One of the best parts of where we are staying in the town of Eersel, Netherlands, is it's convenient location. within an hour and a half drive we can be almost anywhere in either the Netherlands or Belgium. So we have been taking a lot of great day trips to a variety of towns in both countries. Today we went to the city of Ghent.
In the heart of Ghent is the imposing figure of the 12th Century castle, Gravensteen. The name Gravensteen is a reference to the house of the nobility, but, in Dutch, can also mean "tombstone", and when you look upon the castle you can see that either translation might be well placed. This is very much the quintesential medevil fortress, with it's high, heavy stone walls, imposing archer towers, and impregnable gate. Flags flutter in the breeze over it's intimidating main tower.
Inside, the tour is very walkable, with only a few tight spiralling staircases to navigate and the effort well rewarded with stellar views of the city at the top. The highlights through the rest of the tour are the armory, great hall, the prison, the high vaulted ceilings of it's throne room, and a rather gruesome exhibit of medieval torture devices. Outside the main building you can walk the ramparts all the way around the castle walls and see the remains of Gravensteen's church.
When you are done with the tour, you can recoup at the lovely square right outside the castle gates, where you can have a snack and sample a selection of magnificent Belgian beers. This has bee the way of our tours throughout Europe, visit a local attraction then find someplace and sit down for a coffee/wine/beer and a local snack before moving on. These squares are also a great place to do some people watching. Then it's off we go to the next museum/cathedral/public attraction.
Sadly the city's main cathedral, Sint Baafskathedraal (Saint Bavo Cathedral) was under renovation and we were not able to tour it, but fortunately there are two other cathedrals in Ghent that are just as stunning.
There is Sint Michielskerk (Saint Michael's), and the more tourist friendly Sint Niklaaskerk (Saint Nicholas). Right next to Sint Niklaaskerk is another of the city's great landmarks, it's great belltower, or Belfort.
Mixed in and amongst all of these fantastic locations is a maze of fantastic shops, stores, clubs, eateries, and every kind of artisinal craftsman you can imagine (in particular chocolateers).
While this trek into Belgium was wonderful and rewarding, I will have to say this about driving in Belgium versus the Netherlands. Belgian roads are not as well kept, or laid out as their neighbors to the east. Two lane motorways intersecting with other two lane motorways; three lanes of traffic merging into a single lane tunnel... it seems as though they are actively trying to cause traffic chaos. Our Tom-Tom earned it's pay today!
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