If you’ve been to Flanders—Belgium’s northern reaches—chances are
you’ve explored Brussels, from its gourmet restaurants and chocolate
shops to its Manneken Pis, or Petit Julien, one of the world’s most
beloved statues. Possibly, you’ve toured Bruges, where mists rise
moodily over canals plied by flat bottomed barges and lined with
medieval stone houses. You might even have ventured to Antwerp, capital
of the world diamond trade, a major European art venue, and site of a
charming in-city zoo right next to an ornate central train station.
But Ghent?
East Flanders’ capital and largest city lies about midway between
Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp, but foreign visitors often bypass the
city. Ghent is Belgium’s fourth-largest city, and has a vibrant
restaurant scene, scores of chocolatiers, and even its own Manneken
Pis. Like Bruges, it has canals, and its two in-city rivers, the Lieve
and the Leie, have been “canalized,” dug out and straightened to give
the appearance of canals. Like Antwerp, Ghent also has a lively art
scene. In fact, the city is home to the 15th-century
“Adoration of the Mystic Lamb,” a.k.a the Ghent Altarpiece, a 24-panel
religious work by Jan and Hubert van Eyck. Having a major van Eyck in
its portfolio would be enough to cement Ghent’s reputation as a European
art center. But this is no ordinary masterpiece. Critics consider it
the first major work of the Renaissance, the seminal work from which
all other great Renaissance paintings flowed. Indeed, if the
altarpiece were moved to Paris, declared American art historian Noah
Charney, “it would easily knock the Mona Lisa off its throne.”
Ghent—or Gent in Flemish, Gand in French—is certainly an amalgam of
Flanders’ best. But what’s really best about Ghent is its
individualistic, even quirky nature. “Ghenttitude” initially
reveals itself in the tourist brochures. One states that everyone is
welcome as long as they don’t behave like drunken tourists. Another
says if you don’t like the way things are done in Ghent, go home. And
yet another opines: “In Antwerp, you can win a debate with the loudest
voice; in Ghent, we just ignore you.” That “in-your-face” style
typifies Ghentian tourism promotion—take it or leave it.
Gentenaars, as the locals are called, have had centuries to perfect
their independent streak. From 1,000 to 1,500 A.D., when Ghent was
second in size only to Paris and controlled Europe’s lucrative textile
trade as well as the major river routes to the North Sea, they refused
to be conquered. When they finally were conquered in the 16th
century, they refused to follow their new ruler’s edicts. So in 1540,
Emperor Charles V forced them to parade through the streets wearing
nooses around their necks. What was initially contrived as a mark of
humiliation has, in true Ghentian fashion, been turned into a badge of
pride. On major occasions like the 10-day Ghent Festival, which draws
upwards of 1.5 million visitors each July, locals parade through the
streets wearing miniature nooses around their necks.
Irreverent ancestors certainly contributed to the locals’
independent, individualistic character, but so have today’s youthful
residents. Like most Flemish cities Ghent is small, yet it has a
student population of 65,000 who attend the University of Ghent and
other academic institutions and conservatories. A populace fueled by
youthful energy and innovation give Ghent the feel of a Cambridge,
Massachusetts, or a Berkeley, California. It has also resulted in what
rock-star Prince has called “the funkiest place in the world.”
How funky? Well, consider food, for starters. Ghent is the home of
“the Flemish Foodies,” three of Europe’s most innovative young chefs,
including Michelin-starred Kobe Desramaults of De Vitrine, Olly
Ceulenaere of Volta and Jason Blankaert of the recently opened J.e.f.
Despite the high flown culinary pedigree, Ghent also bills itself as
the “Veggie Capital of Europe,” boasting the continent’s highest number
of vegetarian restaurants. To prove it, there’s an official map listing
scores of establishments. Not into vegetarian? Try Raj Bathhouse,
where you can nibble on Indian treats after taking a sauna, or “a sewing
café” called BoHo where you put several stitches in your latest
garment, then relax with a simple meal and a few drinks. Even the most
time honored Belgian culinary traditions have been “Ghentrified.”
Take fries, or chips, as they’re called in this part of the world.
Throughout the country, they’re eaten with mayo. But the Ghent topping
of choice is stoverijsause mee mayonaise—a beer-infused brown meat sauce mixed with mayonnaise.
