What city was once the second largest behind Paris?

The Belgium medieval town of Ghent. I only came across it as it was half way between Paris and Nijmegen in the Netherlands, which is where I was headed. I had tried to find accommodation in Amsterdam and Antwerp last minute but struggled. So Ghent it was. It's not on most people's itinerary but I kinda liked that.

Am not quite down with the history of the town, however it dates back to medieval times. Wealth was created through fabric manufacturing and processing throughout a number of centuries and I can only assume the decline continued ever since until it held the World Exhibition in 1913 and redesigned itself back into a medieval city to attract tourism then.

The refurbished church I stayed in was originally constructed in 1271. Very little of the original structure remains. It was "unblessed" by a bishop (not sure how you arrange that) to enable it to be used for commercial purposes.

The city hosted a huge festival the week just gone, so it was rather dead with some restaurants and bars closed for a few weeks following the festival. Lunch was frites and mayo of course. What if Europe had a potato famine? They'd be farked. So in the frites shop you had a selection of normal fast food....hot dogs, burgers, spring rolls etc in the counter. The difference is that everything in the counter ends up in the deep fryer, including the hamburgers and sausages to my astonishment. The guy who ordered the deep fried burger also got a large fries....not sure his arteries would have made it through the night.

No friggin cider in Belgium other than Strongbow....which doesn't count. Great beer but it is killing me. The draught Grimbergen was tasty. The selection of beers at the bottle-o is extraordinary. Hundreds. The quality of food served in Belgium is akin to that of France but the serving sizes are bigger and it is slightly cheaper. Win win.

The town has set itself up so you can do a night walking tour of the historic sights that are all illuminated after sunset. Takes about 45 minutes. Great idea. Completely safe too, but watch the bicycles. Everywhere.

Adoration of the lamb – Possibly the biggest draw-card to Ghent other than the beautiful city buildings. Tucked away in a small room to the left of the entrance of Sint-Baafs Cathedral is the extraordinary painting by Jan and Hubert van Eyck (1432). Your entrance fee includes an exhaustive but interesting audio-guide that runs you through the 24 inter-linked panels comprising the masterpiece. 

Central to the painting is a lamb about to be sacrificed, witnessed by numerous guests of importance, surrounded by other scenes of significance to the sacrifice. The detail and skill required to produce something so life-like and with so much detail is quite amazing. Religious-content aside, it is truly brilliant. When you see it, it will become apparent just how much planning and thought had gone into each and every character, building, article of clothing, piece of jewellery and colour-selection contained in the painting. And to think I almost didn’t see it, passing it off as just another religious painting.

Interestingly, one of the panels was stolen in 1934. The thief was about to confess where he had hidden it but died just before. The panel’s whereabouts still remains unknown. This panel has since been replicated. It is an absolute must see if you are anywhere near Ghent.

Castle of the Counts - Part of the castle dates back to the 12th century, but much of it has been rebuilt and redesigned. Following the departure of the Counts the castle has been used for a number of purposes including a court and a prison. A particular section of the building was used as a torture chamber, with various instruments of pain on display. They were very crude but no doubt very effective, including something to basically drown someone using a funnel, stretching machines, torture wheels with pikes and so on. It was quite sickening to read how they worked.                                              

Other recommendations:

* Mosquito Coast bar/restaurant.
* Simon Says cafe - you aren't going to get a really good coffee in town but this was ok. Great staff and a really hip crowd.
* t'Klokhuys - restaurant serving traditional Belgium food in generous sizes. Dinner came out in four piece....main plate with salad and stew, another bowl with more stew, a huge bowl of fries and a basket of bread.
* Spijker bar - located in a 13th century leprosy shelter, this place was one of the busier in town. Cute bar girls but they were gay...devastated.

Castle of the Counts