Originally our trip hadn't included Ghent. But after the cruise line canceled the 10 night Baltic Sea cruise and turned it into a Western European cruise, we left the cruise three days early. Two of those extra three nights ashore we spent in Ghent, with one of the days being a day trip to Antwerp. Although not complete compensation for missing St. Petersburg and other stops in the Baltic, it was an enjoyable extra we hadn't originally planned. And it was much better than the last three days of our cruise which would have included two nights at sea.
We'd planned to take the train from Bruges to Ghent, but we were still new to the Belgian train system and a bit nervous about using it. So when the driver who was taking us from our hotel to the train station asked where we were going, then offered to take us directly to Ghent, we agreed. It did save us a bit of time and wasn't too expensive.
After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we once again took advantage of a boat tour, this time on the Leie River, to get an overview of the area near our hotel. Although it didn't cover as extensive an area of the city as in Bruges or Copenhagen, it did cover many of the highlights of Ghent.
The picture below shows buildings on a main Ghent thoroughfare, the Kraanlei. Much of the commerce that took place in Ghent was based on goods shipped via the river. It was here that large cranes were used to load and unload cargo. Many of the buildings are former warehouses.
The Gravensteen castle was built in 1180.
Just another scenic view along one of Ghent's city streets.
In many parts of Ghent there were squares surrounded by bars and restaurants. Below is a picture of one. We went to a bar/restaurant on the left in the picture. As with all such places in Ghent, and Belgium, they had an excellent selection of beers.
Graffiti Street is a "cobbled alleyway whose walls are covered in vibrant street art and graffiti by local artists."[*]
Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Ghent photo album.
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