I live in a country that is the size of Maryland in the US. This means that you can drive across the entire country in just a couple of hours – we’re sort of in the middle. The 10 largest cities are listed below. I’ve now been to all of them except for #5 – day trip anyone?

1. Brussels, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale
2. Antwerp, Flanders
3. Gent, Flanders
4. Charleroi, Wallonia
5. Liège, Wallonia
6. Brugge, Flanders
7. Namur, Wallonia
8. Leuven, Flanders
9. Mons, Wallonia
10. Aalst, Flanders

This last weekend, Thomas and I went to #3 – Gent, for the day. Gent was a wonderful city, often described as a less-touristy Brugge.  It has the canals, the bicycles, and the medieval architecture.

Dallas by a canal

We toured one of the medieval castles, Gravensteen, which now houses a torture museum. The torture devices were interesting – I still have a hard time believing that some of those methods were really used once upon a time, like water cure. My favorite part was the display of various weapons. Thomas has been talking about starting an English-speaking Dungeons and Dragons group here, and as we looked at the weapons, we started imagining what kind of character would carry each and how much damage they could do. Yes, we’re geeks! :)

Castle by a canal

We also took a canal ride, though I don’t think it was worth it, and also saw the famous Van Eyck painting, Adoration of the Lamb, in the Sint-Baafskathedraal Cathedral. Thomas was a lot more excited about it than I was, however, I enjoyed listening to a children’s choral and orchestral concert in the main area of the church.

RIP MJ graffiti next to a graffiti store

We also enjoyed a tasty lunch of typical Belgian foods – Vol au Vent (creamy chicken in a puff pastry) for me and Waterzooi (creamy chicken soup) for Thomas. Gent has a neat tradition of meat-free Thursdays, which public officials, and soon schools, follow to recognize the environmental effects of meat production.

Art Exhibit in a cafe (we didn't eat here)

In addition to touring the city, we were able to meet up with Lilac-Colored Glasses, an expat blogger I’ve been reading for a while, and her fiance for breakfast. They took us to a neat cafe called Le Pain Quotidian. We ordered baskets of different breads, and the tables were spread with chocolates, jams, and honeys – just trade with another table if you want to try a different one. It was a cool place and I’m excited that there’s a restaurant like this near where I live.

Clock tower in the city center

So Gent…yes, I would rate it higher than Brugges, just because of less tourists.  I didn’t see the big squares like Grand Place in Brussels or Brugge, but even if Gent is a little more spread out, it was a lot more relaxing.  Because the city center is blocked to motorized vehicles, and it’s a university town, there are bicycles everywhere.  We talked about bringing our bikes along next time we visit to explore a little further out.

Thomas was the photographer for the day. If you’d like to see more of the photos, they’re on Flickr:

• Daytrip to Gent (25 photos)

Related posts:

1. Day Trip to Namur
2. Daytrip to Knokke and Brugge
3. Day Trip to Waterloo
4. Belgium Six Months Later – Part 2