This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through that link, I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks in advance for your continued support!
Two weeks ago we had yet another German public holiday! This time we celebrated Corpus Christi. If you’re thinking, what the heck is that holiday? Well, you have the exact same reaction as me! A quick google search informed me that the Feast of Corpus Christi celebrates the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. For not being a very religious country, Germany sure does love celebrating its Christian holidays (I actually think they just really like having the day off from work). Anyways, the holiday fell on a Thursday and my law professor decided to cancel our Friday class which meant I had a five day weekend! Obviously, I wasn’t going to stay at home 🙂
I had been wanting to visit Belgium since the last time I studied in Germany in 2012. Ticket prices were fairly cheap so I decided to devote the weekend to Ghent, Bruges, and Brussels. Oh goodness, I just had such a wonderful weekend gorging myself with waffles, chocolate, beer, and fries. I definitely gained a kilo or two from all the delicious food 🙂
Ghent is located in the Flemish part of Belgium where Dutch is the primary language. It was nice being in the Dutch region of Belgium because I know zero French and can actually semi understand/read Dutch due to being really similar to German. I didn’t know what to expect in Ghent and was taken aback by just how gorgeous the city was…seriously, I kept calling it the secret gem of Europe! Hopefully my pictures do it justice 🙂
love love love
traditional stand selling Cuberdons, a raspberry-flavored candy from the Flemish region
the Gravensteen, also known as the Castle of the Count
I just thought this was the cutest picture!
Belfort in Ghent
old buildings along the canal
St. Nicholas’ Church
the famous St. Michael’s Bridge
oh Ghent, you’re so pretty!
One of the only sunny pictures from Ghent!
Ghent was my first stop and the middle point between Bruges and Brussels. I spent two nights in a hostel in Ghent although I spent one day in Bruges. I’d highly recommend staying in the adorable town of Ghent.
9 Comments
That is a really pretty city. I remember Brussels and Bruges being pretty as but this is just something else!
Thanks so much! I was blown away by how gorgeous Ghent was 🙂 Definitely happy I decided to visit!
Welp, I’ve just added Ghent to my list of places to visit, thanks to your lovely photos. This place looks amazing!
You must visit Ghent! It only needs about a day to see everything so it is a nice side trip 🙂 As I said before, let me know if you need any suggestions on where to go in Belgium (I’m publishing a post on Brussels either today or tomorrow). If you plan on traveling a lot, let me know 🙂 I live in Germany (originally from the USA) and love giving suggestions!
I would love suggestions! I am American as well and I’m going to be moving to France in a month to work as an au pair for a year. Belgium is very high on my list of places to visit but I’m also open to suggestions as well because I’ve never been out of the United States!
What a lovely post… glad you enjoyed Ghent – don’t tell anyone but I actually prefer it to Bruges!
hahaha…that’s so funny! I actually prefer Bruges to Ghent (even though I still LOVE Ghent!) 🙂
Pingback: The Historical Town of Dinant // Belgium - Wayfaring With Wagner
If I allowed myself to have a favourite place, this would very possibly be it. Lovely to see it through someone else’s eyes.