Tomorrow night we catch the ferry from Calais back to the UK. So with a little time up our sleeves we thought that a day in Ghent would be worthwhile ... and yes it was!
We left early, by our standards, for Ghent, stopping off at a service station to end the saga of the Dresden gas crisis! We had left the refilling of the cylinder until we were out of Germany - it was thought that the German LPG gas system might have been different from the rest of Europe. The refilling went ahead without a hitch - no leakage at the end of the filling! Phew!!!!! But out of the saga no accolades for Gas-It, the supplier of the cylinder - after two emails inquiring what might have happened - NO REPLY! And, Belgium gas is only €0.56 a litre!
Our first impression of Ghent was that is very forgiving - after driving into vehicle restricted zones and slowing traffic through some careful decision making as to where to park! Parked centrally with good access to the old town.
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| Ghent |
Ghent is often thought of as the poor relation to Brugge. Where Brugge missed much of the industrialisation of the 19th century Brugge didn't getting the dark coatings on all its medieval buildings. This has started to be rectified and Ghent's old buildings are coming back to life as there were five hundred years ago.
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| Some of the famous Guild-Houses on the Graslei in Ghent |
Ghent was once one of the most important cities of Europe. It was larger than London with only Paris being larger. Given that it received very little harm during the wars a wonderful legacy has been left to the world.
We visited most of the historic sites during the day but the highlight perhaps was the guild-houses on the Graslei - this is where the merchant ships would dock and unload their merchandise. The Cooremetershuys (guild house of the grain weighers), the guild house on the free sailors and the Het Spijker ( a granary) are all impressive reminders of the city's economic growth.
There is something inspiring wandering the streets of a town with such history. Ghent is a town worth visiting.
Moved onto Veurne by the canal for our overnight - along with about 20 other motorhome - but not gypsies!
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| Ghent Town Hall |
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