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?

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.

Planes, Trains, Trams, More Trains, and Tubes

Our flight from Chicago to London went well. We'd never flown on British Airways before, but we'd happily do it again. Great service, comfortable seats, free wine, and a decent dinner. We hurried through the entry process at the airport - for some reason, this was much easier than our last trip due to some of the technology they now use - and we jumped on the Tube. And this, too, was much easier than before. No more Oyster cards; just tap your credit card and you're good to go. 

We dropped our bags at our hotel (Harlingford Hotel) and decided we needed to go to our favorite food market on the planet, Burrough Market. It's grown in the past few years, and we arrived just about lunchtime, so it was packed. We wanted to try The Best One, a sandwich we'd seen all over You Tube that's made at The Black Pig, one of the stalls at the market. It has pulled pork, fennel apple slaw, a bunch of sauces, and then it's covered in parmesan cheese. 

It was amazing! And because we had to sit on a ledge to eat it, I ended up wearing most of it on my coat. But I think we'll probably go back there next week and get another. Next we had to try the creme brulee doughnut, another You Tube favorite. Pretty amazing stuff. This trip will be a challenge for me to be able to wear my clothes soon

To keep us moving and help with the jetlag, we signed up for one of the London Walks tours. This one was on the Blitz. (Remember that crazy Osher class, BG and JK?) I thought it was pretty fascinating strolling around St. Paul's and hearing stories about the damage and fear during that time. The guide made several comparisons between that period of time and the Covid lockdown, which was interesting. 

We returned to our hotel and walked down the street to a small Greek restaurant (Mine Mane) for dinner. Food was ok but the wine was excellent! The hotel was located close to the train station which was our main reason for booking there, but the small room was comfortable. We grabbed breakfast in the morning, and checked into the Eurostar station for the train to Brussels. And then finally on another train to arrive in Gent. We had just enough time in London to get us excited to return there next week.

We are now settled into our apartment in Gent, and we love it here. When I was researching events in Gent I noticed a concert that was being held in an old church where a small orchestra would be playing the music from the Harry Potter movies. The ones written by John Williams who is so talented. I found a restaurant close to the church so we ate there first. It is called Bonavia, and it is a one-man show. The owner/chef/host was so delightful. The place seats just 12 people, and the menu is written on a small blackboard. And it's far from the tourist section of town. The owner, took our order, cooked it all himself, and delivered it to us. And it was truly one of the best meals we've had in a very long time. He recommended the Flemish stew which you can get anywhere here but this dish was incredible. Who goes on vacation and orders beef stew!? The meat melts in your mouth, and the sauce.... he said there are three different kinds of beer in the sauce and then to sweeten it up and add some flavor, he uses gingerbread! Anyway, it was the best beef stew ever. We also had white asparagus soup which tastes entirely different from the green stuff. I guess white asparagus is a specialty here. And we had gorgonzola ravioli. All just the best. Of course, we immediately made another reservation for our last dinner here in Gent. 

The concert was truly beautiful. The acoustics in the church, the lighting, the total atmosphere was just magical. And I'm sure we were the only tourists there.

We sat next to a lovely young Belgian woman who translated some of the things that were said during the concert. When I asked how she knew English so well, she said it was because in Belgium (unlike France and other countries) they only show American movies and tv shows in English. They don't have voiceovers with local languages. So the kids grow up having to learn English. 

This video does not capture the feeling of the concert but it was the best I could do...

More about today later. Time to eat again!

Dusting off the Blog and Trying Again

After much debating in my mind about whether to blog on this trip or not, I've decided to give it a try. I found over the years that I often refer back to trips to give recommendations to friends or just to refresh my memory about what we did, when we did it, and what we thought. So here we go.

This trip has been in the works for years. I think a version of it was planned (but not booked) just before Covid, and we haven't been across the pond since then. This trip will be different in a couple of ways. First, we older so our activity level might not be what it was 8 years ago. Also, Greg and I made the decision to just use public transportation this time. Renting cars and driving in other countries was fun but stressful. We're willing to give up some of the flexibility for a more relaxed trip. And finally, Greg will not be schlepping his camera this time which means any photos I use on the blog will probably be ones we take on our phones. I'm guessing none of you will ask for prints for framing. (I will always remember our sweet friend, PD, asking if she could have one of Greg's prints so she could paint it!)

Our plan was to stay in two places for at least 10 days in each location. And then take day trips from each spot. We also wanted to avoid travel trauma as much as possible so booked roundtrip to our final location, and then taking the train to the first spot. Anyway, it looks like this:

April 23: Fly from O'Hare to London

April 24: Arrive in London - keep ourselves awake by walking as much as possible- stay in a hotel close to St. Pancras station

April 25: Train from London to Ghent, Belgium (changing trains in Brussels)

April 25 - May 7: We have an apartment in the heart of Ghent. We plan to take day trips to Bruge, Antwerp, the coast/beach area, possibly Brussels, possibly Mechelen. Ghent is centrally located so all of these are within an hour by train.

May 7: Train from Ghent to London.

May 7 - May 16: We have an apartment in Fulham close to Parsons Green. We plan to take day trips to Oxford, Bletchley Park, Richmond/Hampton Court. I'm sure we'll return to some of our favorite food markets/bakeries/restaurants and discover new ones. We have tickets now for two plays while we're there, and I hope we can add one more. Plus several museums we want to visit again - or for the first time.

May 16: Fly back to O'Hare

I'm taking our old Chromebook (thanks, NW) so fingers crossed it survives the trip. I may not have the chance to set it up and post anything until we are settled in Ghent on Saturday, April 26. 

Follow along if you'd like. Throw in a comment if you have some suggestions for us!