Weekly Market and a Little Self-Care

Another beautiful day so we headed to the Friday market in one of the old squares here. We love looking at all the interesting options that the locals are selling.... several large seafood stands, one entirely devoted to cheese, another had a large selection of dried fruits and nuts. And of course, wonderful fuits and veggies. But the table with the most activity was the one with non-Belgian candy. I saw people snatching up bags of Snickers and M&M's like crazy. I guess the locals don't buy their chocolate at the fancy (and expensive) chocolate shops where the tourists go.

The little tarts above are a local pastry we've seen everywhere and they are amazing. The filling is just like rice pudding.

One booth at the market that caught my eye sold burgers, hotdogs, and..... escargot? I'm thinking this isn't the place for escargot but ..... whatever.

After the market, I had to finally admit to myself that I needed to rest. My bursitis in my hip had gone from annoying to downright painful after a day of biking followed by the dune climbing on the coast plus those darn cobblestone streets. So I headed to the local pharmacy and loaded up on ice/heat packs and something for sore joints and headed for the couch. We took a few short excursions around town but otherwise that is where I spent my day. Of course, Dr. Google recommends rest for several weeks but that's just not happening. I'm sure another cortosone shot is in my future but that will have to wait.

I did manage to shuffle off to a place close by for lunch. Guess all I did all day was eat. We went to Frites Altier which is a very popular Belgian chain. Their specialty is, of course, frites. And the one they are famous for is the one that comes with Flemish stew on top. Is sounds (and looks) gross but it tastes just like pot roast and potatoes. You can get other toppings too but we shared this one and we both thought it was better than we expected. We also tried shrimp croquettes which are on every menu here and didn't care for them.

We returned to Meme Gusto, the restaurant downstairs, for dinner last night. Greg wanted the steak bernaise and I just had the white asparagus appetizer which was so good. The stuff on the top is chopped hardboiled eggs with parsley and butter. And then the white creamy stuff they described to me as "beer mouse" although to me it had very little taste. All together the dish was so simple yet Greg and I thought it was the delicious the best thing we ordered.

Just a random shop here that I liked...

It's now Saturday morning, and I'm feeling better so we're off to another day trip. 

A Holiday, A Trip to the Beach, and Some History

Today is May 1, and it's a national holiday. That means that all of the shops, business, and schools are closed - even grocery stores. And because it also was a beautiful day (sunny, 80+ degrees), everyone in Belgium headed to the beach. Also today just happens to be the day we chose to go to the coast not realizing how the holiday and the weather would make our trip a little more exciting with the throngs of locals.

The train ride to Blankenberge was really crowded. Greg stood some of the time but a young man took pity on him and gave up his seat. In Blankenberge, we got on the coastal tram that runs up and down the coast stopping (too often) at various small towns or beach areas. We got off at De Haan which according to what I'd read is an upscale beach town with cute homes and nice restaurants. Einstein had a home there, I think I read somewhere. We split a sandwich from Leo's Foodbar while sitting on a swing at their table (see last night's entry regarding food intake) and then wandered down to the beach area. It is huge but very organized with changing rooms and wind barriers and lovely umbrellas. I didn't go down to check out how it all worked but it was a very nice beach.

We didn't stay long in DeHaan but it was fun to see where Belgians go to vacation in the summer. We got back on the Tram and went south to the Atlantikwall Raversyde. This is a WWI and WWII military museum that contains a huge complex of bunkers and tunnels and structures built by the Germans to defend the coastline. It was much larger and in much better condition than I had imagined, and it was a fascinating place. The Nazis were convinced this was where the Allies would strike, and were caught off guard when they landed in Normandy instead. So interesting. But after crouching through the tunnels and climbing up and down the dunes, we were ready to get back on the crowded tram, back to the train and head home. Glad we went there. The timing wasn't the best but it was worth it.

A few random shots today... There was some kind of bike race on the road next to the museum. I couldn't imagine how uncomfortable these guys must have been.

And we made a stop at St. Michael's church back in Gent on our way home. It's a beautiful church but the front is under renovation so the photos wouldn't show much. We did look around inside. Lovely church built in the 1600's. And here's something for my friend, BB.

Dinner and laundry at home tonight.

Biking in Brugge

Another picture perfect day! Blue skies and 70-something. We trained back to Brugge, and walked to Ben's Bikes. Quite a place. Ben got us set up with bikes and helmets (most people here don't use them but I just couldn't think of falling without one) and a map. We were able to take a nice bike bath around the south side of the town avoiding all the mobs in the center of town. Then we turned north on this beautiful trail that runs along next to a canal and takes you up to Damme, a cute little town much cuter than the photo I took. There were a few homes sprinkled along the canal but it was mostly just nature and windmills. 

The main road in Damme is lined with restaurants, so we stopped at one that had a lovely garden area in the back, Tante Marie. Here's a little food porn. This is my burrata and prosciutto salad. Not exactly a Belgian dish but it was perfect today.

Tonight we went to Meme Gusto, a restaurant specializing in local cuisine that is just below our apartment. It's a small very busy place, but we were lucky to grab a reservation. And it was a great dinner. For those of you who don't want to see photos of food, skip down. But my favorite foodie, HW, requested pictures of food so here you go with Belgium cuisine.

When we were looking over the menu, the waitress brought a small ramekin with tiny grey shrimp. And it's possible people might snack on them with the shells and the head still on, but we started peeling them. Not an easy task considering the size. And after peeling them (very messy), they are so small it was hardly worth the effort. But very sweet and tasty. I just wouldn't want to try to navigate a whole plate of them. These are the same shrimp that they use here for the shrimp croquettes we see on every menu which I want to try someday.