What about art and culture? Aside from the Ghent Altarpiece, which
could cover an entire wall, there are some 30 graffiti walls in the
center city, also listed on maps extolling the city’s two greatest
graffiti artists, Bue the Warrior (who specializes in color pieces) and
Roa (who works in black and white). There are quite a few
well-respected museums, including S.M.A.K. (the Municipal Museum of
Contemporary Art); MSK (the Museum of Fine Arts) featuring Flemish
masters like Bosch, Rubens, Magritte and van Dyck; and STAM, the new
city museum. Yet, housed in Belgium’s oldest psychiatric hospital is
one of the city’s most beloved institutions, the Dr. Guislain Museum,
whose offbeat collection includes an early brain cutting machine and
disembodied testicles under glass.
Travelers clever enough to put Ghent on their itineraries usually
arrive by train, thirty minutes northwest from Brussels, forty-five
southeast from Antwerp, and an easy trip from Amsterdam, London or
Paris. Trains stop in Gent-Sint-Pieters Station, a gray-stone bulwark
with enough turrets to make you wish you’d ridden into town on your
destrier, or at least packed your lance and longbow. Upon arrival, pick
up a bus and tram map at the station. From its east side, trams, buses
(and taxis) take visitors on a 15-minute ride to the Old City, about a
mile north. Or, rent a bicycle in Sint-Pieters Station from Max Mobiel,
open daily, except Sunday; closed December and January. You have,
after all, just arrived in what city promoters call “the most
bike-friendly city in Europe.”
If you’ve come just for the day, start your explorations in the old
city. But if you were wise enough to book several nights in Ghent,
check into your hotel first. Like any city worth its salt, Ghent has a
handful of multinational hotels, including a Marriott and a Novotel, as
well as charming canal-side houses with stepped-gable roofs.
To really immerse yourself in Ghent’s trademark quirkiness, stay in
one of the city’s bed-and-breakfast inns. Bed & Breakfast Gent puts
out a map describing more than 75 B&Bs. Or contact the Ghent
Tourist Information Office and ask for specific recommendations, not
just about the establishments but also about your prospective hosts.
Into music? Ghent, a UNESCO City of Music like Glasgow and Seville,
has an opera house, various classical venues, and a thriving club scene
for jazz and virtually any kind of contemporary music. You might even
be lucky enough to be in town for one of the city’s music festivals—Gent
Jazz (one of Europe’s top 16 jazz festivals, held in July), the free
Jazz in ‘T Park concerts (including midnight screenings of jazz
documentaries in the Koning Albertpark), or the classical Festival Van
Vlaanderen, to name just a few. Why not ask for a host who is into
music, too?
Want to try the best—or most offbeat—restaurants? Some innkeepers
can point you in the right direction. Skeptical that anyone from a city
tourist office could provide such specifics? Well, think again. For
all of Ghent’s cosmopolitanism, for all its world-class restaurants,
bars, cultural institutions and dance clubs, the city is one of Europe’s
biggest small villages. As a student lucky enough to attend the
university here put it, “In Ghent everyone knows each other like one big
family.” Not surprisingly, if you’re also lucky enough to be born—or
to give birth—in Ghent, the streetlamps in Sint-Veerleplein, one of the
old city’s main squares, will come on during the day so everyone can
celebrate. Does it get more small town than that?
Once you’re settled, spend your first day strolling the Old City, at
Ghent’s northern edge. Begin in Sint-Veerleplein, an L-shaped square at
the y-shaped confluence of the Rivers Lieve and Leie. The Castle of
the Counts, or the Gravensteen, a gray-stone authentically medieval pile
topped by heraldic flags lowers over the narrow square threatening to
burst its very seams. If there’s time, pop inside to visit the
dungeons, and gawk at knightly arms and medieval instruments of
torture. Built in 1180, the castle is authentically medieval, but
several windows were added for the city’s 1913 World Exhibition.
A few other Ghent landmarks were similarly tweaked. In fact, there are two Masons’ Guild Halls because overzealous reconstructionists somehow overlooked the original 16th-century
hall near Sint-Niklaaskerk and decided to build another along the
Kraanlei, Old Town’s lovely canal-side promenade. Don’t be surprised if
a local jokingly brings up the matter of Ghent’s 20th-century
“medievalization.” Gentenaars are blessed with more than their fair
share of pride, but they also don’t mind a little humor at their own
expense. That, along with their intellectual and creative bent, is
what makes them so likable.
While in Sint-Veerleplein, stop at the new Tourist Information Office
(No. 5), and surf city attractions on the state-of-the-art computerized
light table designed by hip Belgian artist Arne Quinze. Be sure to
pick up maps and brochures, especially the quirky USE-IT Europe “Map of
Ghent: Made by Locals for Young Travelers.” You also can purchase a
Museum Pass (20 Euros), good for three days’ admission to 14 museums and
monuments as well as use of the local De Lijn public buses and trams.
