On a cloudy day, a streak of Sun lights up the Belfry tower, like no thousand flash bulbs could ever.

Smitten by Antwerpen and Brugge, we couldn’t miss another opportunity to visit this beautiful country—known the world over for its sweet, soft-spoken and friendly people. Their chocolates—worth dying for.

But Ghent was not on radar, when we planned our trip—it was supposed to be a drive to Paris and back. But the distance made us rethink—about how frisky we’d be after a 7-hour drive, and still be able to stretch our hands-up to the air of the magical Disneyland.

On our second trip to Belgium, we were reminded of its distinctive tarmac feel; and traffic signals—they’re a common sight on Belgian motorways. But of course, roads are not what Belgium is proud of.

Ghent looks like a city frozen in the middle ages. Its carefully maintained and restored medieval architecture lets you have a glimpse of its magnificent past.

It is best to see Ghent by boat and of course, on foot. We enjoyed an uninterrupted view of this perfectly preserved city, together with a group of strangers. The best, however, isn’t how beautiful this place is.

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Places retain their sparkle, not because of mere luck or destiny, but because of the efforts by its people, who are passionate enough to see it that way and feel proud about. We saw that in Brugge, and we were happy to see it in Ghent. We could see that they weren’t just proud of their heritage, but felt equally responsible in maintaining it that way.

Some pictures—taken during this trip.

Near Mariott Ghent: Korenlei 10, B-9000 Ghent, BE.

Mechelen is a very cozy place, tiny streets where you could barely squeeze your car in and out of; and it’s hard-to distinguish whether it’s meant for vehicular or pedestrian traffic, thanks to the cobblestone pavement used without distinction. We took one, much to the surprise of many onlookers and outdoor diners. It became obvious to us that it was a pedestrian street and we drove over it, smiling and waving at them =). It goes without saying that we were lucky not to have the Belgian (traffic) police around.

The GPS took us close to the hotel, but we couldn’t distinguish it, thanks to Mechelen’s extremely narrow lanes. We called the hotel’s central help and gave her our position. While she was giving us directions, we mentioned that we were using the GPS. She stopped and said: “Oh, you’re using GPS? Good, because usually GPS devices cannot find our street, so try this one.” And she gave us another street name and a number, with which our device took us straight to the hotel door.

It was most interesting to note Novotel staff’s GPS-awareness and their quick response to customer’s needs. We wouldn’t be surprised if this goes for most places in Europe.

In retrospect, our decision to choose Flemish Belgium, as the first place to visit outside Holland, proved worthwhile and fruitful. Particularly Antwerpen and Brugge. Both, breathtakingly beautiful. Also, because both these places are not too far away. Antwerp (or Antwerpen in Dutch) is about 130km, while Bruges (or Brugge) is a little over 200km from Den Haag.

On Saturday morning, we packed some sandwiches, topped-up, and hit the road.

The motorway was busy; a freak accident on the road had brought the 120kmph hitting caravan to a snail’s pace for a couple of kilometers. So, it took us a little over two hours to reach Antwerpen.

Day One: Antwerp

The cobblestone pavements of Antwerp makes this place bumpy. Our copy of Rough Guide to Europe suggested we go to the Grote Markt — the city center — where the action, and places worth visiting, would most be.

The plan was to park somewhere safe and go on foot, as most travel guides suggest. It’s also probably the most efficient and fulfilling way of seeing things. We parked in Grote Markt’s large covered parking, in front of Castle Steen, and set out.

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Here’s the map of our site-seeing tour on foot and later in a horse drawn carriage, which Sneha and the kids enjoyed the most. (Satellite or hybrid map options look best, on what to expect from those marked places, and also help you get to know the area.)

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of Our Lady) will, perhaps, be my most memorable place of visit in Antwerp. It was to have two towers instead of the only one seen, and it took, apparently, about 170 years to construct. We heard that the second tower was never constructed, due to lack of funds and interest.

At the center of the cathedral are two of Peter Paul Rubens’s magnificient paintings — The Raising of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross.

The raising of the cross (central panel) by Peter Paul Rubens

Rubens (1577-1640) painted The raising of the cross in 1609-1610, when he himself was about the age of the martyred Christ. Until 1794, this colossal work (central panel: 460 x 340 cm, side panels: 460 x 150 cm) was part of the high altar of the St Walburgis Church, which was later demolished. Hauled away by the French, the triptych was returned to Antwerp in 1815, where since 1816 it has had a central place in the Our Lady’s Cathedral. In The raising of the cross, Rubens introduced baroque art in the Netherlands after an eight year stay in Italy. The whirling strength, the impelling dynamism that characterize this masterpiece full of drama and pathos are striking. Nevertheless the whole presentation appears coherent and balanced.

The diagonal composition of the central panel, with nine assistant executioners who act in unison, exerting their intensely earthly, carnal strength to raise the cross with the pale Christ, possesses a gruesome beauty. Here, Rubens has set down the raising of the cross, which until that time had scarcely appeared in the visual arts, in an unprecedentedly expressive, almost tempestuous manner. This relates to Roman-Catholic self-confidence, which was regained during the Counter reformation.

The Descent from the cross (central panel) by Peter Paul Rubens

Although painted a few years after The raising of the cross, Rubens to some extent made use of another style for The descent from the cross (1611-1614). The sense of clarity and serenity are greater here. The light shines more softly. The positions and movements of the figures are more controlled. Overall, the whole painting looks more classical. Nevertheless, because of its stylish grandeur, monumental character (central panel: 421 x 311 cm, side panels: 421 x 153 cm), diagonal composition, and sense of the dramatic and decorative, this triptych is a paragon of baroque art.

On the central panel eight people carefully take the lifeless Christ from the cross. Starting from the top and moving down, there are two anonymous helpers, then Joseph of Arimathea on the left and Nicodemus on the right; below are Mary, who stretches out her arms toward her son, John, in his fiery red garments, and at the very bottom Mary Cleophas and Mary Magdalen. Against the flat, dark background the figures light up three-dimensionally, as it were. Together they bear the body of Christ, which they have taken up in a white shroud - a reference to the Corpus Christi and the Eucharist.

We spent most of the day in Antwerp before heading to Mechelen, a lovely town between Antwerpen and Brussels to camp for the night.

Day Two: Brugge

Brugge is one of the most perfectly preserved medieval cities in Europe. You really have to see it to believe it. It is that good. And this is one place you should never miss, whenever you plan a trip to Belgium.

Brugge at Belgium © Robbie Veldwijk, CC.

Home to Heilig Bloed Basiliek (Basilica of the Holy Blood), named after a phial of Jesus Christ’s blood brought back here by the Crusaders from Jerusalem, and one of the holiest relics in medieval Christendom. We were fortunate enough to pay our respects to it. I cannot describe the feeling.

Later, Aaryana and I wandered into Tintin shop. We really wanted to buy a lot of souvenirs, but they had some mind blowing prices, more on the lines of nice to see, burn if you buy. All we could pick-up were a few small things.

We also picked-up some of the finest home and freshly made Belgian chocolates from Van Oost Chocolatier, before hanging around Brugge and finally heading back home to Holland.

The return journey of 216 km took us about two hours. The GPS worked with amazing flawlessness throughout our trip; we were glad we took it along. It really did save a lot of our time, fuel and the frustration of finding places, traffic warnings, public parking places, et al.

We had a wonderful time. (A link to the slideshow.)