Ghent and Bruges

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After saying farewell to our hostess in Brussels, we left for Ghent. Traffic was ridiculous and we thought we'd never get out of Brussels! Ghent was not on my original itinerary, but Constantin's grandmother recommended going, since it's not far from Bruges. This was an excellent recommendation. I actually liked Ghent better than Bruges.

By far, the highlight was seeing the famous altarpiece in the Cathedral of St. Bavo. This was one of a handful of times in my life when I've stood and absolutely been in awe of something I was seeing. The colors are indescribably brilliant to this day. We knew we were viewing something priceless. We visited the city belfry and enjoyed all the intact medieval buildings before moving on to Bruges.

In Bruges, we saw the cathedral and its treasury, the market square, the Basilica of the Holy Blood, and a Salvador Dali exhibit. The belfry here was already closed for the day. We had just missed (by half an hour) the exposition and veneration of the relic of the Holy Blood. The basilica is quite small but richly decorated, not unlike the style of the aforementioned churches designed by Pugin. We both liked the Dali exhibit, even though our favorite work by him was not on display.

We had a long drive to Bruchsal. Constantin didn't seem to mind my sleeping most of the way back. At least it shut me up for a while!

Patrick

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