December 6, 2012 Ghent and on to Brussels!

December 7, 2012

An exciting day! Getting to go to Ghent, a most beautiful city in Belgium! I know I keep saying that and I hope my pictures show that it’s true! In the scheme of things, the USA is just so darned young! First big trip this year I’m in Israel with relics of biblical days; now, I’m in beautiful and happy Belgium with its history and buildings dating to the 7th century! Not to mention my little side trip to the Netherlands, Amsterdam. Everyone has been so friendly and seem so happy, despite cold and rain and wind and crowds, etc. It’s just a totally different way to get through each day. We took a cab from the train station to the main part of Ghent because we only had a short time to spend there. And we spent the bulk of it at the Cathedral of Saint Baaf. This was a really really old cathedral.

I love the churches and cathedrals and artworks they house. Since they were the gathering place of most people in the cities through the years, they hold so much history of the people and their beliefs and way of life. This cathedral, originated as a chapel in 942 and dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the oldest patron saint of the city of Ghent. Charles the Emperor was baptized here before it was completed and in 1550 he awarded money to provide the great arched windows that are beautifully filled with stained glass. The pulpit was completed in 1745. Cameras were not allowed to be used at all inside the cathedral. The main reason we went in here, and spent the time we did, was to view and learn about “The Adoration of the Lamb of God, which is a very famous masterpiece painted by Jan and Hubert Van Eyck who were from Ghent and you can see Gent in the background of some of the panels of the painting. There are several “recreations” of it throughout and when you go see the actual painting, total silence is required and you can listen to a lengthy (over 30 minutes long) explanation of panel-by-panel of the amazing work. There is so much detail and even controversy over certain depictions in the panels. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see something so magnificent.

The town hall, Court of Justice and several other abbeys and churches adorn this landscape. The canal and buildings along the canal cross through the center of the city, so similar to Amsterdam and Bruge. An amazing sight even after seeing it before. They have a coupe of Beguinages there too. These city-within-a-city communities are just fascinating. All the various wars left so many women alone and needing to find creative ways to take care of themselves and each other.

Because of the time of year, we did not get to see the beautiful gardens that normally adorn this city; but you could see where they would be! We had to be back early, but decided to have a lovely meal in Ghent and had authentic Belgian dishes. They were delicious! We caught the train back to Leuven to get our things and board a bus to Brussels. The bus ride to Brussels wasn’t as long as I thought…UNTIL we got to Brussels proper! It was extremely busy traffic but we had the best bus driver. It must be challenging driving a bus on these cobble brick roads, with all the bicycles, pedestrians and cars not to mention the narrowness of the roads!

But he got us all here safe and sound and we managed to get checked into our rooms very quickly! And a good thing too, because we wanted to get to the Grand Place’ to see the light show and all the decorations and stalls for the Christmas Market (called Christmas mart). Most of the cities have them, but none were open yet except for Brussels! And they have EVERYTHING readied for Christmas and it was exciting and awesome! We had a light bite and cup of tea at the Metropole cafe and it was an incredible place to see. A beautiful building inside and out. Then it was time to suddenly realize how absolutely tired I was! Came back to my room and unpacked so that I could reorganize the next day to be readied for Paris. Decided not to go back to Antwerp even though I knew people who were going there. First of all, I was hoping to see Brussels in the daylight with less people and traffic and secondly, I haven’t had ANY real down time since the trip started and with only a day and a half in Paris coming up Saturday, I really wanted to feel rested and to enjoy every moment possible in Paris! I know I made the right choice!!