 

A local dish I'd heard about is bitterballen. These are small, round, fried balls filled with meat. We ordered their version of bitterballen that have duck confit in them. These were tasty but we agreed it was the sweet sauce that made them good. It was kind of a fruity sauce with pear.

Greg ordered hanger steak with creamed caulifower. He asked what, if anything came with it. Oh yes, salad, potato croquettes, and bread. These meals are huge! This is not a great photo. The meat was done perfectly medium rare.

My dinner was the interesting one. It was called chicken fiond with pork meatballs. I asked the waitress what it was and she said it was a creamy chicen. Yum. Oh, and of course, it comes with fries because everything comes with fries here.

So on the left, there was a puff pastry thing that was mostly covered in the creamy chicen sauce. There were lots of large chunks of chicken and mushrooms. And then on the right, there were several small meatballs. I have no idea what that white creamy substance was on the top of the plate. It didn't have much taste. Anyway, after just one bite I knew exactly what this was.... chicken ala king!! Flashback to my youth!! This was much better than any school lunchroom version - and wasn't there even a Swanson frozen version? It was true comfort food and delicious.

We overate and have now vowed to stop. We'll see how that goes.

Just a few random shots... a small alleyway in Brugge and a darling little girl on the tram. Don't you love all her pink accessories? And those shoes?

Belgian Train Strike so a Day in Ghent

It is convenient that Belgium announces weeks ahead of time when the trains will not be runnning due to a strike so you can plan accordingly. We knew we had a day here in town so decided to start it off this way.

Two flat whites from Take Five Espresso and one chocolate eclair from Kultur Bakery. This may turn into our everyday routine!

We spent most of the day rambling around town looking at the shops, buying some food for meals at home, and sitting in the sun enjoying the amazing weather.

Just down the street is Gravensteen Castle. It's odd to see this sitting in the middle of town but it is definitely a local landmark and tourist attraction. There were two options for audio tours - the comedy version or the serious version. We opted for comedy which turned out to be a little silly but you did hear the story of the castle starting back in the 1100's. Lots of torture devices and dungeons. Fun stuff. And a cute little bathroom up in one of the upper walkways where the count could deposit his "stuff" right down into the river. Charming.

On our tour of Ghent the other day, the guide pointed out a tiny bar that served jenever, a local drink. He described it as fruity and sweet, and it comes in lots of different flavors with about 20% alcohol. After dinner at home tonight, we wandered down the few blocks to this little place. The menu of flavors was long (about 215!) but we decided to try blood orange and gingerbread. Both were really a nice dessert. You sip them out of this very small glass and they have a huge amount of flavor. We'll be back to try more, I'm sure.

 

Saw this today and thought it was appropriate....

Belgian Foods, Smart Homes, and Why Didn't I Bring Sandals

Belgium is known for certain things... waffles, beer, stew, fries, and chocolate. We are slowly ticking off those items, and we still have a few to do. Yesterday (Sunday) was a quieter day. A day to do some laundry, buy some flowers at the flower market, read a little, and finally try a waffle. There are two kinds of waffles here: Liege and Belgium. The Liege ones are often served warm and plain because they contain crystalized sugar so don't really need any toppings. The Belgium waffles are the more traditional ones we think of and they generally come with fruit topping, whipping cream, etc. We wanted to try the Liege and it was wonderful.

The flower market was still quiet when we arrived around 8 AM but it soon was very busy. Spring is definitely here. And the prices sure are better than Sendiks!

We like the apartment we're in here but it's bit confusing at times. It is a "smart" home which means everything happens magically or automatically and we aren't sure how to control things. There's a tablet here that we're supposed to use to watch tv or control the temperature. There are screens in front of doors that go up and down depending on the temperature and the wind. And the lighting... I've spend way too much time trying to turn off, turn on, or dim the lights. Maybe we're just not smart enough. But we got the washer and dryer to work! Yea!

Today we made the train trip to Brugge, only about 30 minutes away. There are lots of online debates about which town, Brugge or Ghent, is the better one for a home base in this area. After seeing them both, I'm glad we're in Ghent. Brugge is incredibly beautiful but is full of tour groups and mobs of people. Ghent has lots of tourists too but it seems they are a bit more spread out. I'm sure we'd have been happy in either place.

We took another walking tour of Brugge, and our guide did a great job of teaching us the history of the city. Lots of battles, wars, and kings. He was very knowledgeable about the architecture, the museums, and the influence of the church. I'm glad we have taken these tours even if they are also exhausting. Cobblestones are so quaint to look at but so hard for these geezers to walk and stand on for hours at a time. After the tour, we were desparate to sit down and we were starving. Because it's a Monday, many of the restaurants were closed, so after a couple of false starts, we ended up at a place called Nomad, a bit away from the center of town, and we had a chance to relax for a few hours.

Before the tour, Greg had to have another hot chocolate - this time with Baileys - from Old Chocolate Shop. It was pretty good but he claims the one here in Ghent still wins. After lunch we went back to a couple of chocolate shops to buy a few things, and we also discovered a marzipan and nougat shop. And we had to get some of those too. We have quite a stash of sweet things here in the apartment, and it seems to keep growing.

The weather here is perfect but for the next few days, we're expecting temps to be in the 80's!! I didn't pack for this weather. Why didn't I slip in a pair of sandals!! No worries. Things will be back in the 60's by the weekend. I'm not complaining.

Dinner was at home with leftovers from the last few days. Here's a few pictures from the storefronts on our street. I'm hoping someone can tell me what they're all about. Not being a "fashionable" person, I have no idea what evil fashion or non evil fashion might be? Or freak piercing? Anyone?