The Holland America tour of Ghent may have been the best organized ship tour I have been on. On each bus seat we found a map of Ghent and a card with an emergency number to call in case we had trouble or got lost during our free time in the city. As we rode from Zeebrugge, where Volendam docked, to Ghent the guide asked us to take out the maps and told us where we were going and what to look for. When we got on the canal boat the boatman told us what we were going to do, where he would let us off and pick us up. He was an informative and funny guide. The tour consisted of about an hour and a quarter on the boat and an hour and a quarter to wander. Our wandering included Belgian street food, waffles and apple fritters, a visit to St. Nicholas Church (see separate post) and just enjoying the streets and squares.
We chose to go to Ghent rather than do what most people did, visit Brugge, because we had been to Brugge many times when we lived in Europe but not to Ghent. So, it was off to Ghent, which I was particularly curious about because of the role it played in American History. The Treaty of Ghent between the United States and Great Britain ended the war of 1812 and restored all the area the U.S. lost to Britain. At the time Ghent was in neutral territory, part of the United Netherlands, but in political transition following the Napoleonic Wars.
Ghent can be an atmospheric city on a day of mixed sun and clouds. When the sun is behind a cloud, as it was most of the day, it looks dark and medieval. When the sun breaks through it has a completely different feel. The feel in photos also depends on the camera. I usually stop my Lumix down a third or two thirds of an f stop to give me greater depth of field, but the pics are darker. The iPhone gives me a brighter and more vibrant picture right off the mark, even on cloudy days. Most of my Lumix pics looked medieval. As we say in audio, I fixed it in the mix. I’ve brightened up the Lumix pictures for this gallery.
