Saturday, May 3, 2025
Weekly Market and a Little Self-Care
Thursday, May 1, 2025
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
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?
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Belgian Train Strike so a Day in Ghent
Monday, April 28, 2025
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?
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Getting our Bearings and a Few Random Observations
A few things I've noticed about Ghent (also known as Gent) from the first day:
- This is a town that loves to drink and eat and party. Yes, it's a "young" town - there is a large university here - but yesterday when the weather was warm and beautiful, the main section of town was packed with people sitting in cafes that rimmed the squares, drinking beer and eating snacks or meals all day long. Just chilling. I remember this from Paris too but here the bars/restaurants seem more packed together and less spread out throughout the city.
- Everyone bikes. The main section of town is pedestrian only and the bikes whiz around everywhere. We've been almost plowed over multiple times. I don't know how they manage sometimes with the cobblestones and the tram tracks. And the sidewalks contain huge zones where bike parking is allowed. Lots of people use the shared bikes that are available everywhere too.
- No one gets up early. This is our favorite time to explore the town when everyone else is still at home. We love seeing the shops start to open and get ready for the day. So peaceful. But the coffee shops don't even open until 10 on weekends! What's up with that?
- Shops, restaurants, markets, transportation.... no one wants cash. Everyone uses their tap-and-go credit cards. It's common to see cash refused even if someone wants to buy a small item. It makes it easy though. I just keep my card in my pocket. Maybe it's too easy. We'll get quite a surprise when the bill comes.
- There is something just jarring about being in this beautiful old town and seeing a Burger King or a Pizza Hut right in the prime spots on a square. Obviously some people must go there but I just don't understand it.
- We hear no American voices. I've only seen a few people who I think might be from the US. Most of the tourists seemed to be European.
Yesterday we were up early and searching for a coffee shop that might be open. We wanted to find a local place but the only one we could find was Le Pain Quotidien which is lovely but a chain. There's even one in Chicago. We had reserved spots for a two-hour walking tour of the city, and we weren't sure we wanted to go. Our fear was that it would be lots of standing and slow walking which is exhausting sometimes. But as it turned out, we had a delightful young guide, Ben, who didn't just give us information, he told stories. He talked about the culture of the people here, how they have managed to fight off aggressors over the years (or not) and was honest about their love/hate relationship with the tourists. There were about 12 people on the tour and we were the only Americans.
Evidently years ago, Marriott wanted to build a big hotel right in heart of Ghent. The city said they couldn't build some big modern hotel. The must instead buy old buildings and keep the facades of those buildings so the outside would remain the same. So Marriott bought a row of 4 or 5 houses in a very popular area along the canal. Ben then walked us into the beautiful main door of the hotel, and after walking 10 feet into the building, all you could see was chrome and glass. It looks like an ultra modern Marriott you might find at a US airport. There was a large breakfast room set up and on a Saturday at 11 AM it was completely empty. Ben said it always is. Marriott clearly made no attempt to maintain the original feel of building. Greg and I had identified ourselves as Americans during the tour introductions, and I immediately felt like I wanted to apologize to the group for what this US company had done. And maybe also for Burger King and Pizza Hut too.
We had lunch at a cute soup place (Soup'R) and then later decided it was time to check out the sweet shops. We first discovered Sophies where we bought speculoos. They are a kind of ginger/molasses crips cookie. Just the kind Greg loves.
We also bought some cuberdon, this small nose-shaped candy that they make here. And then the chocolate shops. We walked to Cholaterie Luc Van Hoorebeke where we had to try the hot chocolate. Normally, they also serve it with rum but we were too late and they had run out. But we did buy some carmels. Later Greg determined they were not the chewy type so we're back on the hunt for those and some rum-infused hot chocolate. The weather may be warm here, but that won't stop us from a hot drink.
Here's an interesting chocolate item... yes, it really is made of chocolate. Sorry, E, F, and G. This will not be coming home with us.
Dinner last night was at another excellent restaurant in a quiet part of the city. Again, we were the only tourists in the place. (Perfect! Right, BB?) I ordered the special which was white asparagus (can you sense a trend) risotto with toasted hazelnuts. It was fabulous, and I took a picture of it to post but when I looked at it just now, it this white glob of goo so I won't put it here. You just have to trust me on this. Greg had pork shoulder. Also excellent. The place was called Takes Thyme, a quiet little place with great food.
A few random shots from today...
Our weather has been perfect and the predictions for this week look good. So happy to be here. I'm not even thinking about the remodeling going on at home. Well, maybe just a little.