One of Rob’s coworkers, Lena, is from Gent. We road tripped there and explored the city with both of our families. We were charmed by the sights and by the inhabitants of the city. Like Maastricht, Gent has a pedestrian only downtown. In contrast with Maastricht, the city felt very comfortably lived in. Both cities were delightful.
We had lunch (the kids got Belgian waffles!), went on a river boat ride, toured churches and a castle, enjoyed street art, found ham hanging from rafters, and of course had ice cream.
The boat ride was delightful on a hot day. The castle had exhibits on midevil weapons and torture, including a replica of a guillotine. Meg had a really hard time with why humans would hurt each other like that. The rest castle was neat, and all the stone keeps it cool in the warmth. The kids now consider themselves experts on churches and castles.
We also parked in an interesting parking garage, with ambient music, free and clean bathrooms, paintings of books on the wall, and a machine to test your BAC before getting in your car.
