Gent/Ghent/Gand

We took the train to Gent and stepped outside into a pouring rain. It was the only time it rained while we were in Belgium.

We walked to Sint-Baafskathedrall (St Bavo's Cathedral) to view Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubert's ployptych, a painting consisting of 24 oaken panels, ADORATION OF THE MYSTIC LAMB. Its history rivals any Da Vinci novel.

Napoleon once carried the polyptych off to Paris. A number of panels were stolen and remained lost for 100 years, while other parts were sold and hung in Berlin. In 1920, the masterpiece was complete again, only to have some panels stolen 14 years later. The entire piece was sent to France for safekeeping during World War II, but the Germans located and stole it. Only after American troops happened upon its location in an abandoned salt mine in Austria was it returned to Gent.

We also saw crypts of saints and popes, a baroque-style organ built in 1623, tapestries, 15th and 16th century frescoes. We even 'discovered' a Peter Paul Rubins work hanging unpretentiously on a back wall of the cathedral entitled Saint Bavo enters the Convent at Ghent. During our self-guided tour of the cathedral we lit several candles for our ancestors, and for the health and happiness of living relatives.

On our own in East Flanders, we found the lunch menu a bit of a challenge, but we stuck with a basic soup and salad, complemented by a good dark beer, for another enjoyable Belgian meal.