Ghent, Belgium

Ghent, or Gent in Dutch, is a historic city in Belgium. It is known for its rich cultural heritage, medieval architecture, vibrant arts scene, and a lively student population.

Ghent combines the charm of a small town with the vibrancy of a bustling city. Its canals, historic buildings, and lively squares create a picturesque and inviting atmosphere. Whether you're exploring its rich history, enjoying its contemporary art scene, or savoring its culinary delights, Ghent offers a unique and enriching experience for all who visit.

Most of these landmarks are within walking distances from each other.

The Gravensteen Castle - a medieval castle, built in 1180, is one of Ghent's most iconic landmarks and provides a glimpse into the city's feudal past. The current castle was the residence of the Counts of

Flanders until 1353. It was subsequently re-purposed as a court, prison, mint, and even as a cotton factory. It was restored over 1893–1903 and is now a museum and a major landmark in the city.

Belfry of Ghent: A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this belfry offers panoramic views of the city and is a symbol of civic freedom. Construction of the tower began in 1313 after a design by master mason Jan van Haelst. The work reached completion in 1380. 

The uppermost parts of the building have been rebuilt several times, in part to accommodate the growing number of bells.

Saint Bavo's Cathedral is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Construction of the Gothic church began around 1274. In the subsequent period from the 14th through 16th centuries, nearly continuous expansion projects in the Gothic style were executed on the structure. 

When the Diocese of Ghent was founded in 1559, the church became its cathedral. Construction was considered complete on 7 June 1569.

St. Nicholas Church is one of the oldest and most prominent landmarks in Ghent, Belgium. Begun in the early 13th century as a replacement for an earlier Romanesque church, construction continued through the rest of the century in the local Scheldt Gothic style. 

Typical of this style is the use of blue-gray stone from the Tournai area, the single large tower above the crossing, and the slender turrets at the building's corners.

The City Hall of Ghent is a four-sided complex surrounded by the Botermarkt, the Hoogpoort, the Stadhuissteeg and the Poeljemarkt. The main wings are the late-Gothic alderman's house of De Keure and the alderman's house of Gedele in the Renaissance style. The building has 51 halls.

Ghent's City Hall seen from the Grote Markt

The Royal Flemish Academy of Dutch Language and Literature is a government organization which was established in 1886 by Royal Decree as Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde.

In 1972 the name of The Royal Flemish Academy for language and literature was changed to The Royal Academy of Dutch language and literature, and in 1981 the existence of the Academy was confirmed by a decree of the Council for Cultural Affairs for the Dutch cultural community (the predecessor of the Flemish Parliament) (decree of 13 February 1980). The KANTL is now an institution of the Flemish Government.

 St-Jacobskerk - The Romanesque twin towers of this iconic church date from the 12th century but the church itself has undergone numerous expansions, renovations and reconstructions over its long history. 

It's believed there has been a place of worship on the site since the 7th century, with the first church constructed in 1093. Today the square surrounding it is regarded as the epicentre of the Gentse Feesten; it also hosts the town's favourite flea market.

And last but not the least if you like murals/graffiti do visit the lane that is filled with it. It’s an amazing experience. Check out the brief video below.

 

 

Of flowers, architecture and windmills in Netherlands

Netherlands is truly a country for artists and their art be it horticulture or architecture as evidenced by the Tulip festival in Keukenhof and quirky architecture in Zandaam and the open air museum of the historic windmills in Zaanse Schans.

Our first visit was to Keukenhof to revel in the floral fantasy of not only tulips but so many other flowers like hyacinth, daffodils and amaryllis.

The history of Keukenhof dates back to the 15th century. Countess Jacoba van Beieren [Jacqueline of Bavaria] (1401-1436) used 'Keukenduyn' [kitchen dunes] as hunting ground for the kitchen of Teylingen Castle. Keukenhof Castle was built in 1641 and the estate grew to encompass an area of over 200 hectares.

Landscape architects Jan David Zocher and his son Louis Paul Zocher, who also designed Amsterdam's Vondelpark, redesigned the castle gardens in 1857. That park, in the English landscape style, still constitutes the basis of Keukenhof.

In 1949 a group of 20 leading flower bulb growers and exporters came up with the plan to use the estate to exhibit spring-flowering bulbs, signaling the birth of Keukenhof as a spring park. The park opened its gates to the public in 1950 and was an instant success, with 236,000 visitors in the first year alone. 2024 will be the 75th edition of Keukenhof. During the past 74 years Keukenhof developed into a world-famous attraction.

You can buy bulbs of tulip plants if you wish to and there are eateries where you can relax and re energize.

Check out the slide show of the beauties of Keukenhof.

Zaandam and Zanse Schans are neighbours, both close to Amsterdam. There are more tourists here than locals.

Zandaam is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. It was an important shipbuilding centre in the 17^th century. It is now famous for its quirky architecture. 

Zaanse Schans in the neighbourhood is an open air museum of Netherlands history of windmills and cheese.

