A Half Day In Ghent

Right at the end of last year I had one of my annual trips to a Christmas market. Basing myself in Lille (France), I had my eye on a day trip to Belgium. Ghent was my chosen location and is only one hour and a quarter away by local trains. This is my account of the short visit I made to this beautiful Belgian city.

With historic, colourful buildings and a bustling Christmas market, Ghent is easy on the eye, even on a cloudy day.

St Nicholas’ Church, Ghent

Whistlestop Tour

The train ride involved one change at Kortrijk in Belgium. Having crossed the border between France and Belgium we were ready to switch trains but it turned out the same train merely changed its number and became the second train. So we basically just had to wait for fifteen minutes and carry on towards Ghent. I found this amusing as I had got off the train looking for a different one but hadn’t needed to.

Getting from Ghent station to the centre (Korenmarkt) took about eighteen minutes. It was extremely crowded as Ghent is a proper tourist trap. Arriving near a fantastic church and famous bridge (St Michael’s bridge), the view was well worth the wait and discomfort of the crouded tram.

After taking in the architecture, we walked over to a place where everyone was hopping on boats. Straight away we got onto a forty minute boat tour which took us along the canals and past the intimidating Castle of the Counts (Gravensteen).

Gravensteen Castle
View from the boat

Although it was a fairly short tour, we went down three arms of the canal and had a chance to see all of the important sites.

A woman with crab claws

Afterwards, we made our way to the nearby Christmas market which was impressive and had many of the same features as the one in Lille, such as the Ferris Wheel.

Ghent Christmas market
Ghent Christmas market

My favourite thing was sampling a hot dog and some famous Belgian fries.

In A Nutshell

Deciding to walk along the canal back to the train station rather than taking the tram, I realised that Ghent is packed with history, shops and intrigue. I know that I will visit again and spend more time enjoying this fantastic place. Although I was on a rush to get back to Lille (because Eurostar trains were on hold and I thought I would need to go to Calais), my brief hours in beautiful Ghent were satisfying and the city looked just as picturesque as instagram suggested.

Check out my Bonjour Lille article for more about my Christmas travels. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. Please follow me for similar future content.

Bonjour, Lille

My Christmas visit to a French wonder.

Lille centre

Every winter I plan to visit a different European city from now on. Last year I had the pleasure of going to beautiful Antwerp during the Christmas period and I have now gained a taste for Christmas markets. So this December I decided to visit the northern French city of Lille.

Check out last December’s Antwerp post below:

View at Medium.com

Stepping off of the Eurostar, I was excited by the large Eurolille station and surrounding city. My train journey was only one hour and twenty minutes long (from St Pancras, London) and suddenly I was in a hub of colour and decoration.

Walking across a road bridge into the main centre, I quickly found our hotel, where I dropped off my bags before going right back out to explore this intriguing setting.

My eyes were delighted by a very festive centre, hustling and bustling with people, lit by glowing decorations and immersed in a Christmassy vibe.

Lille is well connected, being on the northern France border with Belgium and having two train stations. One focuses on travel between nations while the other is for more local rail travel.

The Opera House

The Opera House was the first building I came across. Such intricate designs adorned this bold building which sat next to a few fairground rides. Nearby is the Grand Place, usually a large open square, currently filled with stalls, a stunning Christmas tree and a huge Ferris Wheel.

Greeted by such a sparkly city, I was relieved that I had made the decision to visit wonderful Lille. It had been a gamble as I knew very little about the place, but had been intrigued every time I travelled through it on my many visits to mainland Europe.

I cannot wait to find out more about this historic city. Have you ever been to this under-promoted French destination?

Check back with me for more articles about this lovely place. In the meantime have a look at my Top Five European Cities post from earlier in the year.


Wrapping Up Doesn’t Have To Be A Waste.

As we reach the end of the year, I am delighted to be able to write another Climate Change Collective post. With Christmas on the horizon, there are some aspects of our rituals that can be environmentally awkward. One such aspect is packaging.

The UK uses 227,000 miles of wrapping paper each year. Each Christmas each UK household throws away three and a half black bags full of Christmas packaging. (Source: GWP)

Startling facts like this highlight just how important it is that we start to reign in our packaging obsession over the festive season.

The Trouble With Glitter

I have been checking recycling instructions for wrapping paper. It seems that the general UK advice is that if you can scrunch it up and it stays scrunched then it is recyclable. There is an important note added to that though. If it contains glitter or foil decoration, then it can’t be recycled.

This is disappointing but makes a lot of sense. However, it is the reason why so many general waste bins are going to be stuffed full of wrapping paper this week.

One of the worst offenders when it comes to being single-use is the renowned (and often pointless) gift bag. A shiny and expensive gift bag usually contains an already fully wrapped present. Is this really necessary?

Being covered in foil and soon worn out, a gift bag commonly makes its way swiftly into the rubbish bin.

But why do people wrap their presents and still feel the need for individual gift bags too?

Suggestions For Change

First of all people need to start thinking about the type of packaging they use. Does it have to be shiny and sparkly?

I will be honest and say that this Christmas I gave my presents without any wrapping on at all. I don’t have any children in my family but would have wrapped their presents if so.

Using coloured paper which has no foil is a simple way of making gift wrapping better for the environment. It should be the thought that matters and the consideration that went into the present buying, not the sparkly packaging.

Final Thoughts

If landfill sites are being filled with gift wrapping every Christmas, then we really need to challenge this. In the spirit of Christmas, should we not be giving back to the planet instead of polluting it with rubbish?

It takes tinfoil (the same as the foil found in wrapping paper) around 400 years to decompose according to Recycle Coach.

Let’s make an effort to move away from unnecessary packaging and towards a more sustainable future full of recyclable Christmas wrapping and emptier dustbins.

Thank you for reading this article. Please message me if you are a blogger wanting to join The Climate Change Collective. Michelle (Boomer Eco Crusader) and I came up with an idea to establish a group of likeminded bloggers to write monthly features about the environment. Our group has blossomed and every member writes a link post each month.

To read the most recent post from our collective simply check out Caroline’s wonderful Reconnecting with nature and self article from November.