Sightseeing in our own city – Our world heritage

We love to travel. Hell, I’d even say we live to travel. We love to go and explore. But, it doesn’t always have to be the other end of the world for it to be good.

So, when the weather is great (toddler restriction: we don’t really enjoy heading out in 5°C and pouring rain with our almost 3-year old…), we often head out in Belgium as well.

All in all it has been a crappy spring so far. But on the 1st of May, which is a holiday here, we got lucky. Twice: the weather was great, and in Gent there were some excellent activities to celebrate the 1st of May. We could visit the new STAM museum for free, take a free boat ride from there to the Vooruit and decided to head over to the St. Petersabbey afterwards for an exhibition we wanted to see for quite some time now.

The STAM museum is Gents brand new city museum. Brand new, well – it has opened last year I think. It’s modern architecture blends in really well at the old Bijloke-site, and the museum itself was absolutely stunning. It tells the rich history of our beloved city in a modern and attractive way. Like we all agreed: we want to head back there with a guide one day. Because, well, visiting a museum with two toddlers is not the best way to get all of the information in.

Old & new blend in well.

First floor: a stunning aerial picture of Gent. Febe loved it!

Everything is displayed in beautifull rooms.

Old abbey book.

The formal mess hall where the monks used to eat.

A view on the garden.

Febe trying to solve the mystery of the stolen “Lam Gods” painting.

After this first bit of culture, it was time for lunch. We ate at Yanko, just around the corner. If you’re ever in the area, Yanko, Baskuul & A Capella are all very closeby and all worth a visit 🙂 It was then time for our boat ride to the Vooruit, a cultural centre that celebrates it’s 100th year of existance. It was built by the socialist party in Gent, and thus linked really well to the 1st of May…
We decided to skip the celebrations there, because visiting a concert hall is not so exciting for a toddler. Instead we headed to the nearby St. Petersabbey for a photo-exhibit about Egypt after the muslim revolution. For Maarten it was quite a shock. He didn’t imagine Egypt being as poor as the pictures showed. I wasn’t that surprised, since I visited the country back in 1999.

Boat ride to Vooruit.

The magnificent abbey of Gent.

And from up close 🙂

Inner courtyard.

Cairopolis – photo exhibit.

View on the abbey gardens.

A ‘hidden’ spot in Gent are the gardens of the abbey. They are public, and along with a very nice apple orchard, they have a small grape orchard as well. Those grapes are the start of the limited amount of wine that is still produced at the abbey. When the weather is nice, it’s a great spot to relax in the city.