A painted statue of a cone of chips with a cartoon face, giving a thumbs-up outside a dimly lit snack bar.

Ghent

Ghent, Belgium

An Easter break in Ghent was time well spent.

I took a trip to Ghent in Belgium for the Easter break this year. Often overlooked by tourists headed to Brugge or the capital, Brussels; Ghent is a beautiful city full of canals and historic buildings (and frites).

Belgium is well known for its fries, waffles and strong beer, and the fries-cone-man was a regular sight across Ghent, standing outside many a fast-food outlet.

The weather over the weekend was pretty decent, resulting in plenty of tourists enjoying some continental cafe culture, relaxing on the pavements in the city.

A woman in a white quilted jacket sits at a café table on the pavement with a glass of beer, a cobbled street stretching out behind her.

Customers crowd the pavement tables outside a café with 'De Parkiet' on its window, relaxing in the sun.

With so many canals making their way through the city and with the sun shining, a boat trip was an easy and popular choice. Lots of people were also out shopping, buskers hoping to make a few euros and other photographers capturing the city's sights. As this was easter, many shops also had festive displays marking the season in their windows.

A man in a navy cap and sunglasses at the back of a canal boat, an orange life ring beside him and a stone bridge behind.

Looking along a canal lined with old townhouses from the front of a boat, with another loaded tourist boat in the distance.

Passengers of all ages, including a child in a green hood, sit shoulder to shoulder along the side of a crowded canal boat beneath a stone arch.

Two street musicians sit on a bench by a canal railing, one playing a guitar and the other seated on a wooden cajón drum.

An older man with white hair sits on a stool on the pavement looking down at his camera, while shoppers browse a flower stall behind him.

A queue of people at a ticket kiosk beneath a green 'Boat Trip' sign, with a board advertising 50-minute boat trips in the city of Gent.

An orange tinsel chicken in a checked apron, a toy rabbit and fluffy chicks in a shop window Easter display above a shelf of red tins.

As this visit covered the weekend, I also visited the Sunday flower market in Kouter Square. I did not partake in the oysters and glass of fizz that many enjoyed, but it was a sight to see.

Shoppers stand beneath the canvas awning of a flower market stall, one lifting the cloth to look underneath.

Purple polygala flowers beside a handwritten yellow price label reading 'Polygala – bloeit tot eind november, €3'.