360-degree photos are in Flickr.com (taken with my LG 360).
Ghent is not as pretty as Bruges. The public transport seems unreliable. But I had a few good experiences.
I found the two museums nearer to the train station: the Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Fine Arts Museum) and the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK), which were right next to each other and to the pretty Citadelpark. They were still a bus ride away from the train station for €3 each way. Each cost €8. The Stedelijk was more interesting.
The Citadelpark was an oasis. I found a waterfalls with a cave behind it. From the cave, there are stone steps that led you up to the sculpture at the top of the cave.
After exploring that part of the park, I walked some distance away to catch a tram to Korenmarkt. It was a very long wait.
The system wasn't very straightforward. The door at the front of the tram didn't open, so I had to ask a young lady how to buy a ticket. She only knew to buy it at the station, so I tried the driver, who sold me one.
There were several old buildings at the area and I had to rely on Google Maps to tell me which one was the right church. Along the way, a sidewalk cafe says something about waffles, crepes, and chocolate, and I was hungry anyway. So I stopped. :)
O... M... G.... The crepes with hot chocolate sauce was heavenly! The chocolate wasn't sweet nor bitter. It was just right. The whipped cream added that extra oomph. The crepes were nicely done and generously sprinkled with powdered sugar. I would have licked the little chocolate bowl but it was a nice upscale place.
I had planned to head back by 3pm to have time for laundry, but it was already 3pm when I got to the church. I ended up staying for two hours.
It's a really beautiful cathedral with so many artifacts and several rooms. The altarpiece by Jan van Eyke was very impressive. It was set far back and they set up a walkway right in front of it. Behind it was a curved walkway that had more rooms that were somewhat dark but that highlighted the gorgeous stained glass windows even more. This was the best cathedral I've seen so far on this trip.
The trip home was slow again. Busses didn't show up so the bus that *did* show up was filled to the hilt. I was at Ghent Dampoort, I couldn't easily figure out which way the train station was, and a strange old man standing with a bike on the sidewalk was staring at me threateningly. I saw a young man hurriedly walking the opposite direction, so I asked him. It turned out that he was heading to the station too, so I walked with him.
He asked me where I was from and he told me much about himself. He lives in Antwerp and works in Ghent as a graphic designer. He had just graduated last year. When we got to the platform, he said goodbye to search for his girlfriend who was meeting him there. There were a lot of people getting on the train too, but I found a seat next to a tall and lanky young man. He had a nice friendly smile when he indicated he had to get off.
It was too late to do laundry, so I got a premade sandwich at the station and walked to the Airbnb. It was still daylight.
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