Fun things to do in Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen

This is one of my favourite memories of Belgium. We (a few friends and me) arrived at the gate of the Van den Bossche brewery, asking if we could visit it. "My husband is very busy", the brewer's wife said. Just when we wanted to leave she thought said "Okay, 15 minutes then" and showed us the entire brewery! And it took more than 15 minutes! Hurray for friendly people like this woman! She had every right to insist on "no" but still took time for us. Next time I'll make an appointment first. This is really a very nice old brewery. Very traditional, almost a working museum. Some very good beers too. Try Buffalo for instance.

Herzele has one of the best breweries in Belgium. Although it has a long tradition it is quite unknown. Reasons; the beers are only available in casks and plastic 2 l. bottles, which makes it unfit for export. I recommend you to try Rochus, a nice dark beer, a bit like a stout. But they're all good. Oh, not that it really matters, but it's a bit special; the brewer is a woman, An De Ryck.
The brewery has a small shop and a museum. When we visited there were a whole bunch of young cats walking around the place. These were an attraction in their own right.

Near the brewery are the ruins of a castle. Not spectacular, but nice if you're there anyway.

Also take a look at my tip for nearby Sint-Lievens-Esse, if you like beer and breweries.

The city of Gent is the capital of East Flanders, one of the 10 Belgian provinces.

In the late mediaeval times Gent was the second largest city in NW-Europe, after Paris. Today it is the second largest city of the Flanders region, and the third in Belgium.

Gent, is located 55 km to the west of Brussels, and covers 156 sq. km of which 36 sq. km is port area.

The city itself has 225,000 inhabitants and 290,000 people live in the villages of the Gent commuting belt outside the city limits.

The city combines an impressive past with a vivid present. The historic heart of the city offers a lot of places of interest. From St Michael's bridge there is a wonderful view on the skyline of Ghent with the three impressive towers of St Nicholas' Church, the Belfry with its bell tower and St Bavo's cathedral with the world famous painting "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" by Jan van Eyck.

Traces of the Middle Ages were preserved at a lot of places. The old port with its guild halls on the Graslei and Korenlei is merely one example of the beautiful views this town has to offer.

Not far from the Graslei arises the Castle of the Counts, once the medieval fortress of the Count of Flanders. Nowadays it is a major tourist attraction.

Ghent also has several museums, abbeys, beguinages, dozens of churches and historical buildings.

This interactive museum is all about the Tour de Flanders. When you enter you choose a hero out of twelve legends of the tour. During your visit you discover all about this cyclist.
The Museum starts with a 15 minutes multimedia show. After that you can discover on your own. Try to ride a hill behind Peter van Petegem, a winner. See how Filip is doing this at ease in the picture. (Should have seen Gonnie laughing as she was climbing the hill). Or feel how it is to ride on the cobblestones. If you are not that active you can also see movies and artefacts from the Tour.

The only downside for international visitors is that all explanation is in dutch.

Open.
every day from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. (*)
Thursday and Friday until 10 p.m. (*)
Closed: Monday

Ename is part of Oudenaarde. It is just downstream the Schelde river. The main attraction is the archeological site. From 974 till 1050 Ename was the fortress that defended the northern border of the Ottonian empire. When its great fortress was destroyed monks came here and lived here for more than 7 centuries. The french revolution chased the monks away and ordered the destruction of the famous Ename abbey. It are these ruins and the ruins of the fortress before that, that can be found at the archeological site. Were excavations made it possible to see the past.

Beside the St Walburgs church are 4 of the 37 bells of the Carillon that used to be at townhall. The bells were made by Andreas van der Gheyn in 1759. In 1894 the carillon moved to the St Walburga church. Every sunday from 11:45 to 12:45 there is a carillon concert here.

One of the nicest beguinages we have seen in belgium is located in Oudenaarde.
A beguinage consists of a number of small houses within a courtyard enclosed by walls.
Unlike regular nuns, beguines are not under vows of celibacy, obedience and poverty. They do take a vow of chastity and obedience for as long as they choose to stay at the beguinage. If they decide to marry, they are allowed to do so but have to leave the beguinage.
The beguine lives in a small individual house in solitude, dividing her time between prayer, manual work and takes part in collective events, such as religious services and processions.
The first beguinages were established in the early 13th century. Due to a surplus of women, the regular convents were overcrowded. To ensure a stable social position for themselves, women founded semi-religious communities. These were the very first beguinages.
They flourished under Spanish rule and especially from the 17th century on. After the French revolution, Napoleon attempted to smother all religious activities. After the Second World War beguinages soon became extinct.
Some cities still have the houses, but there are no beguins living there. The beguinages are kept as a monument.

Oudenaarde is almost 1000 years old.
When you enter Oudenaarde the first thing you see is the giant tower of the St Walburga church. Opposite of the church is the centre of the Tour de Flanders. Behind the church you will find the beautifull townhall. Oudenaarde has some more interesting sites, over 100 classified monuments and house of which we visited the Beguinage.

Oudenaarde has a population of about 28.000. It is located 25 kilometers south of Ghent, on the banks of the Schelde River.