There are beautiful walkways which take you to the different sight seeing spots in town. 

Windmills, houses, clog making workshops and of course cafes to fill your tummies.

No one in Netherlands seems to be in a hurry. Possibly because almost all commute by bicycle or take the public transport. They have made it very difficult to use cars by making parking very expensive and most of the streets are majorly cyclist friendly.

Amsterdam

We landed in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on a cold, rainy, windy afternoon. 

Not a very welcome sign but we soon realised that the weather in Amsterdam is indeed very fickle. Shine, rain, windy, cold, warm all in a day’s work! Hence, while in Amsterdam, don’t look for the perfect weather to go out. Just pick up your itinerary, raincoat and set out to enjoy your day! So, without any further ado we headed towards Foodhallen, the happening food court in Amsterdam on a Saturday 

evening and wow we were infected by the enthusiasm of the people gathered there for a lovely evening of music, food, companionship and Heineken to wash it all down.

The first thing I noticed was that the parking area for cycles was much larger than that for cars and while there were quite a few spots left for car parking, the cycles were filling up fast and furious!

After hustling for a while, we managed to get a table to sit together and enjoy world cuisine. We started off with the famous Bitterballen, a classic Dutch snack, followed by Thai, Mediterranean snacks.

Next morning we set out for a bicycle tour of Amsterdam. 

This was the prime reason of my visit to Amsterdam, the most cycle friendly city in the world. 

We cycled through some interesting places like the Anne Frank Museum, the Skinny bridge (so called because once upon a time the poorest of the poor lived there), 

the narrowest house, the beautiful Vondel park where we saw an intriguing piece of Picasso’s art.

The tour guide explained the strange narrow fronts of the houses in Amsterdam. The houses were taxed depending on the width of the houses but now of course it isn’t so but these are prohibitively expensive due to its heritage value. You will also find houses tilting to one side as these houses were built on swamp land on wooden pillars which are now slowly sinking.

While in Amsterdam I did not want to miss the unique Street Art Museum – Straat! It was absolutely amazing!

The boat tour of Amsterdam is another way to see all the beauty of Amsterdam, which we did. Our canal boat tour guide mentioned that the canals are nine feet deep of which three feet is mud, three feet are bicycles and three feet is water!

The Grand Centraal station is an amazing, impressive structure. The parking lot for cycles is in the basement and they have an escalator to wheel your cycles up and down!

Then of course we visited Keukenhof, Zaandam and Zaanse Schans which deserve individual posts. Stay tuned!

My only regret is I could not meet up with a blogger friend due to sheer lack of time. He blogs about Amsterdam at sccollections . Spoke to him on the phone and hoped to meet up sometime! Do visit his blog for more local insights.

Road tripping in Germany - 7 Black forest

 Bühlertal

Our final destination on this road trip before we returned to Berlin was the cherry on the cake, rather the cake itself! Yes, the famous Black Forest. I had always wanted to relish the Black Forest cake in Black 

Forest which I did every day that we were there. So off we headed to Bühlertal. It was at a distance of 

around 400kms from Penzberg and we could cover the distance in just about 4 hours due to the super roads/autobahns.

Bühlertal is a village in the Black Forest region of Germany. Specifically, it is located in the state of Baden-Württemberg. A very pretty village with a few stud farms and the AirBnb we stayed in was right opposite one so we could admire the wonderful horses up close.

The Black Forest (Schwarzwald in German) is a mountainous region known for its dense forests, charming villages, and scenic landscapes. It is one of Germany's most well-known and iconic regions, attracting tourists with its picturesque landscapes, charming villages, and cultural attractions. So, the first place we headed to was to Sommerberg where they have a tree top walk leading to a spiral viewing gallery. 

The tree top walk is very educative. There are information boards all along of the flora and fauna present there. The Treetop Walk at the Sommerberg in Bad Wildbad is easily accessible in the Northern Black Forest.

The spiral viewing gallery is amazing, you can see the black forest from various levels as you go right to the top from where you get a bird’s eye view of the black forest.

Next day we visited Triberg. Triberg is a town located in the Black Forest region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is known for several attractions that make it a popular destination for tourists:

Triberg Waterfalls: These waterfalls are one of the main attractions in the area. The Gutach River

cascades over seven waterfalls within a short distance, making it one of the highest waterfalls in Germany.

Triberg Clock Museum (Uhrenmuseum): The town is also famous for its cuckoo clocks, and the clock museum showcases a collection of historical and contemporary timepieces.

Spent a beautiful day in Triberg.

Next on our list was the "Wildgehege" trail in Baden Baden that leads around a wildlife enclosure 

where you will encounter all sorts of wild and wonderful creatures.

They have marked trails that you follow. We saw antlered red deer, a mountain goat and the trail overall was wonderful.

Now it was time to head back to Berlin after a memorable road trip of South Germany. The trip back was uneventful and full of discussions on the wonderful experiences of the past few weeks.