GHENT
We'd been told that if we loved Brugges we should really go to Ghent. Every time we travel to Europe we try to include one destination we've never been to before. Since our initial plans included flying into Brussels on our way to Dordrecht, Ghent became the next pin in our travel map.
For this leg of the journey we'd booked a Marriott hotel located right in the heart of Ghent's historic district. The car we had booked from the States for this leg of our journey was an economy car with a capacity we knew wasn't going to fit half our luggage even if we decided to tie Emmy to the top of the car Clampett style. (for all of you too young to know that reference look up "The Beverly Hillbillies" in your Google search). I'd tried the day before we were to arrive in Brussels to arrange for a bigger car over the Internet but I didn't have any success. I decided not to let Rick or Emmy know for fear of mutiny knowing the luggage was probably more important than I was. Instead, I decided that once we arrived I'd see what kind of charm an over-the-hill slightly pudgy codger could muster with the AVIS attendant. I still had a bit of charm success but only with women over the age of menopause or senility. When I got to the check-in counter the attendant at the AVIS office in Brussels turned out to be a handsome young man. I thought that sealed my fate and not in a good way when I began my saga about too much luggage and a heartsick daughter. I wasn't getting anywhere but then maybe because we were the only ones there and it was the day before New Year's Eve he started to soften. Ultimately he upgraded us to a Mercedes hatchback with a huge trunk and a big "Happy New Year" all at no additional charge
The bad part about this upgrade was with the greater trunk space and not having to make anyone sit on top of the car we were now faced with a car about two-times the width of the average European car and about three-quarters the size of a narrow Ghent street. With this somewhat pretentious over-sized vehicle trying to squeeze through the narrow streets of the historic part of Ghent where our hotel was located became a white-knuckle event. To add misery on top of a lack of any kind of driver of the month awards we became so lost even our GPS finally refused to help us. January in this part of Europe is notorious for being rainy and unfortunately Rick lost the coin flip of who was going have to set out by foot to see if he could locate the hotel while Emmy and I pulled off onto a side street and waited for his return.
He never did come back but fortunately for us he had left his phone in the car. Sopping wet he found the hotel but had no idea of how to get back to us. He had the wonderful Natalia at the Marriott's front desk get on the phone and transform herself into our GPS vocal pathfinder. Turns out we were basically around the corner from the hotel.
Only having two days in Ghent I decided a few drops of rain wasn't about to spoil my getting out and photographing while Emmy recouped from her lovelorn heart and Rick found a way to knock off the chill and dry out his clothes.
The Christmas market in Ghent goes all the way through to January 6th.
Ferris Wheels
and children's rides dominate the pedestrian streets.
Christmas lights hung with holiday cheer over almost every street and passageway.
Alleys of vendors selling everything from wool and cashmere scarves
to amazing rolled pate logs and artesian breads were elbow-to-elbow on a path that snaked through the entire central city.
There's even a skating rink lit in blue to make the experience even icier.
At night the blue of Ghent gets carried even further with the Gravensteen Castle, an eerie place you can tour to see medieval life all dolled up in suits of armor.
Nights in historic Ghent are magical.
The city is lit in an artist's array of colors against a deep black sky
then reflected back in the canals that run through the city creating a double pleasure, a repeated rippling mirror image of the city's best architecture.
And the architectural wonders didn't only happen on a monumental scale. There was plenty to look at on structures small as well as grand.
The wonderful architectural details carved and molded into the facades of so many of Ghent's buildings made walking down a cobbled street a history lesson in styles and ornamentation.
Once the rain cleared out on our only full day in Ghent, Rick and I took off to do a little sightseeing on our own.
Ghent takes pleasure in allowing its art to flow freely through the streets without too much censoring of what goes up. We were amused by this huge roll of toilet paper tucked in a fenced in back lot along with piles of trash and garbage containers.
Building facades that bore no architectural significance were elevated to a level of importance with graffiti rich in innuendo and craftsmanship
The musical arts were also at hand as this dedicated violinist played classical solos her hands numb from the cold.
And then we shopped, from the bizarre at a little shop called The Fallen Angels specializing in anything to do with heaven-based ephemera
to this ultra-contemporary clothing/home boutique/restaurant in one of Ghent's oldest buildings.
We discovered quaint little streets dotted with antique stores and tons of fine Belgian linen.
Of course, the most truly Belgian finds were the ubiquitous Chocolate shops that popped up at almost every corner.
There weren't too many white elephant sales going on quite yet but I would have loved to put this white elephant in a crate and shipped him home with us.
I felt this image might be the best way to close out the Christmas segment of our journey as we head off to Paris, our final destination.
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