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City of Sneukels.
Feb. 19th, 2011 09:23 pmA strange bed is never your own, and with that thought I woke up this morning. Nathreee was awake already and soon we descended into the lobby for the standard hotel breakfast fare. The only quirk was that the eggs still needed boiling (ugh, too much hassle) and the coffee was horrible.
Much more modern, and a lot more colourful too!
We ventured out into the city, opting to steer our paces up the hill and away from the historic center. Our first stop was the Chocolate bar, which would only open at noon. We lost some time looking around a church, but I voted against going in. I hate to be the tourist disturbing all the legitimate faithful at their prayers; I'd rather respect their beliefs and their sanctuary.
After having a filling cup of hot cocoa, we ventured back into history-town and picked up some souvenirs. They're not even all chocolate either! So we did good. We bought some cards to send home (even though we'll probably arrive before they do) and wrote them while we gave our feet a rest.
The rain was coming down in a steady drizzle by the time we arrived at the tourist information for our sneukeltour. I'd half expected them to cancel, because probably not many people would be taking a break in Gent around February, but I must admit the amount of tourists for rainy February is staggering.
Cholula: hot cocoa with marshmellows!
The guide showed us around, explaining the name of the tour. "Sneukelen" is the Gent dialect for the Dutch word "snoepen" and that is the smaller version of snacking (semi-illegally stealing small bits of food*). Around the back of the building housing the tourist info, was a small prison. On the front was a statue of a male suckling at a female's chest, making himself the biggest sneukeler in the city.
One thing about this city that baffles me** is how they use their architecture. 12th century warehouses are wedged next to 18th century mansions, when the function of the quay next to the river had changed a lot and the bourgeouis would like to live near the river and the church. They also use their amazing buildings for the weirdest things. We ran into a complex looking a lot like an embassy or palace, complete with courtyard, side buildings, and back gates. It was in use as a part of the Gent university, had bikes parked all over the front porch, and had a climbing wall glued to one side of the historic building.
We saw no less than three MacDonald's housed in the ground floor of some of the more pristine buildings. It only goes to show that you can never tell.
The prison was glued up to a building far older, insinuating itself in a way that would make the more baroque buildings go look up the other one's rococo.
We continued the tour, got some explanation about the City Hall. Part of it was built in the 15th century, but after fifty years they had to stop because someone took the city's cash. The rest was finished in the 18th century, in the more modern style. Lovely detail is the blue-and-white rainpipe, which indicated to the citizens that that funneled safe drinking water from the roof where the rain was collected. During the dry season, the Belgians would drink beer (from the numerous breweries in the city) amounting up to nearly 350 liters of beer a year per head of the populace.
Are they brains? Are they fungus? No, it's cheese!
Ew.
Some of the shops would supply us with our snacks, but because the group was rather large and the shops were rather small, we had to stay out in the street. The drizzle was still continuing. We started with some cheeses, and then continued to the Vegetable Market where we got some ham from the Meat House.
Our guide Karel spoke at length about the Vegetable Market, which was first called the Fish Market, and was marked in size by four wooden poles. People who were caught gambling were nailed to these "schandpalen" and to be pummeled with 'soft trash' (like fishheads) until they would be able to tear themselves away. Karel was quite eloquent and made it really clear how things must have been to those with a lively imagination.
The meat house (dating back to 15th century!) was where the meat was sold, adjacent to the Fish Market. Nowhere else in the city could one buy the meat or fish for the table, so this was a very important square. Of course, on Sunday the Meat House was closed, and the meat from the previous week, said Karel, would be gathered on Monday from where it had scuttled off to***, they would add herbs and fry it at the "Braderij" which was later transformed into "Braderie" which is a modern Dutch word for '(Flea) Market'. Ew.
Hams hanging from the ceiling in Het Vleeshuis
After the ham from the Meat Market we continued down the city, looking at architecture of note, like the old Sint Joris (Saint George) topped 15th century tavern. Because lanterns were taxed unless they were illuminating a religious statue, the tavern held a small Maria-statue in the side wall, near the lantern. Of course, it would gain more custom because of the lantern, and it was a handy means to dodge taxes.
We sampled candy and chocolate. We looked at 18th century statues depicting 14th century people****. The oldest, still-wooden back of a house overlooking the canal. The student protest of 1949 where the students took over the 9th century fortress because the prizes of beer were raised from 3 francs to 4,50 francs and they had to be forcibly removed by the police and fire department (try getting 130 students throwing rotten fruit from a medieval fortress with only one entrance....). The two-hour tour was lively and lovely, and only spoiled by the rain and very cold winds.
Maria Statue makes lantern tax-deductable. The colourful history of Gent never ceases to amaze!
We took turns in the shower to get warm again, and then left for dinner, a lovely restarant at a street we'd have completely missed if not for the guided tour of the afternoon. We had a lovely dinner and then went back to the hotel to munch on some lovely cheeses.
Tomorrow our Gent adventure ends again. I am not averse to going home as the architecture is sneaking up on me in the small alleys and there's only so much drizzle my camera can stomach! On the other hand, it's so lovely to get away from it all with a dear friend and in that regard I'd wish it never would end.
-----
*) Because it just tastes so much better when you're having smaller quantities.
