and got to the train station just in time to fetch the next train back to Brussels.
It was a long day, but fun. A lot of great memories. Pictures to come...
We did end up at the Museum of Musical Instruments and had a great time. I recommend it if you end up in Brussels. The ticket includes a ride up to their 10th floor restaurant and terrace where you can take in some spectacular views of Brussels. So we did after spending an hour or so at the museum. You could easily spend 2 - but the museum was hot and stuffy in some areas and as a group we had other things to conquer.
With the weather iffy, we had decided against Bruges on Wednesday and instead decided to go when it would be clear and sunny on Thursday. So when the weather cleared up Wednesday afternoon and we felt content with what we had seen in Brussels (at least with two 12 year olds driving the ship) we opted for the ultimate adventure which was an afternoon trip on the train to Ghent.
We jammed down the hill to the train station, the ladies found a Starbucks of course for a light snack and I got us 4 round trip tickets to Ghent - come and go as we pleased.
Ghent is a city of about 250,000 people and I believe is a University town. Like Brussels, Antwerp, and Bruges, Ghent had spent time as a cultural and political center of Northern Europe at one point in time. This means it has an impressive and well preserved medieval center adorned with several spires from large gothic Cathedrals. The main attraction for history and art lovers is the Cathedral of St. Bavo's which houses the Ghent Altarpiece - considered one of the most remarkable of its kind and created by the Flemish master van Eyck (make sure to really accentuate the "ck") in the 1400s.
Much like the Bruges Madonna, the history of this altarpiece involves the Nazis and World War II... it was stashed in a salt mine in Austria after the Nazis had seized it for their own planned museum of "the master race" in Berlin. You can see this altarpiece featured in The Monuments Men movie starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and others.
Having no real plan of action, we just kind of floated into Ghent, spend a bit of time trying to figure out how to get to the center, arrived via cab to St. Bavo's too late to see the altarpiece, but still enough time to enjoy the majestic interior, and then head around town.
Tons of scaffolding everywhere - Friday was the beginning of Ghent fest... their biggest party of the year. So it kind of ruined views, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. Within a mile are three major cathedrals/churches. St. Bavo's, St. Nikolaus, and St. Michaels...and between there is a large and imposing bell tower. So a lot of spires and clocks and stone buildings from the 1400s and beyond.
I could spend more time here, but after we wandered around a bit and grabbed dinner at an Irish Pub, it was time to head back to the train station. Only we could not for the life of us find a cab.
We finally gave in to the light rail system, figured that one out, and got to the train station just in time to fetch the next train back to Brussels.
It was a long day, but fun. A lot of great memories. Pictures to come...
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