Ghent and Bruges

Hello! This is Eli in Europe reporting on my interesting day-trip to Bruges and Ghent. You may be asking yourself, "why is Eli posting a day late?" Well, it is rude to interrupt someone when they speak. However, I have a legitimate reason for not posting yesterday: Yesterday I climbed 732 winding steps up the Belfry Tower in Bruges, Belgium.

The massive bell tower, built around 1240, has 8-inch-high steps and few safety features. Due to the winding of the steps, they are extremely narrow on the inside, making it even more difficult to climb when passing someone coming down the staircase. Furthermore, this difficulty was exacerbated by the many different languages spoken in the area, making it difficult to communicate with other climbers.  After an extremely treacherous 366 step climb, we finally arrived at the top. Although the tower had a magnificent view, it was also very windy, and frankly I wanted to get out of the tower as soon as possible. Climbing down was less difficult, however, it was not easy. Overall I had climbed 732 steps in the tower, including ascending and descending it. When I returned to the apartment, on did some research on the Belfry Tower. The tower leans one meter to the east and seven people have perished in it. I am not planning on climbing the Belfry Tower again.

After we visited the tower we explored Bruges, a quaint, historical city with cobblestone streets. Most of the people there were tourists from many nations, and most shops catered to all nationalities. For example, the menu at our dinner restaurant was in seven different languages. In addition, I tried frites, waffles, and mussels, Belgium's most famous foods, while in Bruges.

Before we visited Bruges, my family and I visited Ghent, a medieval city that also had cobblestone streets. While there, we visited the famous Saint Bavo Cathedral, home of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, a 500 year old series of panels painted by the Van Eyck brothers. This painting has been stolen many times, however, the security is not tight. The painting depicts many aspects of Christianity. A helpful audio guide informed is of the meaning of each panel. It would take a great deal of time to describe the painting in detail, but I'm sure there is information about it on the internet. I have no pictures of the panels, as photography was not allowed. I did manage to snap one picture of the cathedral, even though photography was forbidden.

We enjoyed day trip to Bruges and Ghent. Today, we are planning to further explore Brussels, as it is our last day before leaving for Amsterdam.

This is Eli in Europe, signing off. 

P.S. - Sorry for the lack of photos. Our internet connection here is very unreliable. When we arrive in Amsterdam, we will post all the photos from Brussels. Thanks!