Zurich, Switzerland - Several weeks ago I regaled you with our trip to the Netherlands. Here, I will share some details from the second half of that trip, in which we visited Belgium.
Ghent
Our first stop in Belgium was Ghent, a major European city in the middle ages and during the early renaissance. It was for a time the second largest European city North of the alps (after Paris), as we were reminded countless times by various informational plaques and various audio guides at historical sites.
Owing to its prosperity, Ghent built some wonderful gothic and Medieval architecture. The city's well preserved Graslei and Korenlei are fine examples. This was the quay and the heart of the Medieval city, home to merchants, guild halls, and storage depots. Today it's a popular tourist destination and home to many cafes with terrace's along the water.
Speaking of cafes, during its Medieval heyday, the city seems to have built gothic cathedrals in much the same way that we build Starbucks cafes today. Starting at St. Michael's, one has only to walk five minutes down the street to arrive at St. Nicholas' cathedral, which is of course only a three minute walk from St. Bavo's, a little ways further down the same street. If you still lack for spiritual guidance (of the Catholic variety, of course), then you need only walk six minutes north to St. Jacob's. Lest you be confused, these are not modest chapels, these are monumental gothic churches.
One of these churches, St. Bavo's, holds one of the finest pieces of western art, the Ghent Altarpiece. Initially, Hannah was not particularly excited to see the Ghent Altarpiece, as it did not appeal to her taste. However, she had a change of heart after watching "Monument's Men," a movie in which a dashing Matt Damon and handsome George Clooney parade across Europe to track down art stolen by the Nazis in the waning days of World War II. In the film, the Altarpiece is perhaps the single most important piece of art that the team rescues. After seeing the great lengths that George and Matt went to rescue the Altarpiece, Hannah was excited to see the masterpiece.
St. Bavo's is a fine Cathedral on its own, but the Altarpiece is the primary draw. The church is fully aware of this and has invested heavily in enhancing your experience with technical wizardry. When you enter the church, you are immediately directed to the basement where you are fitted in an augmented reality headset. For the luddites out there, augmented reality enhances your boring real-world experience by overlaying computer-generated video and sound (wow!). In this case, we were guided around the church basement by a (virtual) medieval deacon or church elder of some kind. As he explained how the cathedral was built, a (virtual) model of the cathedral emerged from the floor, complete with little workers running around. Later, we got an overview of the Altarpiece from (virtual) Jan Van Eyck himself, the artist responsible for the great work.
Later, Ghent treated us to a second unique guided tour. This time the format was more traditional - an audio guide (boring!). However, the guide was tongue-in-cheek and shared with us some colorful details about Ghent's medieval castle, the Gravenstein. For example, the (audio) tour guide pointed out that the toilets, located along the parapets above the moat, were a relatively novel feature at the time. He went on to speculate that the citizenry would have been delighted and awed to see the prince's turds dropping from the castle walls into the moat below.
Miscellaneous other things we enjoyed in Ghent
- Beer. In Switzerland, Austria and Germany, you can typically walk into a restaurant and order simply "ein bier" (a beer) without any further specification. There is often only one variety available, which is a lager. Sometimes you may be able to choose between a dark beer or a bright beer, but that's about as far as the conversation goes, typically. While I enjoy German-style lagers, it was refreshing - literally and figuratively - to have a wide variety of fine beers available to choose from for once. Hannah enjoyed fruit lambics, which - unlike many of the lambics that make their way out of Belgium - didn't taste like cough syrup.
- 't Dreupelkot is a jenever bar along the Leie river run by a aging rotund curmudgeon. When Hannah and I walked in early in the afternoon, said proprietor was lounging on a leather chair that looked to be his contemporary, smoking a cigar. When we entered, he trundled reluctantly over to the bar and served us several of his several hundred homemade jenever flavors.
- Werregarenstraatje or Graffitistraatje. Sanctioned graffiti alley in Ghent. Hannah and I arrived as one artist was finishing his work.
- 1898 The Post. Hannah and I have a different perspective on hotels. I want a conveniently located, clean place with a comfortable bed. Hannah wants to invest our life savings in a chic "experience" that "sets the tone" for our visit. Well, The Post met Hannah's high expectations. The Post is located in the city's old gothic style post office along the banks of the Leie and retains many of the original features, like wrought iron balustrades along the stair cases. The rooms were outfitted with antique (or antique-looking) furniture, had high ceilings, and dark green walls to add "elegance" and "warmth" (according to the hotel's website) plus "drama" (according to Hannah, who was delighted).
- Stadshal. The stadshal is a large freestanding canopy in a central square. Inside there is a public piano which anyone is free to use. At night, crowds would gather round while musicians took turns playing tunes.
Bruges
Bruges - like Amsterdam - is one of several cities that claim to be the "Venice of the North." Bruges had a golden age between the 12th and 15th centuries when it profited as a major trading hub for cloth. Much of its well-preserved medieval architecture dates from this period.
Hannah died. This was among the quaintest places we have visited. It checked a lot of Hannah's boxes:
- Great food (obviously). We had a wonderful meal at Cuvee Wine Bar.
- Charming "over-the-top but authentic" architecture. Hannah likes old-timey architecture that is in its element and true to the place. Bruges is famous in Europe for having one of the best-preserved Medieval towns in all of Europe. It's city center is a UNESCO world heritage site.
- Nooks and crannies. Hannah loves cities with unassuming but wonderful discoverable places that you can wander into. Bruges has plenty of these: adorable meandering alleys, small plazas, tucked-away courtyards, etc.
- Antique shops. Hannah loves a good antique shop, and god knows antique shop owners love Hannah. We ended up coming home with two 18th century candle holders.
The most famous artwork in Bruges is Michelangelo's Madonna and Child. We visited and I would say the experience was "meh." While the artwork was lovely, it was kept at a distance: visitors were only allowed no closer than 10 feet or so, which made it hard to appreciate the finer details.
Brussels
Brussels was the surprise win for this trip. We went to Brussels merely because it was the largest airport in the region and so it was the easiest way to return to Zurich. We were not expecting much - we thought the city would be a mostly utilitarian place with little character or appeal.
Instead, we found ourselves wishing we had more time in Brussels. The architecture is impressive, there are plenty of charming antique shops (a Hannah favorite, see above) and galleries, the random deli we stopped in for lunch was good (according to Hannah, the food and wine "rocked"), and the city has a walking route featuring over 60 building walls painted with comic book scenes. As it turns out, the city is something of a mecca for comics and these walls pay tribute to the Franco-Belgian style that flourished in the city.
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