Mai Tai Tom Stays On Track Through Belgium, Paris and Strasbourg

Chapter Five: Ghent Me To The Altar (Piece) On Time

Day Five: City Of Bikes, Bravo Bavo, Take It On The Lamb, Hard Act To Follow, A Visit with St. Nick, Gravensteen Apple Of My Eye, Michael’s Bridge, Dinner On The Canal and Not Again You Two

The previous evening we had a decision to make … stay in Bruges and enjoy a relaxing day meandering through town, or take an early train to nearby Ghent? When all was said and done, the group chose Ghent, as we all wanted to see the “most stolen piece of artwork in history.”

On this morning, it was a chilly 15-minute or so walk to the train station, which at least made us walk faster. After the train rumbled into Gent-Sint-Pieters station in Ghent, we exited the wrong way. That misdirection afforded us the chance to see hundreds (if not thousands) of bicycles locked onto every pole and post … virtually everywhere including in what seemed to be a bike parking lot. Were they abandoned? I don’t think so. I had read that Ghent, a true university town, has something like 80,000 total students, so I surmised that most of these belonged to students who had left for the weekend. If so, I was happy we were here on a Saturday.

                             

At least these bikes were kept out of the elements.

We quickly learned why we had been advised to check out this station. The terminal, constructed in 1913 for the World’s Fair, is embellished with murals and ceiling paintings that depict 13 of Belgium’s cities.

I believe these three are Bruges, Ghent and Ostend. Or not?

Hopping in a taxi, we were dropped off in the middle of three of Ghent’s most famous buildings …  the Belfry tower, a World Heritage site dating from the early 14th century. It is sandwiched in between St. Nicholas’ Church and Sint-Baafskathedraal (St. Bavo’s Cathedral), where we would go first.

And located in between the Belfry and St. Bavo’s on the appropriately named St. Bavo’s Square, is the stunning façade of the Royal Dutch Theater, which was built in the latter half of the 19th century. I learned that “the painted tympanum on the facade by Constant Montald, features an allegorical scene with Apollo on his chariot and his 12 Muses.”

We made our way into Saint Bavo’s, and although the big ticket item here is the Ghent Altarpiece, there is much, much more to see. Upon entering we came upon a few of the many carved tombs.

                            

Charles V was baptized here, and we think this may be his baptismal font, although we have no idea how that would have worked.

                                              

We viewed the relics of Saint Bavo of Ghent.

               

Then it was time for us to don special headgear and travel through the crypt to learn about the Ghent Altarpiece and the men who painted it. We strapped on the augmented reality (AR) helmets and Tracy snapped our photo. The last time Kim and I did this was 15 years ago at the late, great Newseum in Washington DC. Damn, I thought we were old then. There were about ten people in our group, and afterward we all agreed this was a fascinating way to learn about the altarpiece and the cathedral’s history.

       

Not all tombs are created equal. This one is for Pieter Damant, the third bishop of Ghent. Looks like he’s just chillin’.

The below is only one of the cathedral’s collection of artwork pieces.

One of the cathedral’s famous paintings is Rubens’ The Conversion of Saint Bavo (aka Saint Bavo enters the Convent at Ghent). Unfortunately, the lighting was so bright it was virtually impossible to take a good photo, but here is one that is in the public domain.

Now it was time to enter the room where we would view the van Eyck brothers’ masterpiece altarpiece, Adoration of the Mystic Land, known by most as the Ghent Altarpiece. Started by Hubert van Eyck in the early 1420s (he died in1426), it was completed by his brother Jan in 1432. I had read beforehand no photography would be allowed, but that was not the case.

Tracy was actually moved to tears by this piece (the first time this has happened). The colors are astounding and so is the history. With the limited amount of people on the tour, everyone was able to get a great view.

The three people in the middle panel on top are The Virgin Mary, The Almighty, and John The Baptist.

The altarpiece has quite a mind-boggling history. In 1566, Calvinists attempted to steal and burn it. In 1794 Napoleon’s invading troops stole four panels. They were exhibited at the Louvre, but Napoleon eventually returned them in 1815. The following year, a vicar at the Ghent cathedral took them, and they somehow ended up in a Berlin museum. All the panels were returned in 1919 as a condition of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1934, one of the panels was stolen and has never been found.

