Despite the continuing rain I've been wandering the streets of Gent this week and am awed once again by the perfect blend of historical architecture, quiet canals, picturesque alleys, foreign visitors & trendy students this place offers. It might seem a bit bizar that I'm acting like a tourist in a city where I lived for several years, but views like this are the stuff of dreams in Japan... Today I even felt compelled to enter St-Baafs cathedral, quite unusual since I'm an atheist suffering from 'church-fatigue'! The grandeur of the structure and the imposing organ music lured me in though, and after a few minutes I unconsciously started comparing this type of worship place with the Shinto & Buddhist tempels in Japan. I guess a teeny part of me is seeing the world from an Eastern perspective these days, which I quite like :-).
Three characteristics of Gent in one image: churches, boats and of course the canals
Medieval buildings in the city centre
Colourful houses
Graslei by night
4 comments:
I know how you feel. Mind you it's also interesting to consider the fact that most of the towns round your area (including Ghent I think) got really heavily shelled (& in the case of Ypres wiped out) in the World Wars - WW1 especially. So really most of the old buildings are 'old' & could be seen as being a little like lots of the 'European theme parks' in Japan.
Hey Brett, thanks for ruining the illusion ;-). While some buildings in Gent are indeed reconstructed, most of what you see is authentic & dates back to the Middle Ages. Oh dear, I sound like the Tourist Board, don't I...? You're right about my hometown Ieper though; that was completely flattened in WWI and is a detailed reconstruction of what it looked like beforehand. But at least it goes back to historical reality, not pure fiction like the theme parks in Japan!
True Inge. It's the same all over Europe except for places like Paris & Rome. My dad was in florence after the war & he remembered it being absolutely flattend. Ah, what peace-loving people Europeans are.
Mind you you enjoyed 'Dutch Town" didn't you...?
Wow! Gent looks lovely!
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