A concrete slab. Construction lining the concrete slab. An ornate pavilion overlooking the concrete slab. That’s what I knew of the Kouter Square. We’d been to Gent a handful of times when we lived in the Netherlands, and had always parked in the garage below. We took the elevator with the stroller and wandered into the city from this central location.

We lived in Gent for a month before settling in Antwerp. We packed up the kids one Sunday morning and headed into town via tram to explore the many markets the Gent guidebooks and websites listed. We stepped off the tram into a garden. Flowers of every color stretched the length of the square, a bouquet of balloons similar to the one in Disney’s Up! movie teased my children, well-dressed Belgians sipped champagne from glass flutes on the edge of the market. We wandered through the garden, smiling at the vendors. A concert band accompanied our journey – marches, swing, and jazz pieces – as we tiptoed through tulips, literally. I gazed at the band, seated above the crowd in an ornate pavilion and I cocked my head in confusion.

“Honey, where are we?” I asked my husband.

“Don’t you recognize it? This is the square we usually park at – the garage is below us,” and my eyes were wide and I nodded.

Ah, but no. I didn’t recognize it – that concrete canvas has been transformed into. . . this beautiful masterpiece of color. How gorgeous.

The market is open every Sunday in its full bloom from 7 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

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