**) Except for the staggering amount of cobblestones used in paving all the roads.
***) I am not making this up.
****) The joke goes: why is he holding his hand like that? Because he's ordering one pint for himself, and four for the ladies.
Much more modern, and a lot more colourful too!
We ventured out into the city, opting to steer our paces up the hill and away from the historic center. Our first stop was the Chocolate bar, which would only open at noon. We lost some time looking around a church, but I voted against going in. I hate to be the tourist disturbing all the legitimate faithful at their prayers; I'd rather respect their beliefs and their sanctuary.
After having a filling cup of hot cocoa, we ventured back into history-town and picked up some souvenirs. They're not even all chocolate either! So we did good. We bought some cards to send home (even though we'll probably arrive before they do) and wrote them while we gave our feet a rest.
The rain was coming down in a steady drizzle by the time we arrived at the tourist information for our sneukeltour. I'd half expected them to cancel, because probably not many people would be taking a break in Gent around February, but I must admit the amount of tourists for rainy February is staggering.
Cholula: hot cocoa with marshmellows!
The guide showed us around, explaining the name of the tour. "Sneukelen" is the Gent dialect for the Dutch word "snoepen" and that is the smaller version of snacking (semi-illegally stealing small bits of food*). Around the back of the building housing the tourist info, was a small prison. On the front was a statue of a male suckling at a female's chest, making himself the biggest sneukeler in the city.
One thing about this city that baffles me** is how they use their architecture. 12th century warehouses are wedged next to 18th century mansions, when the function of the quay next to the river had changed a lot and the bourgeouis would like to live near the river and the church. They also use their amazing buildings for the weirdest things. We ran into a complex looking a lot like an embassy or palace, complete with courtyard, side buildings, and back gates. It was in use as a part of the Gent university, had bikes parked all over the front porch, and had a climbing wall glued to one side of the historic building.
We saw no less than three MacDonald's housed in the ground floor of some of the more pristine buildings. It only goes to show that you can never tell.
The prison was glued up to a building far older, insinuating itself in a way that would make the more baroque buildings go look up the other one's rococo.
We continued the tour, got some explanation about the City Hall. Part of it was built in the 15th century, but after fifty years they had to stop because someone took the city's cash. The rest was finished in the 18th century, in the more modern style. Lovely detail is the blue-and-white rainpipe, which indicated to the citizens that that funneled safe drinking water from the roof where the rain was collected. During the dry season, the Belgians would drink beer (from the numerous breweries in the city) amounting up to nearly 350 liters of beer a year per head of the populace.
Are they brains? Are they fungus? No, it's cheese!
Ew.
Some of the shops would supply us with our snacks, but because the group was rather large and the shops were rather small, we had to stay out in the street. The drizzle was still continuing. We started with some cheeses, and then continued to the Vegetable Market where we got some ham from the Meat House.
Our guide Karel spoke at length about the Vegetable Market, which was first called the Fish Market, and was marked in size by four wooden poles. People who were caught gambling were nailed to these "schandpalen" and to be pummeled with 'soft trash' (like fishheads) until they would be able to tear themselves away. Karel was quite eloquent and made it really clear how things must have been to those with a lively imagination.
The meat house (dating back to 15th century!) was where the meat was sold, adjacent to the Fish Market. Nowhere else in the city could one buy the meat or fish for the table, so this was a very important square. Of course, on Sunday the Meat House was closed, and the meat from the previous week, said Karel, would be gathered on Monday from where it had scuttled off to***, they would add herbs and fry it at the "Braderij" which was later transformed into "Braderie" which is a modern Dutch word for '(Flea) Market'. Ew.
Hams hanging from the ceiling in Het Vleeshuis
After the ham from the Meat Market we continued down the city, looking at architecture of note, like the old Sint Joris (Saint George) topped 15th century tavern. Because lanterns were taxed unless they were illuminating a religious statue, the tavern held a small Maria-statue in the side wall, near the lantern. Of course, it would gain more custom because of the lantern, and it was a handy means to dodge taxes.
We sampled candy and chocolate. We looked at 18th century statues depicting 14th century people****. The oldest, still-wooden back of a house overlooking the canal. The student protest of 1949 where the students took over the 9th century fortress because the prizes of beer were raised from 3 francs to 4,50 francs and they had to be forcibly removed by the police and fire department (try getting 130 students throwing rotten fruit from a medieval fortress with only one entrance....). The two-hour tour was lively and lovely, and only spoiled by the rain and very cold winds.
Maria Statue makes lantern tax-deductable. The colourful history of Gent never ceases to amaze!
We took turns in the shower to get warm again, and then left for dinner, a lovely restarant at a street we'd have completely missed if not for the guided tour of the afternoon. We had a lovely dinner and then went back to the hotel to munch on some lovely cheeses.
Tomorrow our Gent adventure ends again. I am not averse to going home as the architecture is sneaking up on me in the small alleys and there's only so much drizzle my camera can stomach! On the other hand, it's so lovely to get away from it all with a dear friend and in that regard I'd wish it never would end.
-----
*) Because it just tastes so much better when you're having smaller quantities.
**) Except for the staggering amount of cobblestones used in paving all the roads.
***) I am not making this up.
****) The joke goes: why is he holding his hand like that? Because he's ordering one pint for himself, and four for the ladies.
