Belgian holiday
My cozy room on the Boatel
I’m on a train back riding through misty fields back to France after two days in Ghent, 1 day in Antwerp, and many, many photos. This entry may be a two-parter.
I chose Belgium because I’d never been and I wanted to replicate the experience I had in Japan of going somewhere where I don’t speak the language and don’t know anyone. It’s been great.
I loved seeing all the medieval history, particularly Gravensteen Castle, and the “Lamb of God” exhibition in the Cathedral.
I didn’t take any pictures of the Lamb of God, a photo couldn’t capture it. They had a surprisingly engaging VR tour that walks you through the history. The cathedral itself is full of artwork and sculptures.
Like Japan, I felt very safe traveling alone. Ghent is small enough that you can easily explore on foot. My friends in the UK had just been here, so they shared some recommendations but honestly Ghent especially is very easy to discover on your own.
I spent most of the trip walking around what felt like the same block of city monuments and churches at all different times of the day, each time just as spectacular.
Belgium is a biking culture, like the neighboring Netherlands. There were very few cars, but the bikes, scooters and mopeds went every which way. It was sometimes a bit nerve-wracking, although the riders were all very adept at circumventing pedestrians.
I also met some very nice people along the way. A woman I sat next to at lunch turned out to be a Russian emigre who arrived in Belgium in the 90s. We had lots to discuss and kept talking long after our lunch was finished.
Later that evening I was sat next to another solo traveler, this time it was a woman living in a different part of the south coast of England, further west of where I’d been. She told me about a listening bar she wanted to check out so we went together after finishing dinner. The bar was quite small and very well set up acoustically.
We walked in just as a listening party was beginning for a local artist’s album release. I ended up buying the record!