NO TARDIS Tuesday today as I wimped out of what I was going to wear in favour of slouchy jumper and cords.
We woke up on our second morning in Ghent. I am pleased to say I slept really well.
We ate another of Veronique's delicious breakfasts and then got ready to leave. CBC drove me to Ghent and dropped me off on some random road just off the main road. I had no idea where I was but at least I had a phone! He continued onto his destination of Oudenhaarde where he was going to cycle from.
I had no particular idea what I was heading towards so, for want of a place to head for, I decided to search for Ghent's branch of Think Twice, vintage shop beloved of Ann! To my delight, I discovered they had three stores.
I located one and walked towards it, getting a bit confused. I have a terrible sense of direction and often struggle with this!
I popped into an Oxfam (household) store I saw on the way and picked up a small pack of fairtrade organic teabags plus a Shampoo bar as the tea in our room was only Lemon and Ginger and I really wanted some English Breakfast tea.
After this, I headed for my first T2 store on Nederkouter.
I forgot to mention that I had visited the T2 in Bruges the previous day and not found anything I liked. I was really happy to realise that T2 were having the start of their sale days. These always seem to fall when I am in Belgium. Today was 30% off day, the first day of the sale.
I have only ever been in there on the final days of the sale or the first day of a new collection so it was interesting to see the selection. I was excited to see a whole rack of sheepskin and fluffy coats- I have been longing for a longer length real sheepskin coat for quite a while. I immediately found this brown one with a mongolian sheepskin collar and a shearling lining and picked it up as well as a black suede jacket with a furry collar but no lining.
As I perused the store, I found one or two other items to try on. There was a good selection.
The black coat was too big but the brown one fit perfectly. It was 75 euros so with 30% discount it was £52.50. I walked round the store holding it but I wasn't 100% sure whether I should spend that much money on it. I ended up picking up this black long length embroidered waistcoat that was 4,50 Euros with the discount.
After this, I headed to the next store on Brabrantdam. This was quite a nice walk to take as I crossed various rivers and it was really pleasant to view the river from various quarters.
In this store, I tried a few items on including this checked dress, various black velvet jackets and a green cardigan but did not find anything I wanted to buy or that worked.
Next, I headed to the final store Ajunilei. This store was really big and had two floors. I found a few things to try on in here including a really soft brown hooded coat and a black velvet jacket (I had identified this as an item I wanted for winter concerts to wear over a black dress or top and trousers/skirt. I ummed and ahed over the items and decided to buy the black velvet jacket but was debating whether I really needed a black velvet skirt- in some ways, I wanted one that was longer although this one fit perfectly. The jacket was 12 Euros before discount as was the skirt. I decided to leave the skirt.
At this point, I decided I should really get some lunch and plumped for Asian food. After only 1 whole day in Bruges, I was already in need of some spicy flavours! I ended up on the same street as the original T2 and went to Miss Ramen, having their special Ramen just before closing time. It was delicious and the perfect size! Some Ramens are too big but this was just right with lots of bits and pieces in it.
Since I was close to that T2, I went to have another look at the brown jacket. I looked at the labels and saw it was made of 100% pig skin leather but it seemed to suggest that the lining was synthetic. Much as I liked it, this made my decision easier- I decided I didn't want to compromise on the lining and wanted a real shearling lining. I was to regret that decision later. Both Ann and Inez (Ann's friend who I follow on Insta) both said they would have bought it and I did keep thinking about it AND the black velvet skirt!
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At this point, I decided to walk over to the Old historic part of Ghent. I followed my phone map and ended having an interesting walk to reach it, passing over the rivers again.
I decided to head for the covered market as I wasn't sure what I was heading for otherwise.
Just before I got there, I came past the imposing St Nicholas church on Korenmarkt (hmmm, does this mean covered market?). This church, constructed from Bluestone from Tournai, is considered one of the best examples of the Scheldt Gothic style. It was established in the 13th century and would have been worshipped at my artisans and merchants. It has a notable feature in the form of a Lantern tower which is located where the nave and the transepts cross, rather than at the entrance. Inside you can see a variety of artworks from the numerous art guilds that had their own chapels/altars there.
