Wrapping Things up in Ghent

We decided to spend our last few days here in Ghent rather than take another day trip to a different city. We spent our time wandering some of the back streets, having a last waffle, visiting a small museum, enjoying another hot chocolate, and taking a boat ride on the river running through the city. 

We also had one more thing we had to check off our list of "things we must try while in Belgium". We'd loved the chocolate, the Belgian pastries/cookies, the Flemish Stew, the waffles, the wonderful frites, and a variety of local dishes. But what about that Belgian beer? I'm not a beer lover at all, so I consulted with my personal beer advisor before the trip (NW), and he recommended I ask for something light and local. So we found a small bar with a friendly guy behing the counter who presented me with a book full of beer options. I chose one with a lower alcohol level and it said "cherry" next to the name. Greg said it was hardly a beer at all because it tasted more like cherry juice. Could have been made in Door County. But it was local and light so I can now check that off my list. What's really cool here is that every beer has it's own specific glass. They don't just serve it in any old glass. They all have different shapes and sizes with the brand names on each glass. 

The most popular museum in Ghent is the Design Museum, but unfortunately it is currently closed for renovation. So we went to the Museum of Industry instead. During the middle ages, Ghent was the second largest city in Europe (Paris was the largest). It was known for it's textiles, and the museum today had a lot of information about the factories used in the 1600-1800's and the working environment. Many of the workers were young children, and none of the employees were paid well for the long hours they worked. The museum is housed in an old factory and it includes a lot of the old equipment that was used. Of course, all of the factories closed down in the early to mid 1900's when cheaper items could be produced elsewhere.

The boat ride is something most people enjoy on their first day in the city. But it was also a nice finale. Can you tell which one of us was not that excited about this tour?

I mentioned before how everyone here rides bikes through the city center. In the morning, people commute to work and take their kids to school. There are all kinds of carriers for kids, deliveries, shopping, etc. And they are totally fearless riding on the roads around all the pedestrians and early morning delivery trucks. They also have to be cautious about the tracks on the road for the trams. Their wheels can get caught in them easily and we saw this happen last week. 

Here's the Ghent version of the mini-van. This is a fancier one than most I've seen. It can hold several little kids.

And a delivery bike...

Tonight we'll go back to the same restaurant where we had our first dinner here, Bonavia. It was good enough to return. Tomorrow we pack up and move to London. Anxious to get there!