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?