Sleeping in has to be one of the greatest things in existence. In my post from Wednesday, I mentioned how much jet lag we were all feeling and because we postponed our activities until 10 this morning, we were all able to get some much needed rest. With most of our class in Paris, the nine of us were able to have free reign of our bus and decided to take it to the small city of Ghent.

Ghent is smaller city just northwest of Brussels but has a remarkable history and extremely friendly people. None of us, including Dr. Morris knew much about the city so we were flying by the seat of our pants. Naturally since this is Europe, the first thing that struck our senses was the view we had from our drop off point within the city:

As we continued to walk, we just ran into picturesque after picturesque scenes throughout the city:

That’s Neha, Becky and Egan from L-R

This city has three gargantuan churches with an architectural brilliance that’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen.

St. Niklaaskerk Church (Exterior and Interior)

The biggest surprise was the last church we toured: The Sint Baafskathedraal. Construction of this medieval cathedral began in early 1200s and took hundreds of years to complete. While there was a strict “no camera” rule, I was able to take a quick shot of the front of the church when we walked in:

Not only was there a main church area but behind that alter lies a circular network of side chapels, paintings and burial sites for many church leaders. This church also holds an underground crypt and The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, a painting by the famous Flemish artist Jan van Eyck.

Thanks to a bit of help from a waitress at the Tea Room where we had coffee, we were shown Ghent’s medieval castle and were also directed on a boat ride through Ghent’s channel system.

Upon leaving Ghent we decided that a nap was in order to recharge ourselves and progressed to dine at a wonderful little seafood restaurant right off of The Grand Place where we were served a delicious three course meal of mussels, escargot, chicken and a chocolate dessert. In addition to the wonderful food was a soundtrack which had a lot to be desired. We noticed that the restaurant had a Celine Dion a d Ace of Base fetish and was pushing through on repeat. So naturally I will eventually go insane due to their songs constantly being repeated in my head. Thanks, Canada.