We just returned today from a short trip to Gent, Belgium. (or Ghent in English; or Gand in French!) The Rivers Scheldt and Lys go through the city.
We arrived in the early evening on Thursday, December 27th. We stayed at the Marriott, which is in the Centrum.
We walked out the door and this is what we saw:
We walked across the bridge and found this cute cafe, De Witte Leeuw, where we sat and had a beer...you can see our hotel across the river!
discovered a new beer:
Afterwards we walked around town. I've read that some people call Gent the City of Lights. Most of the Centrum area is lit up so beautifully:
We found a Christmas Market!
Then kept walking......checking out the city...
We found a beautiful place to have dinner, where we had lobster salad, mussels, and a yummy chocolate covered ice cream for dessert:
The next morning we set out for Kortrijk where we met with one of Andrew's coworkers, Hans.
We arrived at his home at around 1130hrs. He has quite a collection of beers (and matching glasses to go with each brand!). He had a few of them there for us to try....sooooo....we did! We tried three different beers, all quite different, but all delicious. It was a lot of fun!
Hans, his two children, Andrew and I went to a nice little restaurant in town called "Viva Sara"for lunch. After lunch we went to a small church in town called "St. Martin's" church. There are replicas of golden spurs hanging from the ceiling that were taken from the French during battle.
The spurs:
After lunch we stopped by a coffee cafe and met another one of Andrews' coworkers, Kristoff. After enjoying a nice cup of coffee we set out for the Tyne Cot cemetery...which has about 12,000 WWI soldiers buried there.
There are a few German soldier buried there.....
We then headed over to a town close by called "Ieper" where we walked around and then stopped in a little pub and had a drink.
Another memorial to the WWI soldiers:
The next morning we got up and decided to check out Gent in the daylight.
We found the Gravensteen Castle...
We went on in......and guess what!?!??! We got a "Senior Discount"!!!
Implements of torture......ouch!
We went into St. Bavo's Church which was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" painting is displayed in the church. Photos are not allowed inside the church.....
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/belgium/ghent-cathedral-st-bavo.htm
After we left there we walked around a bit more.....
Then went to Max's Restaurant where we got belgian waffles...with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce! OH YEAH!
We went to the restaurant across the river from the hotel for dinner. We had some delicious Flemish beef stew......another recipe I'll have to find and try to replicate!
Sunday morning we got up and decided to take the 40 minute river cruise on the River Leie that goes through the town of Gent, Belgium.
Later on in the day we went back to Max's for waffles. We hadn't eaten since early in the morning, so we had a small sandwich first:
While on the river cruise we learned that the two swans facing away from each other on the Marriott hotel mean that the building was once a brewery, and also a "house of ill repute"!!!
Our wonderful neighbors came to Gent for their holiday. Hetty texted me and we arranged to meet at our hotel at 1700hrs. We had a drink together then headed to an Italian Restaurant together for dinner:
I had pheasant:
This morning, as we were leaving I saw this car in the parking garage....isn't it prettttty?!?!? I believe it has solar panels in the roof!
I've been trying to get a picture of this old steam engine water pump station (in Haarlem) for a while.....Finally got a couple of pictures as were were slowing down in traffic!
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We got back to town at around 1400hrs. We went directly to the Dierentehuis where we picked up the pets. Sammy was fine, but Socrates was not a happy kitty....Sorry to say, but he doesn't like it there. We keep hoping he'll get used to it....They're very nice there, and it's very clean and safe...he just likes to be home.
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My Mom had to have a heart ablation today in Minnesota. We just got word from my Dad that the procedure went well and she is in the recovery room. Looks like we are off to a good start for 2013!!!
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To ring in the New Year, we went down to the Grote Markt area to watch people set off their fireworks! A couple of weeks ago we had gone to Intratuin and saw what you could purchase for New Year's eve:
People were setting off fireworks alllllll over town on New Year's eve....even though it was raining and very windy! Seemed like everyone was very safe and just having a great time!!! We had a lot of fun watching!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! Blessing to one and all!
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