Ghent: so old and so hip

By Kelly Sargent

PAUL AND I have fallen hard for Ghent. Here's a little background about this old, old, but very hip city: 

Ghent (Gent in Flemish and Dutch; Gand in French) is a port city at the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers. It’s the largest city in East Flanders and the third-largest in Belgium. Archaeological evidence reveals a human presence as far back as the Stone and Iron Ages. In the Middle Ages Ghent became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe. Today it’s a university town and cultural hub.

The entire heart of Ghent has been a car-free zone since 1997, the second-largest such area in Belgium, behind Brussels which has the second-largest in Europe. In 2009 in an effort to fight the climate crisis (the UN says meat production is responsible for nearly one fifth of greenhouse gasses), Ghent designated every Thursday as a suggested vegetarian day and to encourage residents to participate, the city provided recipes, a list of vegetarian restaurants and cooking demonstrations.

Take a walk with Paul and me.