Ghent

I slept in this morning as Ghent is only about 30 minutes away connected by frequent trains. I decided to have my first Belgian waffle in Belgium. I enjoy them often in NY from the Wafel & Dinges food truck that parks in front of my old office building multiple mornings a week. Here's photo of the different kinds - I got the one with speculoos:



In the midst of my breakfast, I managed to help a Korean get to the Central Station. My good deed for the day!

As I waited on the platform for my train, an Asian girl walked by - I realized it was Athena! I had met her in May in Madrid as we were both traveling alone. As we both work in NY, we actually share a friend in common. She's in Brussels for work and decided to stay an extra few days to sight see. She was on her way to Bruges! What are the chances that I meet Athena in Madrid and run into her in Brussels! Here are some posts down memory lane about hanging with Athena in Madrid:

• http://leadingalifeofcyn.blogspot.com/2014/05/spain.html
• http://leadingalifeofcyn.blogspot.com/2014/05/parks-and-art.html

We quickly made plans for dinner back in Brussels and I got off at the Ghent - St. Pieters train station. I took the #1 tram that goes to the center of the city.  

I made my way in the misty rain to St. Bavo's Cathedral where the van Eyck brothers' "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" is on display. This is also known as "The Ghent Altarpiece" which is made up of 12 panels from the 15th century, double sided so there are panels for when it's open and closed. Here's more info: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece

It has been stolen or threatened to be destroyed several times - looting, a fire, World War I, and as highlighted in the movie "Monuments Men", stolen by the Nazis and hidden in a salt mine during World War II. Here's more info on the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2177771/

You cannot take photos of the original which is undergoing restoration, so various original panels are missing and in black and white. A copy of which you can take photos, is located in another dark chapel and pictured below with a few zoomed in shots in the collage:





After a walk through the Cathedral and finishing the hour audio guide, I walked by the Belfry and the Town Hall, but decided not to go in. A picture of the Belfry:



I then had lunch at a brasserie next to Korenmarkt which is in the center of the city. I had a hot tea and a sesame chicken wrap. It was around 2 pm at this point and it started to rain, so I took cover in St. Nicholas Church. A photo of the altar below:



It was sunny by the time I got out and decided to walk back to the train station instead of taking the tram. The walk took about half an hour.

When I arrived, the station was a complete zoo. Not only were there a ton of students, none of the monitors were working! Everyone was referring to paper timetables and a nice gentleman from the info center directed me to the track. The paper timetables are unfortunately not reliable when there's a track change! As such, a nice Indian Brit woman whose name is Cynthia as well and I had to figure out from the Dutch announcements and the exodus of people from our platform, there was a track change! We luckily got to the right track in time.

30 minutes later and I was in the center of Brussels again. I rested at the hotel while I waited for Athena to return from Bruges. We agreed to meet around 8 pm and after researching, we ended up at Peï & Meï in Sablon. We had the tasting menu as pictured below, but I forgot to take photos of the meat course:



The company was great as we caught up and chatted about our mutual interests - travel, food, and etc... After our meal, we walked to the Grand Place and Athena had one last Belgian waffle prior to her early flight tomorrow. We also took many pictures of ourselves, trying to send to our mutual friend, Chris - a series represented below:

So we both leave Belgium tomorrow - Athena to NY and I to Paris!