Ghent Belgium (Gorgeous and so much to see!)

November  10,  2011

 It all started with an invite from out friends, how about a weekend in Ghent Belgium? Sure, how could we say no to that? So we were off to another new country with our friends Hallie and Austin. The trip to Belgium would be our first international trip in a car (not a bus), and just the day before I had obtained my internationals drivers license, so I could drive if needed. But for now, I was very happy to sit back with Tiffany and let Austin navigate us north-west towards Ghent.

Ghent (Gent) sits about 45mins from both Brussels and Bruges, right in the middle between the two cities and in the north-west of the country. The 3 1/2 hour drive through Germany was dark and foggy. That was until we crossed the border. Right then the fog lifted and the beautiful Belgian countryside could be seen for miles in all directions. The roads suddenly opened up to 3 lanes and the traffic flew. It was wonderful sitting in the back seat and being able to enjoy the view and take in the scenery. It was strange to see so many road signs and billboards in English.

As we got closer to Ghent, we could tell that this was a very cool city. The highway curved through increasingly tall buildings and wrapped around street-car tracks and countless people on bicycles. As we made our way from the highway to our hotel, we drove through the downtown. It was an eclectic mix of historic and new, modern and traditional. We passed downtown shopping areas, full of people walking the streets from one shop to another or sitting at outdoor cafes enjoying the cool fall air. Our hotel, the Ghent Marriott, was right in the middle of the city and central to everything. We dropped off our bags and the four of us set out to find some food. We were directed towards the center of the marketplatz and there we found our first taste of the amazing belgian cuisine. Of course the first thing we needed, was beer. Local, belgian beers. Cap ale house in Richmond had introduced us to an wide variety of beers from around Europe, but the beers we found here were nothing short of spectacular. Tiffany had a HUGE salad with goat cheese, bacon and apples paired with a Rauchbeer (a Belgium red smoke beer) and I enjoyed fried eggs on toast with a salad, with a golden Belgian ale. We followed our first meal up, with a walk around the city and lots of photos.

From our first meal, we continued to find more beers. We made our way to a Irish pub and ordered another selection of local brews. Enjoying our beer tour, we were directed to an international beer house, by a group of locals and found nothing short of beer heaven. We were told that this place has a  beer of the month that is buy 1 get 1 free. And low and behold it is Delirium Tremens, my Favorite Belgian beer! So the four of us all ordered our Deliriium and sat back to enjoy our time in Ghent. We noticed a guy sitting across the bar from us wearing only one shoe. It turns out that in order to order a 3L (1/2 meter) stein, you have to put a shoe down as a deposit. They keep the shoes in a basket suspended high above the bar. Ending the night with a walk around the amazing city, we had one more stop, Chinese food?! We rolled up to a late night, fast-food chinese joint. Tiffany and I split a bowl of grilled steak and lo-mein as well as a plate of bright green dumplings, a strange and tasty way to finish the night. From there we had one more stop before turning in. We had heard of a small Schnaps Bar, that was run by an old man who made and serves all the Schnaps himself. Down a small alley and through an un-marked door, we found our place. The beverage is called Geneva (Gin), and comes in about 200 flavors, from Cactus, to cherry, blood orange, chocolate, vanilla, ginger and too many more to name. The drinks were all delicious and unique. There were a few other ones we tried, that had names we couldn’t pronounce and tasted like fire. With the help of our new friend Edwin, we were able to navigate the menu and the jam-packed little bar. Full of good food, delicious beer, many flavors of Geneva and excitement, we turned in for the night. (That is ...after a game of Funglish!) *Mark and Debbie will appreciate that one.

We woke up early and Tiffany and I went out on our own to get breakfast. We found a great little coffee shop right between the canal and the marketplatz. My coffee and Tiff’s Cappuccino came with small dishes of incredible Belgian chocolate chips, and a small chocolate cookie to top it off. We enjoyed fresh orange juice and ham and cheese croissants, the perfect start to our day. Then we were off to the Belfry, a 15th century tower that housed the “Bell” and provided a 360* view of Ghent. The bell is more like a gigantic mechanism from a music box, and it plays a tune on the hour. The lower floors of the belfry have artifacts dating back 600+ years. The Belfry is a beautiful old stone building, with an elevator to the top. From 6 stories up, we had an incredible view of the city in all directions.

From there we ran into our first waffle stand which lead to our first waffle experience. The waffle was nothing short of amazing, think chewy, covered in melted chocolate and sticky, it was everything I hoped it would be and more. We took our snack and walked around the city, enjoying the beautiful weather, and scenery. From there the 2 couples went their separate ways. Tiffany and I headed back towards the hotel and joined a boat tour of the canals of Ghent. The tour was given in 4 languages (French, Dutch, German and English) and was a very cool view of the city from the water. The city has a rich history and was once the second largest and most influential city in all of Europe.

After our chilly boat tour, we were on a mission to find mussels. We found a brasserie overlooking the canal and set down to a bottle of wine and a kilo (yes that’s right, 2.2 lbs) of mussels. The mussels were delicious and came with a side of belgian frites (just like Cap Ale House, complete with the flavored Mayo). We then moved on to steak tartare, with a raw egg on top and salad. After our dinner, we joined back up with Austin and Hallie and began a new beer tour of the city. We started at the international bar and tried a few new selections, and an old favorite. Delirium for David, Lucifer for Tiffany. I mean, how could I pass up buy 1 get 1 free? We then went back to the Schnaps bar, and met some british guys, who we hung out with and talked Top Gear and traveling for a while. The night ended with a Belgian Doner Kabob, their style comes on grilled baguette with garlic sauce, and may I say incredibly delicious after a few beers.

The next morning was back to the same coffee shop. Tiffany this time ordered Belgian waffles with bananas, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce. I’m not big on ice cream for breakfast, but I could eat this every day and probably would if I didn’t have weight restrictions at work. (David had food envy and enjoyed his zwei ham cheese crossants) The rest of our day consisted of walking around another part of the city and soaking in the sights. We shopped and explored, bought hand-made soap and linens, ate strange jelly-like candy, and checked out Ghent from all angles. We were sad to leave such an amazing city and one of the more incredible countries we had ever been to. Another trip back to Belgium is going to be in the work soon. We loved everything Ghent had to offer and want to explore more of it. The trip was a wonderful long weekend, and a gave us a new favorite country.

David, Tiffany and Oliver