Belgium

Waffles and chocolates and beer... Oh my!

My lovely friend Heather Rae lives in Ghent, Belgium with her boyfriend, Jurgin. They were kind enough to invite me up to their home for a few days for a taste of some Ghent life and tasty BBQ. I took them up on it.

I had planned to check out Amsterdam while in Europe, and Ghent is only a couple of hours away by train.

The night before I left Barcelona was the much anticipated European soccer final between Germany and Spain. I was a bit torn who to root for since earlier in my trip I had spent a couple of weeks watching the games in Berlin and pulling for Germany with the rest of the crowd. Now I was in Spain feeling a bit sheepish about waving a white, red and yellow flag around, but I was (not so) secretly hoping Germany would win since I know more people there.. .and besides.. who likes a flip flopper, anyway? I watched the game at The London Bar in the El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona. I chose the bar because I read that Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway used to get drunk there.

When I rolled in, there was one seat left at a table of six or so folks who I soon learned were all from San Francisco. What are the chances? Pretty high I suppose. Barcelona is full of tourists, and the two guys I met at the Turkish food place right before I headed for the bar were also from SF.

Spain ended up winning and I celebrated along the Rambla with the rest of the Spanish for a little while before heading to bed for my early flight. Some folks reminded me that the celebration in Barcelona was not nearly as large or as passionate as the party in Madrid. You see, folks from Barcelona are Catalan, and barely consider themselves Spanish at all. In fact, many of them support seceding from Spain altogether. But they were still excited anyway.

The next morning, I flew from Barcelona to Brussels and hopped on a train to Ghent, St. Pieters station. Heather had given me some instructions and I managed to navigate the trains and crazy street numbering system in Ghent, and arrived at her door without a hand-holding cell phone call. Woo!

She fed me and then sent me out to check the nearby town center. Hey... this place is, like, medieval! Barcelona had some buildings from that era, but Ghent has a whole town center that conforms to a period spanning a time between the 14th and 16th centuries. Very charming old buildings filled with shops, outdoor restaurants, and cozy pubs. The town center also has a system of stone canals running through the town, so many of the buildings are right on the water. There is even a town castle. Neeto.

After realizing that Belgians are known for their chocolates, I made a bee line directly for the tastiest looking hand made truffle shop. For only about 7 Euros, I got a quarter kilo of fresh hand picked scrumptious chocolates which I intended to bring home to Heather as a gift... Unfortunately, it was mostly gone by the time I made it back to her house. Probably the best chocolates I have ever had. I probably bought a full kilo by the time I left.

Later, after a big big BBQ dinner, Heather took me out to sample one of the other Belgian delights. Beer.

My friends know that I am not a big beer drinker. I generally stick to vodka and wine. But when in Belgium...

I especially liked the Rodenbach and Orval beers she pointed me toward. Orval and other beers are brewed by Belgian monks. They take their brewing very seriously, and since some brew only in small quantities, their beers can be as sought after as fine wines. I'll be looking for those brands at Toronado, a bar in my neighborhood at home that specializes in exotic beers.

I found the people of Ghent quite pleasant. It is a university town, so it was tough to tell how the outskirts might look. But I found the folks quite stylish, attractive, and friendly. I was surprised at how great their music scene is as well. They have a fantastic radio station, UrGent.fm and I did some listening to their local DJ's. Awesome.

I was disappointed that my travel schedule didn't allow me to stay for their jazz festival nor for their ten-day town party, Gentse Feesten. Heather told me they set up music stages on the canals. It sounds great.

I could certainly hang out there for awhile. It has an easy, mellow feel to it.

News Flash: I posted new pictures to my Flickr site.