Our third day in Belgium was a Saturday, in which we got up early and caught a train Northwest towards the coast, where we hopped off at Ghent. It was raining when we arrived there and we had foolishly not brought an umbrella with us. Also, it should be noted that it's about a half hour walk from the station and into the centre of town. During this time we got mildly wet and the rain mercifully ceased in its precipitating.
The houses outside of the old part of town (ie the newer homes and apartments) were quite intriguing, having their own distinct and quirky style, but this changed once we crossed over a canal into the old town, which still has its cobbled streets and ancient buildings. We wandered in and around the central area until about midday, at which point we went to a restaurant on the main square for a bit of lunch. I had a the ribs, which almost destroyed me completely as it was massive for the price. We also sampled some of the local jam filled candies and a kind of milk cake that were being sold in the main square.
All considered, I think Ghent is a lot smaller and quieter than Brussels and a bit cleaner and prettier too. It seems to be that people in Europe take for granted how old and grand their cities are. But still, we had yet to see Brugge so we headed back to the station and hopped on the train again.
It took us around 30 minutes from Ghent to get to Brugge by train. When we arrived it was not raining so we walked in the direction of where we expected the town centre to be (ie following the tourists mostly). We crossed a main road and went straight down a quiet, cobbled street lined with small, single storied houses with no front yards. That is to say that every house on the street had its front door pressed right up against the pavement. And these houses were absolutely quaint and beautiful and crammed side by side.
We turned down a side street towards a cathedral on a whim and I started filming, which place in this post around here somewhere:
From here we bought a tourist map and found our way to the market square where a triathlon was setting up. Again I should point out that every building in this place is stunning and there are so many minor details that need to be seen in person to truly understand. It must just suffice for me to say that it is amazing and for you to believe me in this.
And so we wandered, and so we came to an old school where they still teach how to make lace and also sell it there. This lace you can be sure is made traditionally right there in Brugge, instead of China, but because of this there is a distinct price difference.
After buying some of this lace, we headed back to the canal to take a boat cruise, which was actually rather comfortable and dry and it was truly a lovely day for such activities. I have part of a video of this here:
Tired out from our long day, we had beer and wine at a bar on a small square that was quite packed with bars and people getting a little of the sun that evening. We also stopped in for some frites before we hopped on the train back to Brussels. We were more than a little tired, but we stopped at the Central Station and walked back to the hotel via the waffle stand. Thus ended our 3rd day in Belgium.
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