Amsterdam to Gent

A final shot from the train on the way to Belgium this morning.  This is the canal that Ben's houseboat sits on, with the windmill in the background.

The houseboat is fourth from the far end (if you can manage to see - I can't)

Our first train journey in Europe, and the train left Amsterdam 15 minutes late.  That meant missing our connection in Antwerpen.  So much for getting up early to catch an earlier train.  It was also one of the most boring train rides, scenery-wise.  Half an hour out of Amsterdam, and the scenery was mainly industrial, or hedges protecting housing from train noise, which meant nothing to look at.  Oh, well...

Antwerpen station, which is enormous and on many levels, but the facade is beautiful

Somewhere between Antwerpen and Gent - a Belgian windmill!

Gent station is also pretty impressive

We caught a tram into the centre to find our room.  This is our Wimdu accommodation (which is like AirBnB).  Geert lives in an apartment right near St Baaf's Cathedral.  He wasn't home today, but he left instructions and keys so that we could find the place and let ourselves in.  After dropping off our luggage, we went for a walk into Gent.  Weather today is actually pretty warm.

Amazing detail...

Gent has canals, too

We decided to go on a canal tour.  There weren't too many on our boat - we saw others that were pretty crowded.  Our guide, Tim, was quite hilarious.  So many jokes - and most were actually funny.  He did the commentary in English as there were only three Dutch speakers on the tour.

Graslei.  Most buildings date from the 16th century

Graslei

Graslei

All the church towers of Gent

Some beautiful buildings

Graslei again - from the other direction

Het Gravensteen, the Castle of the Counts

Some parts of the castle date back to the 1100s, but most dates from later centuries

It was Gent's main military stronghold until the 14th century

It was used as the city's gaol until the late 1700s

After that, it became a cotton mill

 We wandered around some more.  Gent is amazing. I've never seen a town like it.  Some incredible architecture, with the castle plonked right in the middle of the town.  This is definitely a town worth a couple of days exploration in the future.

The entrance to Gravensteen

St Niklaaskerk

 And some shots of our accommodation to finish off for today.  The apartment is on the fourth floor.

Kirily in our room

Looking north from the front balcony towards St Baaf's Cathedral

The view to the south

St Baaf's Cathedral from the back balcony