Ghent
We arrived in Ghent just at the right time – the marathon was on. Fought our way through the crowds to get to our camping spot, on the edge of the city. Got parked up, went to plug in the electric cable & found it was too short! The electric point was over 50 metres away, a world record distance. Reception kindly lent us an extension cable. Without further ado, we were on our bikes to cycle into Ghent for a pre-inspection visit!
The Main Event – decided to walk to the city centre which is around a 45 minute walk. Lovely sunny day but a slight chill in the air. Took a different route to our cycle yesterday, but a pleasant flat walk. The architecture is something else. We saw a few construction sites where they have to leave the original facade in place, propped up & bolted to the building next door whilst creating a modern building behind. We headed for Graffiti Street, where the artist have free reign to do whatever they like on the walls. Occasionally the city paint over the walls, to create a blank canvas for them to start again. We could smell freshly sprayed paint! We have a love of big views, so then headed to the Belfry to climb up to the top. Started to walk up the narrow stone spiral staircase & on the first level there was a lift to take us to the top! Lift up, walk down. Big views over the City. Ever 15 minutes the bells play, we couldn’t believe our ears when Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody started playing. Went in search of the elusive Belgian Frites, one with samurai sauce (supposedly hot) & the other with pepper. Sat on the side of the canal, watched the world go by eating our frites. We had planned to get a Belgium waffle, but had to pass due to over indulgence. Took at look at St Bavo’s cathedral & St Nicholas’ church. Then decided to head back, due to a national bus/trains strike & limited service we decided to walk back! Just under 20k steps clocked up.
Brugge
Took a bus down to the City to save our legs! Only a quick 10 minute hop & we were there. Surprised at how busy it was, even though it was only 10.30am. We hadn’t really planned in advance & didn’t have a map so decided to wing it! On our “to do” list was Belgian Waffles & Belgian Chocolates (for us). We stopped for a cuppa & watched the world go by, the city is hosting “The Tour of Flanders” cycle event at the weekend so the whole of the square was being set up for that, hampering the views somewhat. We went in to the Provincial Palace which housed the West Flanders provincial government for over a hundred years until 2000. It currently has a cycling exhibition which we had a wander round, G had a go on a penny farthing. We were lucky enough to find another Belfry to climb – this one only had 366 steps up to the top! Unfortunately there was no lift up this time or oxygen at the top. The staircase was both stone/wooden & was challenging due to how narrow the spiral was. It was also two way traffic! We then went to the Basilica of The Holy Blood which dates back to 1134. The lower chapel remains virtually unchanged. The upper chapel has a phial said to contain a cloth with blood of Jesus, brought to the city after the 12th century. You could view the phial but no photo’s. Now it was time for a pitstop, waffles & chocolate buying. With everything ticked off our list, that was our whistle stop day in Brugge.