Next door is one of the city’s hottest new eateries, Bord’Eau, a
contemporary style seafood restaurant with big picture windows right on
the river and an outdoor terrace in summer.
Head south over the bridge to the 15th-century
Groentenmarkt, or Great Butcher’s Hall, where cured Ghent hams, or Ganda
hams, hang from big wooden rafters as in days of old. Enjoy simple
Ghent fare here—like waterzooi, the national stew supposedly invented in
Ghent—or coffee or tea with a couple of bagel-like buns called mastellen. While there buy Ghent gourmet specialties like the pyramid-shaped candies called cuberdons, various kinds of genever, or gin, and assorted mustards from Tierenteyn, whose shop is just across the square.
When you’re done, make a left at the Langemunt, a major thoroughfare,
then hang a right into the Vrijdagmarkt. By now, you’ve probably
noticed that old-city Ghent, like Bruges, is a warren of small
pedestrian squares, or pleins, that flow gracefully into one
another. Some squares are named for markets held here in centuries past
and still held today; others for medieval professional guilds once
headquartered there, and still others for various saints, like Baaf, or
Bavo, whom most Catholics on this side of the Atlantic have never heard
of. Nowadays, the Vrijdagmarkt—site of a Friday and Saturday market
for clothing and other goods and a Sunday bird market—is also known for
Friday night blowouts in bars like De Dulle Griet, where you hand over a
shoe as a deposit for using one of Ghent’s trademark tall hourglass
shaped beer mugs in wooden frames.
Just outside Vrijdagmarkt is Sint-Jacobskerk, or St. James Church.
From there, take Belfortstraat to Sint-Baafsplein and
Sint-Baafskathedraal, home of the aforementioned “Adoration of the
Mystic Lamb,” or Ghent Altarpiece. Art lovers won’t want to miss this
elaborate masterpiece. But be forewarned: The cathedral and a separate
chapel housing the altarpiece are open daily, but on Sunday, the
altarpiece chapel is only open 1-4 p.m. Check out several other
buildings on Sint-Baafsplein and nearby Limburgstraat, like The Belfry, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site topped by a gilded dragon. Take the
elevator to the 215-foot-high gallery for panoramic city views, or on
Sunday enjoy a centuries old tradition, carillon music, 11:30 a.m.-12:30
p.m. Just behind the square, is Bij Sint-Jacob’s, or Beverhoutplein, a
pocket square shaded by plane trees. This is the centerpiece of the
Ghent Festival in July. Throughout the year, a popular flea market is
held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Heading north along the crescent shaped curve of Limburgstraat,
you’ll soon reach another major church, Sint-Niklaaskerk, known for its
baroque altarpieces and life sized statues of the Apostles. St.
Nicholas is across from Restaurant C-Jean, where “Flemish Foodie” Jason
Blankaert once reigned and which the city newspaper once hailed as the
city’s best. Peek into St. Nicholas Church, then cross the
Michielshelling Bridge. From the vantage point of
Sint-Michielskerke—known for masterpieces like van Dyck’s “Christ on the
Cross,” the three towers of St. Nicholas, St. Bavo and The Belfry line
up perfectly for a perfect photo opportunity.
At this point, if you only allowed yourself one day in Ghent, you can
be forgiven for hurriedly hopping a tram or bus back to Sint-Pieters
Station for the ride back to Brussels or on to Antwerp. But you’ll probably never forgive yourself. If only you had only carved out three days in Ghent! Imagine the possibilities!
Tomorrow, you might have hopped aboard a flat-bottomed boat for a
dreamy river or canal cruise. Or you could have headed to Citadelpark
to browse S.M.A.K’s contemporary works or MSK’s old masters. That night
you might have strolled just east of the Castle of the Counts to the
Patershol, the medieval enclave that’s become a trendy restaurant
district. Or you could have patronized one of the many international
restaurants stretching from nearby Oudburg Street all the way to
Sleepstraat.
The next day, your third in Ghent, you might have spent the day
visiting the city’s old monasteries, perhaps St. Peters Abbey, now an
art center with a garden and in-city vineyard. Or perhaps Old St.
Elizabeth Beguinage, one of the city’s three original beguinages—medieval
religious communities where women stayed, often for years, while their
husbands were off fighting the Crusades. You could have wandered around
the student quarter, Sint-Pietersplein, just northeast of the train
station–browsing the hip shops and boutiques then sampled the many
restaurants, bars and music clubs by night.
article source : http://www.travelsquire.com