The main altar has a painting by Nicolas De Liemaecker. He was a painter from the 17th century who received positive acclaim from Rubens and tells the story of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra.
The organ has been recently restored.
Stained glass windows are by Capronnier and Herman Blondeel- a mix of older and more modern.
It was a welcome calm space.
You may just see the rainbow colours of the modern stained glass and below, the aforementioned painting.
Some of the more historc stained glass.
I was interested to look at the organ. It dates from 1856 and it is a Romantic era organ which was constructed by Aristide Cavaille-Coll. The organ itself has been recently restored, as has the nave, and one can see the organ on its loft again to the western portal.
I decided to sit for a while in the church. For rest and a pray.
At this moment, I noticed a man in the chancel area near the altar. Was the verger?
In an extremely haphazard way, I saw him wielding this rather long pole with a dangling part which he was, rather unsuccessfully, attempting to light these extremely high candles. The flames started licking down the fabric/string/whatever was hanging down and he had to bring it back to him and urgently blow it out and relight it several times before he was able to successfully light them. Surely, there is a better way to light these monumental candles?
I then watched with befuddlement as he then appear to clamber up onto the altar to light those candles. Somehow, I did wonder if he was just a random person giving it a go!
At this point, I saw another man, the organist, climbing the spiral staircase to the organ loft and begin practising. He pedestrianly plodded his way through some sort of fast Processional (which he needed to practice, definitely!)
At this point, I reluctantly, after several minutes of listening to the organ, decided to continue onwards.
I took a brief look in the Campanile tower but decided not to climb it as my bags were feeling rather unwieldy and heavy.
I decided to go into St Bavo's Cathedral. At the door was a lady with a bowl so I gave her some change and went in.
Another beautiful place, it's the oldest parish church in Ghent. Originally, it was a 10th century church as well as a 12th century Romanesque church. However, later on, during the middle ages, because Ghent was so powerful, it had the wealth to build much more opulent and vaster churches. o The church was converted, in the 15th-16th century into a cathedral. The Romanesque structure was replaced with a Gothich church of greater proportions.
There are lots of beautiful examples of art.
A Baroque high altar caarved from white, black and red flamed marble.
A Rococo pulpit and a Rubens as well as The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the Van Eyck brothers.
I loved this particular stained glass window.
As I left, the golden hour was lighting the buildings gloriously.
I decided I would like to have a hot chocolate or a cup of tea. I was waiting for CBC's call to say he was ready to meet me but wasn't sure how long he would be.
After a wander, trying to find somewhere quiet for a cup of tea, I ended up in a Wasbar. This is a restaurant which is also a laundry- they have washing machines perhaps so students can wait for their washing whilst enjoying a drink?!
I opted for a tea and found the lovely, nearly empty second floor table to sit and read my rather large and heavy book, The Shadow of the Wind. I had carried it around all day so I really wanted to make sure I read some!
After I'd been there for a while, CBC called to say he was finished and back to the car and perhaps would be with me within half an hour. To avoid him falling foul of the LEZ zone, I decided try and make my way back to where he had dropped me off. Trouble was, with my ineffable sense of direction, I had NO idea where that was!
I set off, trying to plot a trail. At one point, I seemed to pass a music college as I could hear a whole load of clarinets playing together and then 2 more clarinets playing something completely different from a nearby space/room.
CBC and I spent a tedious 25 minutes trying to find each other as 'Live Location' was not playing ball on maps so we couldn't pin each other.
Finally, we found each other and drove back to Het Soatewater.
I was very excited as we were to have a Tapas platter prepared by Veronique.
I could not believe the size of it.
Breads, crackers, cheeses, meats, fruits, nuts, jams and chutneys were in abundance:
CBC was exhausted by his epic cycle so only ate a bit before he conked out asleep on the bed.
I managed to get him to have a shower later. It was a quiet evening.
