A day in Ghent – Yet Another Year of Insanity

It’s been a scorcher of a day, especially as we were often walking in the hot sun here in Ghent, about an hour away from Brussels. No wind to speak of! We happened to visit during the ten-day Ghent Festivities, when the city center transformed into one giant festival. There was music in 18 different venues, ranging from classical to big band to rock, and most of it with free admission.

I took a short video of ladies making lace with band music in the background.

There was even a young girl singing John Rutter’s Pie Jesu, and later playing violin on Pachelbel’s Canon in D with another boy.

We visited St. Michael’s, a church notable for its lack of a steeple, and when we passed a blue piano in the corridor, I just had to take a picture of it!

The church contains numerous paintings and sculptures by famous masters, including ‘Christ on the Cross’ by Anthony Van Dyck.

We next visited the Great Butcher’s Hall, where you could see meat being aged and drying from the rafters. We sampled locally made sausages, cheeses and a spicy mustard. Some people on the tour tried their specialty apple gin and apple beer.

Meat hanging from the rafters. The ceiling is original from medieval times.

We made a stop at St. Bavo Cathedral, but the church was full of people listening to a rock concert. I ran in, took a photo of the organ, then went outside to wait for the others in my group.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on a boat ride through the picturesque canals, but boy! was it hot! Some people held giant umbrellas but then they weren’t able to take pictures. As for me, I decided I would take pictures and just sweat it out.