Dan worked last week (telecommuted) and this week he is on vacation. That means we can do things all day, with out coming back to the house around 2:00. Having the whole day is wonderful! :)
We have a rail pass that gives us 10 trips anywhere in Belgium. Up till today, we had only used 2 trips. So we decided to journey to Ghent. It is 25-35 minutes away by train.
After a semi early start (we got up around 8:30) we took a bus to the Brugge train station. Then, we took a train directly to Ghent. Thankfully, all the transportation was easy. Finding seats was no problem (we were thankful that it wasn't crowded) and also loading the Bob Double stroller was no problem (which is nice because it is big!).
Sara enjoyed the train trip. We sat side by side on seats and she and I looked out the window. WE went past cows, fields, rivers, small towns, and other train stations. She still loves trains so it was fun. She played with her new helicopter the whole way.
The Ghent train station was highly adorned with paintings on the walls and ceiling. People were coming and going, and it was a hustle bustle. We joined in, and actually decided to hit Starbucks as a little taste of home. It was Sara who spotted it, and she bolted over to it, since we walk to Starbucks from home I bet it was nice for her to be in the chain's familiar surroundings. And it was nice anyway to sit and start our time in Ghent. We had one coffee and a cinimon bun and it was like 5 Euro.
We took a tram to get into the historical center of Ghent. The tram goes right down the center of the road on rails. It was like a tour. After 15 minutes we hopped off the train, and did a walking tour in our book. Ghent is as old as Brugge, but is more of a "real" city - thus it is gritty in places and not as totally cute as Brugge.
Our walk took us past a chocolate shop, that was so good that we went back twice. It was that good. You could look into the lower level and see the man making the chocolate. It came out of spout, and he held up molds to catch the chocolate, then he used a flat tool to top off the mold. After a minute, he dumped off the extra chocolate, so that they could be filled with things (creme, gnache, etc) and then they are sealed off. Sara got a kick out of seeing them be made, and announced that "we could do that Mama!" perhaps we should make chocolate sometime!
We went into a cathedral, and taught Sara about stained glass. We also helped her be quiet in the church. She was in awe at the scale of the church, with the soaring walls, imposing altar, and overall size of it. It is awesome for an adult, so I bet it really was something she found impressive. Julia looked around too - she is very inquisitve and really looks around a lot.
As we did our walking tour, we walked over old food bridges, up cute streets, and saw huge old buildings. Oh, and a really neat castle. Complete with a dungeon. Ghent is similar to Brugge, but at the same time totally different.
In one square we paused to check out a traditional bakery (where you could take 2 steps inside and that was as big as it was), a mustard shop (where the mustard has no preservatives, so you eat it that day or quickly refrigerate it), and also a few carts where they sold "noses" or these little pyramids that are purple in color and have like jam in side. They are unique to this area, so we got a little bag of them for 3 Euro. Two stands were selling them, and when I asked the one guy, if his were better than the other stand, he said "mine are the best - those are the same you can get at the supermarket" - he went on and on about how is are superior, and I found it funny how passionate he was about it.
We ended up at a water side cafe for a late lunch early dinner. I had "chili con carne" with ended up being a good choice. We were outside and the warm fullness of the chili was nice. It had everything in it - things like meat, corn, squash, tomato, almost like it was everything they had in the kitchen. It also came with a salad on the same plate, which was delicious, with everything in it too - things like walnuts, seeds, vegetables, greens, etc. I like how random the food is. They seem to add anything that is fresh and it makes things so yummy. We also had 2 beers. I just drink a little beer since it is so special here and it is cheaper than other beverage options, even water. And we have water in our backpack, so I can just have that when I want anyway. Dan had these little pancake things, and Sara nibbled on those also. It was a good meal. It rained while we were there, but the cafe had a long awning, that kept us dry. So it was fun to watch other people stroll in the rain while we were cozy in our seats (which were even covered with blankets).
The rain let up when we left. We did some more strolling and decided to head out. A bit unfortunately we took the correct tram, but in the wrong direction. And ended up in the middle of no where before we figured it out, got off, and got back on going the correct direction. By the time we got off at the train station in Ghent, to start our journey home, Julia was crying with huge tears. At the train station I nursed her - and she was happy again. The train ride back to Brugge was quick and non eventful, with us just enjoying sitting there watching the world go by outside the windows. We had a four pack of seats, that faced each other. So I had Julia on my lap and Sara was on Dan's lap. We just have looked like a jolly traveling family.
Back here in Brugge we took a bus back to our house, and gave Sara bet time bite and gave Julia a bath. It is now 20:43 (8:43) and it was a long full daly. Doing the day trip was fun. It will also be fun to have a full day here tomorrow (Tuesday) as we leave Wednesday.
Well, I'm going to wrap up. I know I ramble a bit, I just type what ever comes into my mind with no revision. Sort of more of a travel log than a true blog. Oh well.
Signing off. Lori
No comments:
Post a Comment