Winter In Wonderland

Old meets new on Ghent’s sweeping bridges,  in its tall legends and riverside pubs.

- Humaira Ansari

Three hours before my day-long walk in the city of Ghent, I am sprawled across the soapy bathroom floor of my hotel room in Bruges. That terror-filled split second in which I lose balance is what hits me harder than the throbbing bruise on my thigh.

However, to reach Ghent in time from postcard-pretty Bruges, I rein in the philosphising and get going.

Compared to the medieval buildings towering over Bruges’ crammed streets, Ghent’s skyline feels more open and breathable. Lacey white drapes adorn windows of apartments nestled within medieval low-rise stone buildings. Bottle green and navy blue doors mark their entrances; their stepped gable roofs are capped in shades of tan and orange. Trams and Teslas criss-cross Ghent’s historic canal-ringed centre. Founded on the confluence of rivers Leie and Scheldt, this capital city of East Flanders in north Belgium thrums with tourists even on a nippy day as this.

“The city is best explored on foot,” my guide, Maxime Watteyne, announces to our group of five with a warm smile, and we step out onto Ghent’s cobbled streets. I concur: It is the kind of place that almost makes me forget about the nasty bump I am nursing on my leg.

We begin walking towards St. Michael’s Bridge arched across the Leie. Watteyne points out to the city’s two famous quays: Korenlei, flanking Leie’s left bank, and Graslei to its right. Used to unload grains in the 13th century, the guild houses lining the two docks have now been re-purposed into pubs, cafés and souvenir stores.

“Korenlei and Graslei also comprise Ghent’s city centre,” says Watteyne, as we inch closer to the bridge. “Always teeming with tourists; sometimes with students high on the lovely beer we Belgians are known to brew.”