But wait, there’s more! Hitler and Hermann Göring wanted the altarpiece back as they weren’t too fond of that Treaty of Versailles decision. While on its way to the Vatican where it would hopefully be kept safe, the Nazis stole it and hid it in an Austrian salt mine where it was eventually discovered and transported to safety in 1945 by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray and the others who made up The Monuments Men, shortly before the altarpiece would have been destroyed.

All in all, a terrific AR tour.

Tombs, tombs and more tombs. On the left is the Tomb of Monseigneur Joannes Baptist De Smet.

                                                                

Back in the main cathedral, the rococo pulpit gleamed.

                       

It took sculptor Laurent Delvaux four years to finish. You can see why.   

                                                    

We spent about a half hour more …

                                                                 

… wandering through the church.

                                        

I even tried to take a photo of the ceiling. forgetting for the moment my arthritis doesn’t allow my neck to do what it used to do. This will be my final ceiling photo.

We took some time to admire the choir.

Looks like our decision to visit St. Bavo’s had paid off.

                                             

Walking past the theater and belfry …

               

… we ducked into St. Nicholas Church …

                                               

… for a quick glance.

                                                       

When I promised this would be the last church we would see on this day, Mary exclaimed, “Saints be praised!”

         

The Old Post Office was designed by Louis Cloquet in 1898. The façade is covered with coats of arms and statues. The nearly 800-foot clock showed us time had had really flown by. In 2001, the post office closed and was replaced by a shopping center along with a recently opened hotel.

I kept my promise, and we did not stop in to see my friend St. Michael’s Church, but we did stand on his bridge over the
Korenlei Canal.

                       

We did a little bit of ambiancing along the canal.

         

After suffering through a month of sizzling weather in Southern California, these cool, crisp days were a welcome change.

            

It was time to eat, so we popped into Et Alors.

         

The creperie’s food was quite good, Tracy and Mary had salads.

However, I was the big winner. Being a creperie, I decided I should probably try a crêpe. And what a crêpe it was. My Roquefort, apple, nut crumble, honey crêpe drizzled with balsamic vinegar was “erg goed!” We dined inside but they have a garden terrace overlooking the canal that was full when we arrived.

We continued along the canal …

… until we came upon Gravensteen Castle, “built by Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders, shortly after he returned to Ghent from the Crusades in 1190.”

I must have had that crêpe in mind when I blurted out, “Gravensteen is the apple of my eye.”

Why do these people always photo bomb our pictures?

We considered going inside, but we decided to continue enjoying this beautiful day. St Michel’s Bridge had a number of people also admiring the view.

                           

I apologized to him for not visiting his church, but he said, “To be honest, I need a break from you.”

Ghent was pretty crowded on this Saturday, and we happened upon another bike barn.

Just like Bruges, Ghent should be more than a day trip, but our time was drawing to a close.

Walking back into Bruges, we passed by the equestrian statue of King Albert I in Koning Albertpark.

                                            

When we saw this street as we strolled through town, Tracy and I were confused. I found out that this street art installation is called The Dance of Fools, as the people who reside in Bruges are “Brugse Zotten” (The Bruges Fools). No wonder we fit in!  The four figures symbolize the four seasons.

When Kim and I had drinks on the patio of Opus Latino the previous day, we made reservations for the following evening. They only had a 6:30, but we decided to take it. We were glad we did.

                                       

Dinner was delicious, from Kim’s pizza with chorizo to Mary’s chicken salad …

             

… to Tracy’s Greek salad, to my mouthwatering pasta quattro fromage.

    

Our servers were from Ukraine and were quite personable. A great last dinner in Bruges.

                                            

Dang, get a room you two!

We took one last leisurely stroll through town.

Either Tracy was going for something artsy here, or she had one too many glasses of chardonnay.

We bid goodbye to the Markt, and returned to the hotel to start packing.

                       

It was our Bruges swan song. Some people think this town is too touristy, however we absolutely loved it as a base for a few nights.

Tomorrow would begin yet again with a train trip. Destination: Antwerp. Our arrival got off to a rocky start (but the train station was gorgeous), and we were able to fit in three museums, because we learned all of them would be closed on Monday.

We continued our hot streak of marvelous dinners at perhaps the best restaurant of the trip, and had a peaceful walk back through town. We were digging Belgium. 

Chapter Six – Antwerp Bound

Day Six – Spectacular Train Station, Gotta Hand It To You, Ripped Off, Construction Zone, Art House, Pressing On, Another Gutenberg?, The Masters, “Thing”, A Monty Python Moment, Don’t Straighten The Painting, Courtyard Dining and Trippin’ Through Antwerpen