Ghent Castle and Brugges

Post written by Carolyn (our second little Mountain Mouse) on Tuesday, June 17 with minimal edits from Mikaela:

Now it's my turn! Mikaela and Mom have been writing all the blog posts but this is my post!

     Today we went to the Ghent Castle. Our first real medieval castle. This is not like the  elegant châteaux. Whereas Chenonceau and Chambord were built for the purpose of being a "house," or at least a leisure palace, Ghent was designed with defense and practicality in mind. 

The gang in front of Ghent castle, photo taken by Grammy.

Ghent Castle

     The first room held showcases containing armor, swords, daggers, and a variety of guns. As we wandered through hallways and staircases and looked out arrow windows or narrow slots where you could shoot arrows out but no enemy fire could get in. The majority of the rooms contained or used to contain, devices used for torture. Another room held a replica of a guillotine, a contraption formerly used to cut off heads, with the original blade. 

A full suit of armor

A dagger specifically designed for stabbing

A HUGE sword. I think that it's taller than me!

Mom and I standing in front of the spear/staff/pike collection. Some of them are designed for battle, and others are mostly ceremonial.

A powder horn for hunting, covered in tiny designs.

A crossbow

This is a pocket crossbow, or basically the crossbow equivalent of a pistol. It's so tiny!

     After we came out of the Ghent Castle we ate bread and cheese for lunch under a statue in the town square. We wandered around Bruges for a while, then decided to go on a boat tour. We saw cool stuff like the oldest bridge in Bruges, a house built for the poor, the smallest gothic window in Bruges, lots of swans and ducks and multiple cathedrals. Unfortunately we were rained on, so we got some hot chocolate before calling it a day and heading home.

That's it for now, but the pictures of the boat tour will be coming soon!