Ghent: Day 3

Still hot!   Still got more insect bites, despite spraying with Mary Duce's 'Oh So Soft'!  We didn't start very early this morning but it wasn't too hot when we set off for the cathedral.  We walked there and on the way discovered  Ghent's 'Waitrose' full of delicious food and also some very upmarket looking microwave meals.   We made no purchases but might go back there to purchase our supper to have at home before a concert on Thursday night.

Ghent Cathedral

We made for the Ghent Cathedral and the famous altarpiece.  The cathedral itself is ornate and a feast of black, white and gold!  It has the skeleton of a whale which was washed up in Ghent and died, an odd thing to find in a church!

Ghent Altarpiece

We paid to go in and see the altarpiece, placed in the dark and behind glass screens.  The audio guide was good and it was an interesting sight, though it was impossible to know which bits were photographs of panels taken away for restoration and which were real.

From there we walked to the Friday Market and had a cold drink in a cafe before going on to a museum which was closed, despite the notices outside saying it should be open!   I can tell you that in that heat one can do without such disappointments!  

We battled on and took a tram to the park with the art museums in it and strolled across the park in the welcome shade of the trees.

Citadel Park

As luck would have it, we stumbled first on the museum restaurant and stopped for lunch.   Peter had burrata with tomatoes and salad and I had herring salad and we finished with strong coffee to keep us going into the afternoon.

We wandered round the vast Fine Art Museum and also stopped off at the special room where they are conserving panels from the altarpiece.   We watched a conservator peering at one corner of the central panel through a microscope and making tiny movements with brushes, holding one hand with the other to steady herself.   There was an interesting panel explaining the work and the process of restoration and also the philosophy.  Some of the panels had been badly restored in the past and also painted over at times. So, how far does one go in removing later work to reach the original or do if the original has missing patches.

A few that caught my eye! 

We enjoyed the 20C paintings, some of which we had seen in an exhibition in Paris.

We wandered back through the park and caught the tram back to near the apartment.   We stopped off at a supermarket for some fruit before getting home for a welcome cup of tea!

We went out later to eat at the restaurant we had spotted the night before.  Unfortunately there were no seats outside, but we were OK inside with a breeze coming through the building.  The restaurant, T'oud Clooster,  the old cloister, was very popular.  Our waitress was very smiley despite the fact that she was worked off her feet.  The food was a little disappointing.  Peter had moussaka with no aubergine and I had chicken, rice and salad that was ok but was not what I imagined from the menu description.  Other dishes going by looked good, so maybe we just chose badly.  30º in the apartment when we got back!