A few glimpses of devils and friendly people in Ghent

Ghent, Belgium´s famous medieval heritage includes the stereotype of "medieval superstitions", one of them being the legends of devils´ haunts, the most famous one perhaps that of  Gerald the Devil ("Geeraard de Duivelsteen") whose castle, very close to the east end of St. Bavo´s Cathedral and seen in part in the middle distance here....

view looking east on Sint-Baaf´s Plein from east of Lange Kruis Straat, with a wall of St. Bavo´s to the left

was the residence of a medieval nobleman who gained a horrendous reputation, but, according to a lady at one of the local visitors´ centers, was actually a pretty nice person. Hopefully, the public records at his castle benefit from that lightness!

I have not entered this former stronghold, but have spent time on Devil´s Alley, one of whose street signs I discovered just west of my hotel....

but which I at first found to be non-threatening, even bland from one angle....

looking west on Duivelsteeg from Kwaadham

and then pleasant at least on its north side....

where earlier today, after asking three or more people elsewhere, I was glad to meet a lady who identified herself as "Lut" [hopefully... "rhymes with German - or Dutch - for `good´ is `gut´ enough here!], said yes and then no, to a photo, offered a friendly break from cleaning at her house on the alley to say that the name of her passage is said to have come from there being "a lot of prostitutes here" in the Middle Ages, thus also attracting a lot of ladies accused of witchcraft, "so it wasn´t the best place to be" and "that´s the story [but] I don´t know if it´s true.

She added that prostitutes also congregated on the adjacent Kwaadham, and that its name, seen here....

(signs at northwest corner of Kwaadham & Nederpolder)

means "bad ham" - as in "hamstrings", which came from the prostitutes´ frequently opening their legs; for me, this reminder of "bad girls" was juxtaposed with such business in the shadow of St. Bavo´s Cathedral just two blocks or so to the south...

and a street also just off of Kwaadham - no street-sign evidence here, but its name "Ursulinenstraat", connotes the Ursuline nuns, one long-time virtuous group of women.

As far as I know, I have not met any "bad girls" in Ghent, but I have easily met some friendly people, enough to give me the impression this IS a welcoming city. These people have included Raymond DeSy ("DIH-SEE" as far as I know) who worked for 44 years for a major regional electric company, especially as a public relations head, and now, is definitely and proudly in public relations for his amazing hometown, where today, I had the good fortune of being directed to him as he was on the steps of the late Gothic/Renaissance "Stad Huis" (City Hall)....

finishing up a little Q & A with Spanish-speaking visitors before going off to meet his wife ("my lady" as he called her) for a drink.

Raymond generously spent the next 20 minutes of more with me, primarily in the darker and earlier (Gothic!) segment you will see above, where I was a little embarrassed, but also very excited, to learn that one of the greatest treaties of American history - the Treaty of Ghent - was finalized on (winging it here, to be honest) - December 24, 1814 - in what is officially known as the Room of Peace...

where Raymond pointed to a 1964 remembrance of that momentous ending to the War of 1812....

(if I assume he knew the famous timing of the Battle of New Orleans weeks after the treaty, but before its news had crossed the Atlantic), and - revealing his sympathies - he expressed the hope that "President Obama" will come in 2014 to celebrate the document´s bicentennial.

Raymond represented bonds of affection in Europe for the United States, largely for older people in relaton to World War II, pointing to another plaque which for him reflected support for the U.S. following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, because Sept. 11 was the day 57 years earlier when Allied forces - if specifically Polish, Canadian and British soldiers - liberated Ghent from German control, and he appreciates that on the next day, American soldiers were in the city giving chocolate, meat and cheese to Ghentenaars, after four years of suffering and often starving in the city.

Mr. DeSy also expressed his positive American connections with reference to another local, in volunteering that Norbert DeTaeye, who I had not heard of, is "sponsor for the inundations in New Orleans" (meaning that he is helping victims of Hurricane Katrina), stemming from DeTaeye´s being a gospel musician.

DRAFT