In Ghent: Days 13-15

Tuesday, September 15th - Thursday, September 17th

We're back in the U.S. now, but I thought I'd finish up my posts with a few notes about the last days of our trip and post my own photos for a change.

We arrived in Ghent on Monday afternoon, took an unplanned tour of the northwest side of the city and arrived at our B&B just in time for dinner. Both starving and exhausted from the 10-hour travel day, we ended up at a restaurant in one of the town squares that was frequented by tourists, no doubt, and a surprising number of old people. The food was good, if a little overpriced, but at that point I was ready to gnaw off my own arm. The rest of the stay was all about relaxation and preparing for the long haul home.The owner of the B&B where we stayed was a bit shocked to learn that we were going to spend three whole days in the city -- reinforcing an overarching self-deprecating trend of many locals that we met in Ghent (and maybe all Belgians?). I'm not sure why, the city is quite lovely and actually was one of my favorite spots.

One of the goals we set while in Ghent (and for most of the trip actually) was to never try the same beer twice, to maximize the tasting variety. We actually did a pretty good job at sticking to that rule, I think I only drank one Belgian beer twice, Duvel, because it is so delicious and cheap compared to the price in the US (about $2 a bottle). To taste as many beers as possible, as inexpensively as possible, we went to a local grocery store and had our own happy hour at the B&B each night (or afternoon). Here are the beers from our last few days in order from favorite (on the right) to least favorite (on the left). I think I will have Jesse guest post one day this week on the specifics, as he was the designated beer note taker for the trip.

One of the highlights in Ghent was our visit to Granvensteen Castle, just a 10 minute walk from where we were staying. It's an amazing building from the 12th century that served as the town center in the middle ages. It seems as thought it's been in a constant cycle of restoration/reconstruction since the late 1800s, when the first attempts at restoration began. What stands now is a combination of original and reconstructed areas that is quite fascinating.

Ghent also has a canal that runs through the city, which is lined with old buildings that were once main spots for commerce. Today, they're mostly restaurants, hotels, and gathering spots. This is one of my favorite shots from Ghent, taken on the first night we were there just as the sun started to go down.

In the old market place the city was undertaking a giant archaeological dig. There wasn't a lot of explanation in English about the reason for the clearance of the old (rather mundane) 19th century commercial buildings, but it seemed as though they are going to eventually restore the old market place. It was pretty awesome to watch the dig taking place everyday as we walked from our B&B to the center of town.

Our second wedding anniversary happened to fall on our second night in Ghent, September 15th. After visiting the castle, we made dinner at the B&B and sampled a couple of new beers. After dinner, we decided that we needed to take a strong stand and go out and grab dessert or a beer just to stay awake. It was pretty easy to pass out at 8pm after a long day of walking or biking, but that meant we'd be awake before the sun the following morning. I was able to get a lot of really great night shots of the landmarks around town. Here are a couple from the group:

This was one of my favorite buildings in all of Ghent, just on the edge of the main marketplace. It has a hideous addition on the left side, but I was easily able to overlook it due to the awesome dancing statues on top.


I can't remember exactly which buildings are in this photo, but the canal was so still that night it reflected their likeness perfectly. I have to say that this anniversary may top all others for quite a while.

After looking through all of the photos that we took from the trip, I feel as though we gave ourselves a pretty spectacular gift of almost 800 potential postcards filled with memories. I'll post more photos over the next few days, most likely grouped in some way, either by city or some other form of category. Jet lag has sort of muddled my organizing capacity, so I have yet to decide how to present them!