May 13 Saturday train(s) ..to.. Ghent,Belgium

Time to say good-bye to very picturesque Delft.   On our walk to the train station we noticed that it was Saturday's flea market day with stalls all around The Old Church.

When buying our tickets at the train station we helped a couple from Arkansas at the machine.  This was the first leg :   onto to Breda to transfer to Antwerp..

We had a very tight window of 5-minutes to make the transfer at Breda.   But at our next stop, a lot of people including train staff helped a wheelchair-bound person get on the train at Rotterdam .. taking about 4-minutes.    As we were running and pulling suitcases down the platform .. we said good-bye to our connection.   On the bright side it gave us an hour to cool our jets.   And help another couple from the U.S. determine the route to get to the Brussels airport.   On the next leg to Antwerp it was such a busy train that many, including us, had to stand for 41-minutes.

Antwerp .. what a beautiful, large train station!   Like a large airport to navigate through.   We had seats this time for the 42-minute ride to Ghent.   For the first time on this long trip, we decided to take a taxi to the hotel.   We chose this for its location but had NO idea how prime a spot it was!!   These were the views outside our window :

AND .. right outside the hotel's front door !! :    St.Bavo's Cathedral

and ..

These sights injected us with new energy!   We hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was around 3:30 .. but we were awestruck and had to continue discovering ..

The weather was gorgeous and many many people were enjoying the old part of Ghent.   Outdoor cafes were filled, lots soaking up the sun with a beer or wine.

Like many Netherlands and Belgium towns and cities, canals were everywhere.

Like in Nuremberg, I saw the edge of a castle ..and.. we had to go explore!

It's Gravensteen, a castle dating from 1180 and was the residence of the Counts of Flanders until 1353.   It was re-purposed as a court, prison, mint, and a cotton factory.

We ate our late lunch / early dinner here in its shadow.

We were running on empty at this time and headed back to the hotel to call it a day but just had to get in a few more sights, and you know us, if the door to a church is open .. then we need to marvel at its interior!

This is St.Bavo's Cathedral (also known as St.Baaf's).  Construction of the gothic church started in 1274.    A Catholic church.

Ghent became one of Northern Europe's largest and richest cities, with some 50,000 people in 1300.    Even though we researched Ghent before we planned our itinerary we didn't expect this volume of well-preserved buildings!

It's almost 8-pm .. and we're dragging after a busy train travel day.   Hopefully a good rest and a super-charged breakfast will give us the energy to travel to Bruges and enjoy another beautiful medieval city.   We'll be adventurous and take the No.1 tram to the train station for a fun day of travel and sight-seeing!

Take care,   .. only a few more days til we see and talk to you!

Jan & Joe