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Search - The Rough Guide to Bruges & Ghent 1 (Rough Guide Mini Guides)

The Rough Guide to Bruges Ghent 1 - Rough Guide Mini Guides
Author: Phil Lee

INTRODUCTION In 1896 the novelist and playwright Arnold Bennett complained, "The difference between Bruges and other cities is that in the latter you look about for the picturesque, while in Bruges, assailed on every side by the picturesque, you look curiously for the unpicturesque, and don?t find it easily." Perhaps so, but there again Benne... more »tt had not had his senses battered and bruised by post-war development and today, for the modern palate, Bruges, with its seamless blend of antique architectural styles, from tiny brick cottages to gracious Georgian mansions, is a welcome relief ? and retreat. It certainly brings out the romance in many of its visitors ? stay here long enough and you can?t help but be amazed by the number of couples wandering its canals hand-in-hand, cheek-to-cheek. Neither does it matter much that a fair slice of Bruges is not quite what it seems: many buildings are not the genuine article, but are carefully constructed to resemble their medieval predecessors. Bruges has spent time and money preserving its image, rendering almost everything that?s new in various versions of medieval style, and the result is one of Europe?s most beautiful city centres, whose charms are supplemented by a clutch of museums, which hold a fabulous collection of early Flemish paintings, plus lots of great restaurants and bars. Ghent is a larger, more sprawling and less immediately picturesque city than Bruges, which is, in some ways, to its advantage. Like its neighbour, it possesses a stunning cluster of Gothic buildings and many delightful, intimate streetscapes, with antique brick houses woven around a skein of narrow canals, but, with the tourist hordes less in evidence, its restaurants and bars cater for a much more local market. Consequently, they are cheaper and more varied ? indeed Ghent lays claim to an excellent nightlife. Ghent?s museums come second-best to those of Bruges ? though the city does have a very good contemporary art museum ? but it?s in Ghent you?ll see arguably the world?s greatest painting, Jan van Eyck?s extraordinary Adoration of the Mystic Lamb ? in itself worth crossing continents to view. Belgium is such a small country, and the rail network so fast and efficient, that both Bruges and Ghent also make feasible bases for a whole raft of potential day-trips. We have selected ? in Chapter 12 ? seven prime destinations all within an hour?s travelling time of one or the other. From Bruges, there are the seaside delights of Ostend and the charming little seaside resort of De Haan, the gentle pleasures of the village of Damme, and Ieper (formerly Ypres) with its poignant reminders of World War I. Ghent is, in its turn, within easy striking distance of two intriguing Flemish towns ? Veurne and Oudenaarde ? as well as big-city Antwerp, famous, in equal measure, for its fashion, nightlife and Rubens paintings.

ISBN-13: 9781858288888
ISBN-10: 1858288886
Publication Date: 8/26/2002
Pages: 288
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Rough Guides
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
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Genres:

Travel >> Europe >> Belgium >> General
Travel >> Europe >> General
Travel >> Reference >> Guidebooks
Travel >> Travel Writing
Travel >> Guidebook Series >> Rough Guide

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Search - The Rough Guide to Bruges & Ghent 1 (Rough Guide Mini Guides)

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