Ghent

I woke up so excited today for another day of exploration! There is something so freeing about being able to solo travel.

The morning was a bit of a mess trying to figure out how to get to Ghent. I was at Beersel station and trying to find out if I could get there faster by not going all the way back to Brussels central but that was not an option. So I walked 20 minutes to Beersel, took a train to Halle, went from Halle to Brussels central and finally Brussels to Ghent. Ghent was only 35 minutes from Brussels central.

I started with Citadel park right next to the train station that was quite serene and beautiful. There was a nice lake in the middle but it had the wrong vibe for the start of the day as I was eager to explore the city. The city was about a 30 minute walk from the station so I took the tram. The first place I stopped at was to buy a ticket to the medieval castle.

While waiting for my time slot for the castle, I wandered the streets taking in all of the architecture. I've decided that my favorite buildings are the ones with the facade fronts that are beautifully decorated at the top. I especially love the gold painted frescos. The first square I came to was the Vrijdagmarkt which means Friday market. I am assuming that on Fridays the market takes place there but today it was largely empty besides the restaurants around the outside. There was a big cathedral called St. Nick's that I stopped in. Inside, a priest was chanting while an elderly lady was doing some interpretative dance which I found quite funny to watch.

I have been spacing out my desserts on this trip so today I decided it was time to try Belgium chocolate. I walked into a little shop that sold individual chocolates and truffles and got two - a dark chocolate dulce de leche and a grand place which was filled with caramel. The dulce de leche chocolate was alright but I really liked the grand place one. It was quite fun to visit the little shop and ask them for recommendations!

By the time I ate at a place that sold healthy lunch bowls, it was time to visit Gravensteen, the medieval castle. Translating to the Castle of the Counts, the castle was used mainly for torture purposes rather than a luxury living residence. It is surrounded on all sides by a moat to make it difficult for prisoners to escape and people to trespass. Inside there were all sorts of torture rooms and equipment that would have been used to punish criminals. There was a guided audio tour that came along with admission and personally I hated the guided tour. The narrator kept trying to put everything in perspective by comparing it to modern day things, but instead it came across as very ridiculous and cheesy. I remember him talking about how today we obsess over the expiry date of yogurt whereas medieval knights didn't even have time to worry about that since they were busy fighting for their lives. The narrator went on and on with his theatrics and when it became too much I simply skipped. Overall the castle grounds were kept well intact and in shape. However, given that it wasn't a place of residence, it was empty inside and rooms were unfurnished. My favorite part of the castle was climbing the twisty staircase to the top of the turret where you can see the whole city.

The remainder of the day I just kept walking around the Korenmarkt square where all the iconic buildings were on the waterfront. The Leie river was by far my favorite spot to just stop and admire all of the architecture and watch all the tourists passing by. There was an arched bridge called St. Michael's bridge that offered picturesque views of the waterfront as well. I visited St. Bravo's Cathedral as my friend yesterday on the train had told me I needed to see Van Eyck's masterpiece the Ghent altarpiece. However, it cost 16 euros to view the altarpiece so I missed out.

I was exhausted towards the evening and didn't know what else to do. It was beautiful outside and the river was full of boat cruises that were only 8.50 euros so I figured why not. I wanted to do one in Brugge but would not pass up how beautiful it was today to be on the river. The boat ride was lovely and I was able to see a better view of the medieval castle and some sites I had not explored by foot. The boat took us to very serene parts of the river with giant weeping willows that were in full bloom. I thoroughly enjoyed the river cruise and was able to get better photos of the architecture from the boat than I was on land. The tour guide was very informative about the history of Ghent as a trading town and city that attracted merchants from all over in the Medieval ages.