Just Because I Like It

This was a colorful and whimsical sales prop in front of--well, it's easy to figure out what kind of shop we passed while walking through Ghent after our canal tour. Now we were headed back to the bus for the 60-minute trip to Bruges.

While waiting for everyone to catch up, the "boys" had fun with this pissoir on the side of the street. These are not uncommon around Europe but you don't see too many of them anymore.

Canal Cruise on Ghent's Rivier Leie

We have had some warm days already--I was beginning to think I had brought too many fall clothes. But today was cool (60s?) and rain was threatening. We boarded a boat for our canal cruise on the River Leie and shortly after pushing away from the dock, we returned to pick up colorful umbrellas (which we never used). A few sprinkles won't bother us!



Our effervescent boat operator and guide, Astrid, was funny and certainly enjoys her city and job. She described each bridge and building with enthusiasm and included enjoyable stories about Ghent's history. The buildings along the canal are very unique and colorfully built with a variety of materials and lots of quaint and decorative touches.

This fortress is called the Castle of the Counts, or Gravensteen, which was built in 1180 by Philip of Alsace. Erected outside the city walls, it was designed not to protect the Ghent people but to intimidate the city's independence-minded citizens. It now includes an armory collection, a reconstructed guillotine, torture devices, an 18-foot-deep dungeon, and great views from the tower tops, obviously.

I took lots of photos and only wish the sky would've been blue and I could remember all the things we saw. And having a human being narrate the tour is so much more interesting than a canned recording in multiple languages. Thank you, Astrid, for your sense of humor on the tour!
 

Cathedral of Saint-Bavo



 

The main church of Ghent, which also houses three of the city's art treasures, is the Sint-Baafskathedraal or the Cathedral of Saint-Bavo. We didn't have much time but before he excused us for lunch, Hilbren thought it worth leading us inside for a few minutes.

 

At the front of the sanctuary is the main altar displaying Bavo, the beloved local saint on his way to heaven. This 7th century saint was once a wealthy and rambunctious young soldier but became a born-again Christian after the death of his wife. Bavo rejected his life of materialism and became a monk, living for a time in a hollow tree.

 

We then sought out one of the treasures we'd been told about, Van Eyck's altarpiece. "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" was finished in 1432 after the original artist, Hubert Van Eyck (1385-1426) began the painting. However, he soon died and his better-known younger brother, Jan (1395-1441) completed Hubert's vision.
 

 

It's miraculous that the piece has survived for nearly six centuries. It was hidden in the cathedral's tower during the wave of iconoclasm in the 16th century. In 1934, two of its panels were stolen--the ones depicting John the Baptist and the "Just Judges." The church recovered John the Baptist's panel but the other one never turned up (the one displayed on the replica is currently a copy). More than 75 years later, this theft remains one of Belgium's greatest unsolved mysteries. During WWII, while the altar was on its way to safe storage at the Vatican, it was caught up in the fighting and hidden in the French Pyrenees. Then it was stolen by Hitler, taken to his Bavarian castle, and then to a salt mine before US forces returned it at the war's end.*

The opportunity to see it is confusing but let me try to explain. Hilbren told us that the altarpiece is being restored and we might not be able to view all sections of it. The Rick Steves' book claims you can view a replica for free in a side chapel that originally contained the piece or pay to see the original in a small room in the back-left corner of the church.

 

As we walked up an outside aisle towards the front altar, we saw the replica--I thought--in a side chapel (on the right) where a group was listening to a gentleman. So I slipped inside the gate and started snapping photos. As I noticed the group leaving, I saw an authoritative man block others from entering and explain that they had to pay. Whoops. This is the reason for the few number of photos I snapped and their poor quality.

The altarpiece has a dozen separate paintings on each side (front and back). It was closed on weekdays, showing only the outside panels; on Sundays and holidays, it was opened to reveal the scenes inside. In the bottom middle of the panels, a big celebration includes angels,  prophets, the twelve apostles (in the right foreground), saints, popes, pilgrims, etc. A hovering dove represents the Holy Spirit and in the foreground is the well of life, spewing water and jewels. The lamb at the very center is a stand-in for Christ but also has a special meaning in Ghent, whose wool trade put the city on the map.

The other two treasures in the cathedral are an elaborately-carved pulpit and a Rubens' altar painting depicting the town's patron saint and namesake of the church. But were now hungry and needed to find some lunch before the canal tour. So we rushed off before we could give this cathedral its due.

*The recently-released film, "Monuments Men," relates the hard-to-believe moment when the Nazis manhandled this treasure of Western art, the Ghent Altarpiece--a point in the movie where truth, in fact, can be stranger than fiction.

On Our Way to Ghent

 

After a hearty breakfast this morning at our hotel (what did we do/eat last night?), which not only included assorted breads and jams as shown in this photo, but also sliced meats, fruits, vegetables, condiments (to make sandwiches, never my favorite in the mornings), we left Brussels at 8:30 on our favorite Heidebloem bus with driver, Dirk. (Our all-time favorite driver is Renee but we haven't seen him in a long time.)

 

On the way out of the city, we drove around the 1958 World's Fairgrounds in order to see the symbol of the event that year--a giant, silvery iron molecule, the Atomium. Escalators and stairs connect the various "atoms" so you're rewarded from the top sphere with views of the park complex and the Brussels' skyline, some of the best in the city. Or so we hear... We were only allowed off the bus to take some photos. We had a schedule, you know.

The drive to Ghent took about an hour; and when we arrived, Hilbren walked us around the town, weaving our way through a busy market (where we lost one of our couples), down quaint narrow streets, next to and along some little canals. He also swung us into the Cathedral of Saint-Bavo for a quick history lesson (separate post).



One of the biggest cities in Europe during the 14th century, Ghent had a population of around 65,000--massive in an age when most of Europe was rural farmland. North of the Alps, only Paris was larger. Two-thirds of the population was made up of textile workers, making medieval Ghent Europe's first industrial city and a powerhouse made very wealthy by the textile trade. But like its rival Bruges, Ghent's fortunes eventually fell, yet leaving it with a well-preserved historical nucleus. Instead of oozing with charm and cobbles like Bruges, it is now home to Belgium's largest university and is a living, thriving city. Today's population is around 240,000.

This Meat Hall (Groot Vleeshuis) sits in Vegetable Market Square. It has seen better days, but was built entirely without nails, employing ship-builders' expertise. For hygienic reasons, until the 19th century, this was the only place in town allowed to sell meat. Today, we still see locally-cured hams hanging from the rafters next to a restaurant and a shop selling specialty products. (It was also our bathroom stop in Ghent!)

Before meeting for a canal cruise, we were on our own for lunch. After retracing our steps, Sam and I ended up at the little stand recommended by Hilbren. He was already there when we arrived; and eventually, a few more of our group showed up.



For less than 5 euros, we enjoyed a sausage sprinkled with onions and stuffed with cheese; yummy well-made frites (fried the correct way, Hilbren explained--in two different vats of oil); and a soda. Again, following the tradition in this part of the world, Sam enjoyed hers with mayonnaise (versus catsup); I had tartar sauce this time--something different. We sat on a short concrete wall across from the stand, people-watched, and enjoyed our meal.

Now, it was off to a canal cruise, the first and only one on this trip.