Ghent

Ghent

We set up our tents, including one John borrowed from reception, and headed into town. It's great here! Churches, cathedrals, canals - the historic heart is well preserved and a nice surprise. The beer is excellent.

In the morning, John's tent is half wet inside, and his back is not loving the flat sleeping position. He's not going to camp any more.

Ghent

We headed to STAM the Stadt museum of Ghent - a history of the town. At one stage it rivaled Paris and Florence. It started as a wool textile centre, got smashed by Calvinists, the local park "had to make way" for a freeway in the 70s. Now it is into steel making, and has a big university. The outskirts are freeways, houses and industrial areas. Spanish took over from the Calvinists - Spanish Netherlands - part of the Habsburg empire, then destroyed by Napoleon. Finally there was a huge pile of lego to make the town. The boys went nuts.

John's happy we picked this town

The afternoon we went to town for a walking tour. An amazing revelation is that Flemish and Dutch are very much the same, just different accent, mainly. We see the canalside warehouses for cereal and wool. After wool got too expensive, they started using linen, then cotton, then everything went to China. Now they're into high tech materials. Finally we visit the amazing St Bavo's Cathedral with all its artwork.

The first thing we saw once in town

The ugly modern structures are "needed" she says, due to all the new people coming in. Oh well. We walk around the church some more, then go for sushi.The rain pours overnight and its windy. John's tent, which is a bit of a joke, has leaked a lot. He moves to the Holiday Inn at the old Expo site. A ghost industrial area, very bizarre. Multiple freeways, and so few things.

At the STAM museum

Walking tour. She lives the modern stuff

In the cathedral of St Bavo's

Been working out?

Karate kids