Back in September we traveled to Belgium and the Netherlands, but we ran short on time and didn't make it to Ghent. So last weekend we took a day and drove to Ghent.
I didn't really plan to the extent that I usually do for this quick overnight trip, so we weren't always sure what we were looking at, but the internet helps me learn about it after the fact. This is St. Nicholas' Church or Sint-Niklaaskerk. Built between the 13th and 15th Centuries, it's a pretty cool Gothic church. We peeked inside but Good Friday mass was going on and we didn't want to disturb that, so we left pretty quickly.
Next we grabbed some lunch. Rob waited in line for these Gourmet Frites. Belgian fries with Shakshuka on one and parmesan, tomato, and basil mayo on the other which we enjoyed. They were awesome! While he was waiting for those I took the kiddos to McDonald's because it makes them happy and is easy and affordable. (Those two orders of frites cost 15 Euros.)
We next walked past the 91 meter tall belfry (tallest in Belgium) and poked in some chocolate shops to buy some dessert for later that night.
Ghent is really pretty, but was super crowded on this Good Friday.
The reason I personally wanted to come to Ghent was to see St. Bavo's Cathedral and the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb altarpiece there. The cathedral was started in 1274 on the site of an earlier wooden church dating back to 942. We've seen a lot of European cathedrals, and this one was pretty cool and fairly unique.
You have to pay a few euros to see the Van Eyck altarpiece, and they don't allow any photos, so I pulled this one off the internet. Completed before 1432, it is considered a world art treasure. I love the history of this piece: it is all original except for the lower left-most panel which is a replica despite having some of the panels stolen in WWI and then returned, and the whole thing locked in storage in France during WWII (it had been en route to the Vatican when war was declared,) stolen by the Nazis in 1942 and stored in a salt mine, and different panels were stolen, sold, or damaged by fire throughout the nearly 600 years since they were painted. Despite ALL of that, all but one of the panels have survived and been beautifully restored. It is amazing.
Back outside in front of the Cathedral, we think these kiddos are pretty amazing too. And if you're noticing that red smudge on the corner of many of these photos, I think my new phone case is blocking the camera angle a little bit. I'll have to see about fixing that.
Before heading to our hotel for the night, we took a few more minutes to stroll the streets of Ghent. I'm glad we made the effort to get back here.
When we got back to our car we ouldn't believe how tightly we had been parked in. Rob had to climb in through the trunk of the minivan to get to the driver's seat! These were the tightest parking spaces we have ever seen! We stayed at a Holiday Inn outside the city center, right next to IKEA, and walked to IKEA for dinner that night. The next morning we had a massive buffet breakfast at the hotel where they gave the children full-size chocolate bunnies for Easter! And then we drove the 2 hours to The Hague Temple.
We had never been to The Hague Temple before and were blown away by the gorgeous tulips! Obviously The Netherlands is known for tulips, so this shouldn't have been a surprise, but the gardener told us this was the peak week to see them.
Family selfies at the temple always make me happy.
And here are a bunch more pictures of tulips...
Charlotte and Rob attended a 'baptisms for the dead' session with the youth from our ward.
Meanwhile I took the three littles to explore the nearby town. We had a great time walking through the park, browsing a thrift shop, picking up some snacks for the drive home in a grocery store (stroopwafels, cookie butter, cheese,) and enjoying the temple grounds.
We even got an ice cream cone at a shop where Elsa and Anna made an appearance! Amelie was surprisingly shy and would only take a photo with them if I was in it too. After Rob and Charlotte were done at the temple, we drove home with a short stop at the cheese farm we visited back in September to re-stock on real Gouda cheese. I brought a cooler along just for this! We finally got home at about 10 pm and everyone went right to sleep so the Easter Bunny could come. It was a fun mini-trip, and the last time we'll leave Germany before our move to the US!
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