8/4/09

Ghent!

I spent a few hours wondering Bruges today before heading to Ghent. I went to the post office to send some post cards and things, and I stopped in the little antique store that I noticed on my walk the other day. Bruges is very comfortable, and feels safe and inviting. At around half past noon I headed to Ghent.

I'd live there...

Bruges

I wish I could see what that looks like from inside!

Bruges Beautiful Canal

More nice views

Painter in situ.

And a modern corner Mary.

I didn’t use my Eurail pass on the train because the fair was only 5.90 Euro. When I got to Ghent it was very, very warm. I feel like whenever I need to change locations it is a hot day… So I get all sweaty and annoyed. I successfully made it to Ghent but then I got very confused about the trams. When I did finally get to one of the stops that my hostel listed as one we could get off at, I had no idea where to go from there. When called the hostel and the directions the woman gave me made no sense at all. So I ended up getting on another tram in the other direction because she said that that stop was closer. When I arrived at the stop the owner lady of the hostel came and met me. I would have never found the hostel… so I am glad she came to get me. She has a very “hippie” look and reminds me of girls I went to RISD with. The hostel, which is called Ecohostel Andromeda, is actually really nice. Aesthetically and design wise it is much more sophisticated and modern than the Vita Nova Botel in Amsterdam. It is very new and painted with bright colors and they have great little design elements everywhere and the roof is covered in beautiful flowers… wonderful!

Signage.

view of the garden on top of the Ecohostel

The flowers!

The deck

Gally

My bed (top bunk) at ecohostel

The view out of one of the windows in the ship's hull

Hall way in the hull.

After I dropped off my bags and had a chat with the owner lady I left to go visit what I came to Ghent to see: Jan and Hubert Van Eyck’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb Altarpiece. It is located in St. Baafskathedraal in its own special room. It very large but I really wish I could have gotten a closer look. It is in a HUGE glass enclosure so you are can’t get more than about 3-4 feet from the surface of the painting. When you can’t get close enough to it, it doesn’t feel real! It was still phenomenal and the details were impeccable. I am very happy that I used the audio tour because I learned a lot more about the attribution of the piece to Hubert AND Jan van Eyck, as well as about the different figures represented in the painting, and about some of the quirks that I had forgotten about or had never heard before. For instance, the Adam and Eve panels were deemed inappropriate in the 19th century so tunics were painted over them to make them decent. I think that the Adam and eve panels are 2 of my favorite parts of this polyptych. I am so happy that I was able to see this important altarpiece that is attributed to marking the beginning of the Flemish Primitives.

St. Baafskathedraal... where the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb lives.

Image of Adoration of the mystic Lamb from the Internet... of course there were no photos allowed!

After I admired The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, I wondered through the very eclectic church that houses it. St. Baafskathedraal is a very large church, it has a crypt as well as numerous secondary chapels all around the edges of the nave and even next to and behind the altar. I have seen this in other churches too and I would like to do research on this architectural element because I don’t remember learning very much about about it in my classes.
After I finished with the church it was only 5 PM. I was hungry but I knew that the restaurant that I wanted to go to, called Mosquito Coast, didn’t open it’s kitchen until 6 PM. So I ended up walking around the entire upper central part of Ghent. Ghent is a bit more difficult to navigate compared to Bruges, and it also isn’t as picturesque or “comfortable.” A lot of more of Ghent is industrial and run down looking. They also do not boast nearly as many chocolate, beer, or souvenir shops. I am glad that I didn’t decide to spend more time in Ghent than 2 days….
At 6 I made my way to Mosquito Coast. I ordered…. KANGAROO STEAK. The only reason I went to this restaurant was because in my guide book it said that they were cheaper and had “international” cuisine including kangaroo steak and tapas. I had to try it… and you know what… it was SO SCRUMPTIOUS. It was very similar to steak, not very gamey, not very fatty. It was served with fried bananas, wine sauce with beets (?), tatter tots, and a small arugula salad. The fried bananas were also delicious and I would like to try incorporating them into my own cooking. I just never thought to use them like that. SO GOOD. After finishing my meal I went to go try the other alcoholic beverage native to Belgium: Jenever. It is called the precursor to gin and it is really just gin mixed with lots of different flavors like chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, avocado, passion fruit…. Silly things like that. I ended up getting vanilla. It was sort of like a white Russian without kaluha. After this I walked around a little more and sat in one of the squares people watching. I decided to walk back to the hostel around 9. Time for bed!

Kangaroo Steak!!!! mmmmmmmmm!!!!!

Vanilla Jenever

Graventeen

Belfort

Ghent!

Lovely canal

More canal

Construction and gothic architecture

St. George lamp

Building with some interesting design elements on top..

the sun kind of made it difficult to get a good view of them...

Alley

dusk

Murals...

nice one...

detail from a building

ghent

canal and church

APPLE