Belgium. Day 2 — Ghent. I was lucky to stay at a place near the only coffee shop open at 8 AM in Ghent. Most places open at 10 AM — the Belgian morning is not for early risers. After fuelling up with coffee and croissant, it was off to the castle.

Gravensteen — The Castle

It was too early to enter Gravensteen — the 12th-century Castle of the Counts — but the views from outside were marvellous. The green algae in the river contrasted nicely with the grey stone walls. A medieval fortress reflected in water the colour of emerald. Ghent was already winning.

Sint-Baafskathedraal — The Lamb

I found Brasserie Agrea open — right next to Sint-Baafskathedraal — and fuelled the rest of the day with a hearty breakfast (€16.0). I had 10:10 AM tickets for a virtual reality tour and entrance to see The Lamb.

The VR tour is amazing — a holographic journey through the history of the cathedral and the altarpiece. The €16.0 cost is well worth it. I hope more venues adopt what Ghent has done here with technology. It makes an 800-year-old church feel futuristic without diminishing its sanctity.

The Ghent Altarpiece — also called The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb — is one of the most important artworks in European history. Completed in 1432 by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, it is a massive 12-panel polyptych considered by many to be the first major oil painting. It was commissioned by wealthy Ghent merchant Joos Vijd and his wife Lysbette Borluut for their private chapel.

The central panel shows the Lamb of God standing on an altar, blood flowing from its chest into a golden chalice, surrounded by 14 angels. Below it, the Fountain of Life. Above it, God the Father (or Christ the King — scholars disagree), flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. On the outer wings: Adam and Eve, painted with unprecedented realism — the first monumental nudes in Northern European art. The entire work is an explosion of colour and detail: identifiable plant species, reflections in jewel, individual hairs in Adam’s nostrils.

This altarpiece has survived more than most: it is the most stolen artwork in history, taken by Napoleon’s troops, hidden during the Reformation, seized by the Nazis and recovered from a salt mine by the Monuments Men. In 2019, a restoration revealed the original lamb’s face — which had been overpainted in the 16th century — and the world gasped. Van Eyck had given the lamb a human-like face that stares directly at the viewer. It went viral. A 600-year-old painting became a meme, and somehow that is exactly right — this work has always been about confronting the viewer with something they were not prepared for.

Citadelpark — SMAK — MSK

After The Lamb, I walked to Citadelpark to take in nature. The SMAK Municipal Museum (€8.0) is nearby. Favourite artists:

• Carole Vanderlinden — Quirky art that hides sadness in a unique way
• Susanne Kriemann — A photographer with an eye for the mundane that reveals the nature of humanity in a subtle and unspoken way
• Bram Bogart — Nobody’s Ball — a piece that screams torment and instability

Next stop: Museum voor Schone Kunsten (MSK). Favourite artists:

• Juliette Wytsman
• Marinus van Reymerswale
• Raphaël Coxcie
• Meester van de Verloren Zoon
• Gustave van de Woestyne
• André Lanskoy
• Oskar Kokoschka
• François-Joseph Navez
• Meester van de spijkerstof
• Theodoor Rombouts
• Cornelis Mahu
• Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg
• Emile Claus
• Jules Verwest
• James Ensor
• Théo Van Rysselberghe
• Jozef Horenbant

After the museums it was late lunch time at a baked potato restaurant. For a whopping €25.0, I got to eat a spud. A baked potato. In Belgium, where you can get moules-frites and Trappist beer and speculoos and waffles, I paid €25.0 for a potato. And you know what? It was a good potato. The restaurant was charming. No regrets.

My train departs at 4 PM back to Amsterdam via Antwerp. Two days in Belgium: Bruges in the fog, Ghent in the sun, and the greatest painting I have ever seen.

By the Numbers

Item	EUR
Breakfast (Brasserie Agrea)	€16.0
Sint-Baafskathedraal (VR tour + The Lamb)	€16.0
SMAK Municipal Museum	€8.0
Lunch (baked potato + water)	€25.0
Total	€65.0

MSK entry cost to come. Coffee and croissant to come.