Ghent
The train home from Bruges stopped in Ghent, so we decided to spend a few hours exploring the city. We arrived at the train station Dampoort, which did look quite rough. From there we still had to walk a bit to reach the city center, and this walk is not particularly pretty. But when arriving in the city centre, it does start to become prettier. It is however not the same as Bruges, where every house in every street is picturesque. We decided to first go to the Gravensteen, a castle in the middle of the city. Going there, we passed some nice buildings and streets and slowly started to get into the vibe of the city.
Church along the way
Gravensteen
We arrived at the Gravensteen without tickets. We could buy them there for a slot one hour later. Thus we ate a waffle in a nearby cafe and then went back again. An audioguide is included in your ticket. There are two options, an informational one of half an hour and a comedy one of 1 hour. The comedy one is narrated by a local comedian and includes funny anecdotes and jokes about the castle’s history. We chose the comedy tour, but were skeptical at first. Was this going to be boomer humor? Well, after the first part, we were pleasantly surprised. It actually was quite enjoyable and funny to listen to. So we made our way through the castle with the comedian in our ears.
Gravensteen Castle
First, he told us about the history of the castle and its significance in medieval times. He explained how stone houses were a symbol of wealth and power during that era, thus inspiring the count of Flanders to build the Gravensteen as a demonstration of his authority. We entered several rooms, each with its own unique features and stories. For example, we saw one of the first fireplaces. Additionally, the comedian told us about two counts who lived there and their love stories. One of the stories being very romantic, and the other one really tragic. He told us about the customs and traditions of the time, showing us toilets and swords and armor from that era. The different methods of punishment and torture were also touched upon in great detail. All of this was accompanied with a lighthearted tone and an interesting narrative built around the people. Also good to note, the tour includes a nice view over the city from the top of the castle. If you are going to Gent, I really recommend going to this castle, and taking the comedy audioguide.
Fireplace in the castle
Graslei/Korenlei and the Market Square
After leaving the castle, we walked to the Graslei and Korenlei streets. Those two streets are opposite each other along the river. Both streets are lined with beautiful historic buildings, many of which date back to the Middle Ages. There are a lot of terraces, boat tours, and just a chill cozy vibe. By walking along these streets you can slowly make your way to the Market Square.
Graslei and Korenlei
The Market square is I think not officially a Market Square, but that is what I will call it for now. It contains an old postal office that has now been turned into a shopping centre with some high-end brands. Sebas actually bought some nice clothing items on sale here. The houses surrounding the square are also all just as pretty as those along the Graslei and Korenlei streets. This area is also the main shopping area, and you can go to all kind of shops, like for example the HEMA. If you walk a bit further, you will also find Belfort tower, very similar to the one in Bruges. This building is located next to a very ugly modern building, which I think is the city hall. Then even further along past the Belfort tower, you will find the Saint Bavo’s Cathedral. All these beautiful buildings with their tall towers create a stunning skyline in this small area.
Postal Office
Saint Nicholas Church
We first stepped into the Saint Nicholas Church. I first thought this was the Cathedral, so I was already looking for that famous painting, het Lam Gods. But I quickly realized it was the wrong church. The church was made in the 13th century. It has the beautiful artworks that you can expect in any major church. Apparently the main feature of the church is the lantern tower, which serves as a natural lantern. The church was nice to quickly look through, since it is also free, but you do not need to spend a lot of time here. The pillars inside are in my opinion the coolest part of the church, they look very imposing. It is just another pretty Belgian church.
Saint Nicholas Church
Saint Bavo’s Cathedral
We quickly moved on to the actual cathedral containing the famous Lam Gods painting by Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubert. First we admired the beautiful cathedral and its many works and architecture. Then we went over to the queue and realized that it was quite busy. However, I could still buy two tickets for the VR tour to the Lam Gods painting, but only for a later time slot. So in the mean time we explored the cathedral a bit more, and also went to a board game and comic shop, which you can read about in the next section. Then we came back, and it was even more busy and quite chaotic, because there was like a whole tourist group. However it did not seem like they had tickets, and the staff was a little bit overwhelmed. But we could go in at our time slot, and then our VR tour started.
Saint Bavo's Cathedral
So you could see the Lams Gods painting for 12 euros, but for 16 euros you can do a VR tour through the church. And you should definitely choose the latter option. You get to wear this VR headset and you are virtually led through the inside chambers of the church. You will be told about some of the history of the church, but more importantly you will get a lot of information about the painting. And the painting really did experience a lot. First of all, it is good to understand that the painting consists of multiple panels, some of them even containing a front and back painting. The painting was orginally made by Hubert van Eyck, but after his death finished by his brother Jan, which is a really famous painter nowadays. It was finished in 1432 as an assignment given by a wealthy merchant to be placed in the church of Saint Bavo. It survived the beeldenstorm (iconoclasm in English), the different parts were separated, and united again. Parts of the paintings were stolen but then found again. However, one panel of the painting went missing and was never recovered. You can now only see a replica. The VR tour also explains a lot of the smaller details and the symbolisms of the painting, which was surprsingly interesting. Quite recently researchers discovered that there has actually been painted over the original work which they are now trying to carefully restore. They already restored quite a bit of the painting when I was there, but it will not be finished for a few years. I guess I need to come back at some point to see the full restored version. I am usually not much of an arts person, but because of the VR tour I really started to resonate with the painting and was very excited to see it in real life.
The VR headsets
Worlds’ End Comics & Games Center
Between our first visit in the Saint Bavo’s Cathedral and the VR tour, we had some about an hour to kill the time. First we did some shopping, but then remembered that we wanted to visit a boardgame shop. With only half an hour left, and the shop being about 15 minutes away, we rushed to the Worlds’ End Comics & Games Center. This shop is really cool. It has not only lots of boardgames, but also a lot of tabletop games and other nerd stuff. A section of a shop is dedicated to playing games, and looks very cozy. As the name suggests, the store also sells comic books and books associated with the genre of the store, like Dungeon Crawler Carl. I asked if they had the critical role book “Tuks Love”, which they didn’t but they immediately ordered six copies for in their shop. Sebas found some special edition DnD books he was looking for, so this visit was definitely a success, even though we could only be there for a short time and had to rush.
Worlds' End Comics & Games Center