Onder de maan schuift de lange rivier

First things first. Gent is awesome!

We started out the day by walking about half a block to a bakery and small market to get breakfast which made us feel ever so much like locals. We got some pastries, yogurt and juice. There is one of those stove top espresso contraptions in our studio, which Tommy has mastered in short time. Our breakfast was therefore quite lovely.

After breakfast we walked over to the Gent City Museum, abbreviated STAM. (We're not sure why it is called that). The museum is in a Gothic abbey and follows the history of Gent from its pre-history through the Medieval era when Gent became a clothing trading boom town, on to it's involvement in wider European politics in the Early Modern time period, and all the way up to today. There weren't as much English on the description plaques as Tommy would have liked, but that's probably good because otherwise we'd still be there with after closing time looking at the exhibits with flashlights.

The nuns used this as a dining hall. In 1715 the nuns decided to modernize and add a dropped, stucco ceiling and plaster walls. Can you imagine?!

After we were finished at the museum we caught the tram, in the manner of a local, to the city center, and found a little cafe that seemed quite popular for lunch. It was delicious. Baguette bread is my favorite, and the tomato soup was different from what we have at home, but still really tasty and fresh.

The tomato soup soup was so good!

Feeling energized after our lunch, we decided to climb to the top of the belfry (aka belfort). I'm not sure how many steps there were, but I do know that the Gent belfry is the tallest in Belgium. In fact it was up until 2012 (or 2010) the tallest building in Gent. Between the two belfries we've climbed and the steps up to our studio, my legs have been sore!

The belfry. We climbed to that area just below the clock

Saint Nicholas' Church from the top of the belfry

Unfortunately, this is the view of Saint Bavo's Cathedral

After we climbed back down the belfry, we headed to Sint-Baafskathedraal (Cathedral of St. Bavo) and Sint-Niklaaskerk (St. Nicholas' Church). Unfortunately, there were no photography signs inside St. Bavo's so I can't show you what the interior looked like. It was very cool to be back inside an old, giant cathedral again. I have missed them.

Here is the inside of Sint-Niklaaskerk. This  church was undergoing some  renovations/restorations as well.

We also took a very enjoyable boat tour this afternoon. Here was our guide:

The boat wasn't full so he took the time to talk to each of us and find out where we were from and a little about what brought us all to Gent. He was very personable and an entertaining tour guide. Here are some gables and canals.

Onder de maan schuift de lange rivier translates to "Under the moon slides the long river". It's the first line of a poem that was painted along the canal

And Gent at night:

Tomorrow we're going to head to Antwerp. Have a great day!