Ghent/Gent
On Sunday, February 12, I forced myself out of bed at 7 a.m. The orientation program was smart to require that tickets be purchased in advance. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have made it out of bed. As it was, I almost decided to let the 20 EURO go to waste, but my "penny saved, penny earned" background got the best of me (thanks mom).
I bundled up as well as I could, but the morning was frigid as I hurried across Leuven to the orientation group's meeting point. I was disappointed to see that not one of my new friends was going on the trip.
I slept for most of the hour-long journey, waking only to catch glimpses of the small farms dotting the rolling green countryside.
Hard as it was for my body to believe, Ghent was even colder than Leuven. The orientation program had paid for guides to take groups of students through the city. My group's guide was an opinionated older woman with greying auburn hair. She began our tour by leading us to the Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) in the center of the city. There, she proceeded to offend the French speaking Belgian students among us by saying that the country should be part of the Netherlands. This is a very heated topic in Belgium and one best discussed with great sensitivity if discussed at all. Our guide lacked said sensitivity and made offensive comments about a number of groups throughout the tour. Let's just say, I was glad not to be French-Belgian, German, Scandinavian or Polish.
Our feisty tour guide aside, the castle itself was beautiful. The oldest parts of the castle were built around 868 by Count Baldwin I, but it was expanded to its present form by the Count of Flanders in the late 1100's. Unfortunately, much of the castle was being renovated, but it was still fun to walk through the castle and up the steps, polished by nine centuries worth of steps, to the ramparts on the roof. It was as cold in the castle as it was outside, even if there was less wind. I can understand why life expectancy rates were so low in the middle ages.
The castle also holds numerous pieces of medieval armor and weaponry. For a time, the castle was used as a dungeon. Many of the tools used to that end are know housed in a museum of torture on the second floor of the castle. They don't know how some the torture implements were used, but the various hooks and spikes conjure up all sorts of horrendous possibilities.
The best part of the tour was the view from the roof of the castle. Though it was freezing up there, the view was worth the numb fingers and burning ears. The castle was built next to the river so that the city could be defended against raiding Vikings. Even on a cloudy day, this makes for picturesque views.
After leaving the castle, we broke off into smaller groups. I ended up with a guy from Hong Kong and two Belgian students. I tried vol au vent, a Belgian dish consisting of meat (here chicken) in a cream sauce poured over a puff pastry, for the first time. It was actually quite good and I'm looking forward to trying it again. After lunch we crossed a large cobblestone square (ubiquitous in Belgian cities) to a bar that served over 500 Belgian beers. Still trying to warm up, I opted for a coffee.
Having finished our drinks, we headed back to the center to find our tour guide. It had begun to snow, and a Portuguese girl in our group was delighted. It was her first time in the snow ... ever. Seeing her unrestrained, childlike joy in the snow mitigated my displeasure at the cold a little bit, but we spent the next hour walking around the city taking in guildhouses, churches and canals. The city really is very pretty, but the weather wasn't right for sightseeing. Under the cover of a bridge that looked like it had been in place almost as long as the castle, I snapped this picture of a church across the canal.
After visiting the St. Bavo Cathedral, a massive gothic cathedral in the center of the city, I was invited to go to drinks with several French-Belgian students. I tagged along, but the conversation was less than stimulating. A few of them made an effort to speak to me in English, but they would always revert to French and I would be forced to sit there blankly. I did find another beer I can tolerate though, so that's good.
Overall, the trip wasn't very good. I don't think it was Ghent so much as it was the cold. It made enjoying the visit very difficult. With school starting the next day, I was ready to put sightseeing on hold for a while. Perhaps I'll make it back to Ghent when it gets a bit warmer.
I bundled up as well as I could, but the morning was frigid as I hurried across Leuven to the orientation group's meeting point. I was disappointed to see that not one of my new friends was going on the trip.
I slept for most of the hour-long journey, waking only to catch glimpses of the small farms dotting the rolling green countryside.
Hard as it was for my body to believe, Ghent was even colder than Leuven. The orientation program had paid for guides to take groups of students through the city. My group's guide was an opinionated older woman with greying auburn hair. She began our tour by leading us to the Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) in the center of the city. There, she proceeded to offend the French speaking Belgian students among us by saying that the country should be part of the Netherlands. This is a very heated topic in Belgium and one best discussed with great sensitivity if discussed at all. Our guide lacked said sensitivity and made offensive comments about a number of groups throughout the tour. Let's just say, I was glad not to be French-Belgian, German, Scandinavian or Polish.
Our feisty tour guide aside, the castle itself was beautiful. The oldest parts of the castle were built around 868 by Count Baldwin I, but it was expanded to its present form by the Count of Flanders in the late 1100's. Unfortunately, much of the castle was being renovated, but it was still fun to walk through the castle and up the steps, polished by nine centuries worth of steps, to the ramparts on the roof. It was as cold in the castle as it was outside, even if there was less wind. I can understand why life expectancy rates were so low in the middle ages.The castle also holds numerous pieces of medieval armor and weaponry. For a time, the castle was used as a dungeon. Many of the tools used to that end are know housed in a museum of torture on the second floor of the castle. They don't know how some the torture implements were used, but the various hooks and spikes conjure up all sorts of horrendous possibilities.
The best part of the tour was the view from the roof of the castle. Though it was freezing up there, the view was worth the numb fingers and burning ears. The castle was built next to the river so that the city could be defended against raiding Vikings. Even on a cloudy day, this makes for picturesque views.After leaving the castle, we broke off into smaller groups. I ended up with a guy from Hong Kong and two Belgian students. I tried vol au vent, a Belgian dish consisting of meat (here chicken) in a cream sauce poured over a puff pastry, for the first time. It was actually quite good and I'm looking forward to trying it again. After lunch we crossed a large cobblestone square (ubiquitous in Belgian cities) to a bar that served over 500 Belgian beers. Still trying to warm up, I opted for a coffee.
Having finished our drinks, we headed back to the center to find our tour guide. It had begun to snow, and a Portuguese girl in our group was delighted. It was her first time in the snow ... ever. Seeing her unrestrained, childlike joy in the snow mitigated my displeasure at the cold a little bit, but we spent the next hour walking around the city taking in guildhouses, churches and canals. The city really is very pretty, but the weather wasn't right for sightseeing. Under the cover of a bridge that looked like it had been in place almost as long as the castle, I snapped this picture of a church across the canal.
After visiting the St. Bavo Cathedral, a massive gothic cathedral in the center of the city, I was invited to go to drinks with several French-Belgian students. I tagged along, but the conversation was less than stimulating. A few of them made an effort to speak to me in English, but they would always revert to French and I would be forced to sit there blankly. I did find another beer I can tolerate though, so that's good.
Overall, the trip wasn't very good. I don't think it was Ghent so much as it was the cold. It made enjoying the visit very difficult. With school starting the next day, I was ready to put sightseeing on hold for a while. Perhaps I'll make it back to Ghent when it gets a bit warmer.
posted by Matt @ 11:05 AM
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