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Published: June 10th 2007
Gravensteen Castle
The birthday trip of a lifetime for our now four year old princess Abigail. We got up around 9am and scrambled to catch the bus at 10:18 to the train station. Everyone had a quick bite to eat and we made it. We bought our train tickets to Gent (11 euros roundtrip for Jonathan and I and the kids were free). We caught the 10:35 train and were on our way. We read a few chapters of Charlotte’s Web on our way and shared some fruit we had packed. The girls had a good time on the train and Eliza made friends with a little Belgian boy her age that shared his ball with her.
We got off the train a little over an hour after we started our trip at St. Peter’s Station in Gent. We decided to save the kids legs and catch a tram to the center of town. Once there we parked ourselves on a bench and had some of the lunch we had brought with us. Rejuvenated we walked over to the Belfrey and old guild hall where they used to make cloth. Jonathan, Emma & Abigail went up to the top of the Belfry while Eliza and I played in the water fountain and found the tourist
Castle Rothstein
The girls perched in the lookout windows. information center so we could get a map (we forgot our guidebook in our morning haste). They apparently took the elevator to the top but then walked the twisty staircase all the way down. We then went to Sint Baalfsplein (St. Bavo’s Cathedral). It was huge and amazing. Terrific stained glass and an arched ceiling that seemed to stretch on forever. The girls really liked walking through it and even Eliza was quiet in her own state of awe.
The girls had an ice cream cone and we bought postcards (still don’t know where the post office is though!) and then we walked to Gravensteen (or The Count’s Castle). I think it lived up to all of Abigail’s expectations (and there were a lot of them). It is surrounded on one side by water and has a huge gate that you enter through. You are allowed to climb almost anywhere and the signs and arrows get you to all of the highest points in the castle. It was also quite dangerous; aside from the dark, twisting staircases, the wall walks had a distinct lack of railings. Eliza kept giving me a heart attack. One highlight was the room full
Gent
This was our view from the table where we had a delicious birthday dinner for Abigail. of torture equipment. They had thumb screws and steel collars and branding irons among other things. Abigail’s favorite was the “thing where they cut their head off” (the guillotine) and Emma’s favorite (long after we had left the room because inside of it she was pretty scared) was the “thing where they stretch the people” (the rack). They also really loved being at the way top of the castle and looking down on the town and pretending to shoot arrows out of the small slit windows. It was a fantastic place to take the girls.
We wandered along the water and eventually Eliza fells asleep in the stroller. Abigail and I took a walk and found a nice restaurant, The Crypte Grille, which was situated right in the corner near a big bridge with a great view of all of the activity. It had outdoor seating, which meant Eliza could stay asleep in the stroller, and a kid’s menu. Abigail got a hamburger (without a bun it was more similar to sausage, but luckily Abigail likes everything) and she split my seafood soup with me. Emma had tomato soup and the turkey breast kids meal, which also came with salad, warm applesauce and frites, all for 5 euros. Not bad. Jonathan had shrimp in a butter garlic sauce and we each had a Duvel, one of our favorite Belgian beers. It was a perfect spot for us to relax after a long day sightseeing. And the best part was that Eliza didn’t wake up until we were paying!
We caught the 7:38 train back to Leuven via Brussels (between Gent and Leuven there are only the 3 stops in Brussels). Had the kids bathed and in bed a little after 9pm and I went for a run. That was a spectacular way to end the day, running through the city streets at 9:30 at night and it was still bright as day. We learned a lot from our first adventure but it was definitely a big success. Can’t wait for the next one!
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rachel
non-member comment
happy birthday
dear abigail, we met..but you were in your mom's belly at the time. happy birthday, sweetpea. may all of your birthday wishes come true! xoxo, rachel "bam"