Even my Auntie who has lived in Europe for 90 years asked: why Gent? How did you even think of going to Gent?
Well, I bought a little travel book with: Brussels, Gent, Bruges and Antwerp. Gent is a university town and sounded nice.
It was.
One of the articles I read online said it was the less Disneyland version of Bruges. This turned out to be an accurate description. If you’re planning to go to Belgium I would suggest skipping Bruges and go to Gent instead. Well, depending on what kind of travel you like. I don’t like herding around in mobs of tourists if I can avoid it.
Gent felt like a real place with real people wandering around going to restaurants by the canal. I didn’t feel pummeled by tourism. Plus we had our most expensive but most lovely hotel. Our hosts were two young men who honestly seemed like the highlight of their life was visiting with their guests and telling them about Gent.
It’s been years since I fantasized about living in a foreign city, but Gent, I would love to try.
One of the notes I wrote to Bob was that it even smells better! Our hotel room had a delicious room freshener. Pineapple?
We did a lot of walking around, simply enjoying the area. We did go check out the Adoration of the Lamb which is an extensive altarpiece undergoing restoration and very interesting.