Day 30

Saturday - getting up at.... 7.30 in the morning!! There's an organised trip to Gent, only half and hour train trip from here. It's cold...

I met a whole bunch of Portuguese ladies, with whom I ended up spending most of the day.
Our trip included a guided tour and it was nice to walk around. The main problem was that it was raining all the time and really cold!! And I realised I forgot my gloves at my friend's house (lol).

Our guide was a nice and witty old lady (it was her birthday, she told us in the end). She started the tour in the place where there's the Cathedral and the big town tower and explained to us why early in the Middle Ages a city-state like Gent would need such a tower (not only to spot unfriendly incoming people, but also as a sign of the city's prosperity and power).

Then she took us in the Cathedral and asked why there is only ONE cathedral in every city and why is it called like that. In case you don't know (I actually did know and was the person answering her question), the name cathedral comes from the Latin word cathedra, which can mean chair or throne and was the place where the bishop would sit (had his residence). She showed us around and explained all about a painting (that I don't remember the name of the author), being what we saw not the original, but a copy. The original can be visited in the same church, but in a separate room and you have to pay for it. One of the most important aspects of that painting, was that it introduced the third dimension, perspective. Also, under the church, in the "crypts", you could see old (I think Early) Medieval paintings on the walls and ceiling, that apparently where covered for some hundred years, until they were "rediscovered" and today are shown to public, looking like they used to look, all those hundred years ago.

Skipping a little, she also told us about a funny pub in town, I think close to the Socialist building but not sure, where you have a max, a beer that is a little over one liter; so people won't steal the nice glasses, if you want to have a drink, you need to give one of your shoes, which will stay up on a basket, until you finish drinking and want to leave. Call it a safe deposit. I didn't go there, but I wish I had though. A mate who did go said the beer costs about 9€ (but, hey, it's a huge beer, hehe).

We saw also the old port and old warehouses and she recommended us to have a typical dish called waterzooi, which can be made of half a chicken (!) or also fish - the chicken version was definitely more appealing to me at the time - and is basically a stew, with potatoes and several other vegetables. I really wanted to have that for lunch, because it's supposed to be a very consistent meal and it was so uncomfortable outside, but when we started checking the prices, we ended up having lunch at the Lunch Garden...

Altogether, it was a nice trip. I am sure it is a lovely place to be when the weather is nicer and you can just sit outside comfortably and enjoy the view.

(pics will come soon)