Today was an easy day for me. We had a choice to bike either 30 miles or 10 miles. Guess which one I chose. Jeff and most of the people left after breakfast, which was at 8 am. When we finally met them Jeff did say that it was not as interesting, scenery wise, as the other days had been. I stayed on the barge with Meg, Lynn, Kathy and the older German couple, whose names I’m not sure how to spell. We sailed from Baasrode to the outskirts of Gent. It took us about 4 hours. We went through small towns and countryside. Then we finally went through this big triple lock and docked. We had our lunch on board, had to make it in the morning since they didn’t serve lunch, which was fine. I’m sure the staff needs a break since they seem to work non stop.
After docking captain Karl took the rest of us to the city of Gent. It was about 5 miles or 30 minute bike ride mostly along the river. We arrived about 45 minutes before the rest of the group so us girls went to see The Sint Baafs Cathedral . I didn't go and see the triptych but the others did. They also had one Ruben's painting and old wall paintings in the Crypt. There was also a concert which just started around the same time. Afterwards we sat at an outdoor cafe and had wine/beer and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
 |
| St Baaf's Cathedral, Gent |
 |
| St Baaf's Cathedral, Gent |
 |
| St Baaf's Cathedral, Gent, Ruben's painting |
 |
| St Baaf's Cathedral, Gent, the Crypt |
 |
| St Baaf's Cathedral, Gent, the Crypt |
It didn't’ take long and once everybody had used the facilities, Tom then took us on a short tour of the old part of Gent. He finished the tour near the Gravensteen castle (or Castle of the Count) and then we were on our own. Jeff, Lynn, Kathy, Meg and I walked around then Meg and Kathy wanted to have some soup, so we continued on. We ended up back at the cathedral. Gent is a very nice town with lots and lots of history. We decided to go back to the same cafe and wait for the others to arrive. It was also getting very windy and cold, but luckily no rain. When everyone was back around 6pm Tom and Captain Karl led us back to the barge. It was an easy ride back except it was a bit tricky to find our way in the city if we were alone.
 |
| Gent, Belfry |
 |
| St. Nicholas' Church, Gent |
 |
| One of the Guild Houses, Gent |
 |
| Gent |
 |
| Detail on a Guild House building, Gent |
 |
| Gent |
 |
| The old meat-market, Gent |
 |
| Noses candy vendor, Gent |
 |
| Castle of the Count, Gent |
 |
| Cute little restaurant balcony |
 |
| Gent |
 |
| A very narrow house |
 |
| A bicycle counter on the way back to the barge |
We had dinner soon after. Tonight Ramon had prepared us mushroom soup, wiener schnitzel, potatoes and veggies and for dessert we had ice-cream. Afterwards we had a short meeting again where we were told about tomorrow’s ride. Since Gent was far and there was nothing much to see around the barge area, Tom decided to have a Belgian beer tasting. There were couple of pretty nice ones, but I think I didn’t really care for some of them. They were just too hoppy, Now it’s time for bed. Some people stayed and are playing cards upstairs and I can hear everything they say. The walls are pretty thin.
 |
| Tom hosting a Belgian beer tasting evening |
No comments:
Post a Comment