← All articles · Belgium · 25 November 2012

Ghent

Ghent in November 2012: belfry views over the Graslei, oysters on the Groentenmarkt, a window full of Belgian beer and the ramparts of Gravensteen castle.

Ghent got one cold day of our November 2012 loop through the Low Countries, and it made every hour count. Guild houses on the water, a castle in the middle of town, a belfry you can climb, and oysters served outdoors on a market square in scarf weather.

Bridges, gables and beer

We started where everyone starts, on St Michael's Bridge, where the whole postcard assembles itself behind you whether you asked for it or not.

Man in a colourful striped jumper on St Michael's Bridge in Ghent, with the ornate stone old post office building and the canal behind — Posing duties on St Michael's Bridge, the old post office and the quayside behind.

Red brick step gable in Ghent with the year 1766 mounted in dark numerals either side of an arched window — The houses here come date-stamped. This one has been standing since 1766.

Three shop windows in Ghent filled with shelves of Belgian beer bottles, with bicycles parked outside — One shop, three windows, more Belgian beers than we could count. Chimay, Duvel and Vedett were the ones we recognised from the pavement.

On the Groentenmarkt we found a stand shucking fresh oysters in the open air, a few steps from the old Tierenteyn mustard shop. Inga needed no persuading.

Inga in a dark fur coat and brown beret eating a fresh oyster at a standing table on the Groentenmarkt in Ghent, shopfronts behind — Inga and the oysters, Groentenmarkt edition. The plate did not last long.

Up the belfry

Then we climbed the belfry, which is how you discover that Ghent from above is somehow even better than Ghent at street level.

View from the Ghent belfry over the rear of St Nicholas' Church, with the old post office clock tower and city rooftops beyond — St Nicholas' Church from the belfry, the old post office clock tower standing guard beyond.

Aerial view from the Ghent belfry over the Graslei guild houses, St Michael's Bridge and St Michael's Church under an evening sky — The Graslei, St Michael's Bridge and St Michael's Church in a single frame. This is the photo Ghent wants you to take.

Weathered green statue of a muse holding a lyre overhead on a rooftop pedestal, brick facades and slate roofs of Ghent behind — A verdigris muse holding her lyre above the rooftops. The long lens earned its place in the bag.

Gravensteen

Ghent keeps a proper moated castle, Gravensteen, the Castle of the Counts, a few streets from the centre. In November you get the wall-walk more or less to yourself.

Smiling man in a green rain jacket and grey gloves holding a DSLR camera in an arched stone doorway at Gravensteen castle — Camera at the ready in a castle doorway. The gloves tell you what the wind was doing.

A man with a camera and a woman in a tan winter coat smiling up from the grounds of Gravensteen castle, photographed from the wall above — Spotted from the wall-walk above the castle grounds.

We came down, warmed up, and agreed Ghent had been quietly holding its own against its louder neighbours. Speaking of which: Bruges, Brussels and Antwerp were on the same route, and each got a story of its own.