Pictures & Writing: Lyle Such
Camera: Canon 5D MkIV & Mavic Pro
Gravensteen Castle, Ghent
We left Bruges and continued our tour around Belgium. We drove through the city of Ghent, so we decided to stop and visit Gravensteen Castle. We originally thought it was a typical European castle perched on a hillside overlooking a quaint little town, but in reality it was just sitting there, right in the middle of a relatively modern city. It was a little strange watching cable cars and trains running directly past the castle doors.
Gravensteen is a beautifully restored castle. Over time it had fallen into disrepair, at one point it had even been used as a factory. They did a great job of bringing it back to life, and set up a nice tour that takes you through all the important areas of the castle. The views from the towers of the castle gave us an unobstructed look at the skyline of Ghent.
The interior of Gravensteen was dark and stoney and gray, just like you would imagine a castle should be. They have a small museum highlighting all of the various methods of turture used in the medieval times.
Lion’s Mound, Waterloo
After stopping in Ghent, we decided to bypass Brussels and head straight to The Lion’s Mound monument of Waterloo. The man-made conical hill was a perfect spot to stretch out our legs and take a little break from driving in the car. We climbed the 225 steep steps and enjoyed the amazing view of the battlefields of Waterloo.
It was such a calm and peaceful location considering the violent, bloody history of the area. Thu ended up taking a nap in the cool breeze of the countryside while I set up a timelapse to capture the movement of the clouds and their shadows across the rolling hills. I was surprised how few people we encountered on top of the monument. Usually a location like this would be packed full of tourists, so it was a nice surprise to be able to relax and enjoy the afternoon instead of rushing through the experience just to get away from the crowds.
Wonder Woman would be in the theaters soon, so Thu decided to practice her Wonder Woman Chop on that poor rock.
