Nice Towns of Flanders, Part 1

Antwerpen, Gent, Brugge, Oostende
12-14 October 2007

After our summer break in Paris last August, we planned another weekend break to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We chose to drive to Brugge in West Flanders province in Belgium. With a reasonable distance from Eindhoven, we also planned to stop at Antwerpen and Gent, two big cities in the Flanders region that lay on the route to Brugge.

Antwerpen

On Friday, our anniversary day, we started our trip after breakfast from Eindhoven. We drove heading southwest on the highway to Antwerpen. It was pretty quiet on the road and after about one hour we already reached Antwerpen. We were guided by our TomTom navigation system and, using it for the first time, we had no idea that it could give direction to a parking garage in the city.
After being guided until very near to the center of the city, finally we found a parking garage near Groenplaats.

From the parking place we walked to the old city of Antwerpen, passed the big cathedral to Grote Markt, the main city square. We visited the tourist information center to take a city map. After that we decided to have lunch, in where we also could study the map.
We chose a quick lunch at a simple wok. I had a baguette with fried fish, quite tasty and fresh.

After lunch we walked to the bank of Schelde river. From the promenade we could enjoy the view of the river, but unfortunately it was cloudy so the view was a bit somber.
Walk a bit along the river, we visited het Steen, which means 'the Stone', a castle built around year 1200. The building currently is used as Maritime Museum and displayed some old ships next to it.

het Steen, Antwerpen

From the riverside we walked back to the old town area. We passed the Vleeshuis (Butcher's Hall), a unique building with alternating white stones and red bricks (locally known as bacon layers) for the wall construction.

Vleeshuis, Antwerpen

Walking a bit further, we arrived again at the Grote Markt. The main square was a nice spot of the city, with the City Hall building at one side, a fountain in the middle of the square with the statue of the Antwerpen's mythical hero Brabo, the beautiful Guildhouses, and some cafes at the opposite side of the City Hall.

Guildhouses at Grote Markt, Antwerpen

From the Grote Markt we continued our short city tour to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of our Lady). From outside, the cathedral offered nice view of its high tower. The inside part was worth visiting for 2 Euro entrance fee.
The highlights of the art collections in this cathedral were Baroque style paintings of Peter Paul Rubens. At both wings we could find The Raising of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross, the large triptych (three panels) paintings illustrating the crossing of Christ. Above the high altar we saw The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, a suitable piece for the cathedral. At one of the side room of the cathedral, there was another painting by Rubens, The Resurrection of Christ.

The Cathedral viewed from Grote Markt, Antwerpen

After the cathedral, we decided that we had enough of touristic spots and switched our attention to the shopping district of Antwerpen. We walked along Meir, the main shopping street of the city until we almost reached the train station. On our way back we stopped a while to enjoy the Belgium waffle, then we back to the car and drove out from Antwerpen to the next city, Gent.

Gent

Gent was not very far from Antwerpen and we reached the city around 4 in the afternoon. Once we entered the city, again we could not manage to quickly find a parking place. This time was worse than in Antwerpen, we drove away from the city center. In the end we followed a parking sign and found a parking garage at Sint-Pietersplein. It was pretty far from the center, about 10 to 15 minutes walking.

While we were walking downhill (yes, it was a bit hilly) from Sint-Pietersplein to the city center, we noticed many students of Gent University that was located nearby. Those students made the atmosphere more dynamic and lively, shaping our first impression of the city.

Closer to the center, we could see old buildings that define the city's landmarks. Feeling a bit clueless, we tried to find the tourist information center, from where we got a city map with walking route to visit the famous spots of the city.

St. Bavo Cathedral, Gent

Only having the evening to spend, we duly follow the walking route from the map and we managed to visit, or at least pass, all the buildings indicated on the map.
We started from Sint-Baafs (St. Bavo) Cathedral near the tourist information center. The cathedral hosted the Mystic Lamb, a panel painting by Van Eyck brothers. Unfortunately we were late and the entrance to the chapel hosting the painting was already closed.
Opposite the cathedral there was the Cloth Hall and the impressive Belfry tower, and on the right hand side of the cathedral we saw the city theatre building.

Belfry tower, Gent

From the cathedral we walked through small streets, passed the music academy, from where we could hear a nice piano sound, then went further around the corner to the City Hall building and a hotel building opposite to it that was stated as the oldest hotel in Western Europe!

City Hall, Gent

A bit further we visited the Friday Market, a big square surrounded with old buildings and on the center of it we saw statue of Jacob van Artevelde, Gent's politician from the 14th century, pointing his hand toward England.

Friday Market, Gent

Leaving the Friday Market, we crossed the Leie river and arrived at the corner of Patershol area, the old part of the city that nowadays hosted the famous restaurants of Gent.

Old buildings near Patershol, Gent

Along the river, we walked down Kraanlei heading away from the Patershol. Near the next bridge we saw the Butcher's Hall across the river.

Cafes along Leie river, Gent

Walked further we saw the huge Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts), a fortress built in 1180. Opposite to it there was Fishmarket building, which was closed and would be renovated.

Gravensteen, Gent

Crossing the Lieve river and walked through Jan Breydelstraat, we stopped at Appelbrugparkje, a tiny park that provided a nice view of the Butcher's Hall.

View from Appelbrugparkje, Gent

But the best part of the city was the old buildings from the 11th century along the Graslei and Korenlei, at the both sides of the Leie river. The area was the ancient trading harbour of Gent and the beautiful buildings there reflected the wealth and success of the trading era.

Graslei from two sides

At the end of Korenlei we walked up to the St. Michael's bridge, from where we could get great view of the area.
Crossing the river and walking back to the direction of city center, we had a nice view of St. Nicolas church with its tower, with the Belfry and St. Bavo towers at the background.

St. Nicolas church, Gent

Near the Belfry we stopped by at the Grote Triomphante, a big bell that used to be part of the carillon hung on the Belfry. Closer to the Belfry we saw a fountain statue that named The Fountain of the Kneelers, image of five persons staring at the water.

Fountain of the Kneelers, Gent

Arrived back at the St. Bavo square, we finished our Gent walking tour. It was around dinner time, so our next activity was to find a place for dinner.
We walked to Patershol area with a hope that we could find decent restaurant there. Without any reference, we walked around and browsed the menu card in front of some restaurants. We were not satisfied with any of them, so we moved to the area nearby the Korenlei. We found several good candidates but they were full. Then we moved again crossing the river to the square near the St. Nicolas church. The restaurants there were also full, and finally we found a place that was not packed, in Pizza Hut! Well, at least we had no problem with the familiar menu card.

Graslei at night

After the economic dinner, we walked back to the car, climbed the hill to Sint-Pietersplein. The driving to Brugge was uneventful and we arrived at the hotel safely.