Stepping ou from the train station I tried one of those in-camera, panoramic sweep shots. Ostend is very developed. Unlike some of the slightly seedy boardwalk towns of New Jersey we saw here lots of recent, high end developments stretching for miles in every direction.
Click any of the pictures to see them all larger (you may not to click the post title above, first, if you’re seeing this in an email).
We took another train from Brussels to Ostend. It was a beautiful summer’s day and Ostend is a lovely beach town so things were packed.
“J’Existe,” which I originally imagined to be a plaint of unseen minority or immigrant populations, turns out to be a fashion brand of the artist Thierry Jaspart. We’ll be seeing that name again before we leave Belgium. I’m not sure why some names on the kiosk of artist names have been whited out. Are these the ones who have been ‘canceled’ of late?
Just some more passersby on the way from the train station back to our hotel, mostly on Stalingrad.
The opposite window reflected in the train window on the ride back from Ghent to Brussels and the graffiti as we approached Brussels’ Midi-Zuid train station.
The last couple of shots in Ghent.
A few more shots of interesting buildings and streets we walked around Ghent.
While in Ghent, we visited this historic cathedral. Click any image to see them large (click post title, above, first if that’s not working).
Some of the architecture and people we saw on our day in Ghent. Click any of the images above to see them all enlarged (you may need to click on the post title, above, first if you’re seeing this in an email).
We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art. I photographed some items I found particularly compelling, particularly if I could find an artistic shot to take, rather than a simple deadpan documentation, continued my series on the geometric spaces in museums, found mirrors in which to photograph myself, and was introduced to Grace Ndiritu, who we would see again in Antwerp.
Click on any of the images to see them all full-sized and with captions (if you’re seeing this in an email you may have to click the post title, above, first to view on the website).
After coming out the right side of the train station and passing the bicycle parking, we walked past a hotel guarded by a black cat and through the Citadelpark.
When we got off the train in Ghent we initially exited from the wrong side of the train station (top image). Then we reentered the train station and exited from the other side. What was I saying a few posts back about the Belgians favouring bicycles?
We walked down Stalingrad, past all the Arab coffee houses, to the crowded platform at the Brussels Midi-Zuid train station. “In your own time,” might be the motto of the Belgian train service as only one train we took out of about eight trips actually left on time. OTOH, you can really travel all over the country relatively easily by train, something that can not be said of the US.
Massive map on a sheet of glass on either side of the building. For some context, see the picture below:
Part of the Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert this arcade is almost 200 years old
Another set of postcard pictures taken at the above-captioned cathedral which was stunning. By chance we arrived just before a concert was put on by an English girls’ boarding school (Badminton School).
