a better me

Day 7 (September 20, 2013) [continued]:  I was especially excited for Ghent as I had read fabulous things in advance of going — and I was not disappointed.  It turned out to be my favorite city of the trip!  We arrived at our hotel on Hoogstraat, the Grand Hotel Reylof, in the late afternoon.  The hotel surpassed all expectations, especially given how reasonably priced it was.  It was very “classic” meets “modern.”  They provided complimentary bathrobes and slippers, which is my silly of test for a nice hotel.  We settled in and familiarized ourselves with the hotel and explored the pool, fitness center, sauna, library, restaurant, etc.)

After exploring the hotel, we headed out to wander around our new locale.  SO picturesque!!  We walked by the Graslei and Korenlei (channels), over St. Michael’s Bridge and even checked out het groot vleeshuis, a medival butchers market.

Hungry from all the walking, we split a bite to eat (+ beer, of course).  We had a table in the sun which was very nice since it was a beautiful day, and warmer than it had been elsewhere.  After we ate, we stopped by Gravensteen castle, but tours had ended for the day, so we made a mental note to re-visit.  The castle looked like it was straight from the middle ages — or a fairytale (except that inside is a museum with various torture devices historically used in Ghent — not very fairytale-ish)!

After so much exploring, we figured it was time for more beer, so we headed to a crazy hole-in-the-wall home/bar, café ‘t velootje, that Rob really wanted to visit after reading about it online.  We almost couldn’t find it because it was really just a random door into a residential looking place… this is what was inside:

The owner was a bit insane (or plays the part well), but a fun character.  In order to make room for us he took his arm to sweep just enough laundry off of a bench to make room for us.  His cat (Duval) quickly joined us and we became fast friends.  Definitely an experience to remember… though I rather wish I could forget the bathroom in that place (not surprisingly = ew).  Tired from walking all day, we grabbed some pizza at Pizza Roma to take back to our hotel.  We also stopped at a bottle shop for some brews.  The store clerk turned away two girls in front of us because they were paying with a 50euro bill… and then proceeded to accept our 100euro bill for our beer.  He went on a tangent for about 10 minutes about “life lessons” and how “sometimes you say yes and sometimes you say no.”  We headed back to our comfy hotel to end the day with dinner and a movie.

Day 8 (September 21, 2013):  A full day in Ghent!  One of the best attributes of the Grand Hotel Reylof was the complimentary breakfast.  They served quite a feast with — all sorts of breads and pastries, with delicious spreads (including banana chocolate and caramel apple), fresh juices, breakfast meats, pancakes, eggs, etc.  After stuffing our faces with “free” food, we went back to our room to digest before taking advantage of the fitness center.  Once showered, we headed into town to tour the Gravensteen Castle, which was built by the Knights of Templar.  We toured the nooks and crannies of the castle, took in the torture exhibits (not my fave, but interesting nonetheless) and enjoyed a great view of the city from the highest points of the castle.

And then I sat on a throne.

After we finished touring the castle, we headed back to the hotel to swap out our camera’s memory card (which was, not surprisingly, full of castle-y pictures).  After that quick pit stop, we walked around Ghent a bit more before heading to the Ghent belfry, which dates back to 1425! We climbed to the very top and were rewarded with this view:

As the day wound down, we stopped for a late dinner, al fresco, at a charming restaurant along the graselei.  This was the view from our table:

Dinner was great – we shared a salad, a monsieur croque and desserts – but, the company was even better.

I had read before our visit that “you haven’t seen ghent until you’ve seen it at night” and I couldn’t agree more.  So beautiful!

Then, home again, home again – jiggity jig.

The adventure did not stop though as the electricity went out in virtually the entire city later that evening, including at our hotel.  Fortunately, the staff was very accommodating and provided plenty of light-alternatives.

Day 9 (September 22, 2013):  Our last morning in Ghent.  A sad morning indeed.  We enjoyed another breakfast feast, compliments of the hotel, then packed up.  Fortunately, we were off to another great city — Bruges (which turned out to be my second favorite city of the trip).

Day 6 (September 19, 2013) [continued]:  We left Utrecht, Netherlands and headed to Antwerpen, Belgium.  We stayed at another airbnb apartment in Antwerpen on Keizerstraat.  Worst airbnb experience ever!  The apartment was clean and deceivingly cute, but we had so many issues during our short stay there.  When we got there, the place was freezing because the heat had been turned off.  Unfortunately, the heating system was not self-explanatory and, in fact, hidden behind a panel in the wall behind the toilet in the bathroom (say what?).  Also, the apartment layout was so poorly planned that there were doors, cupboards, etc. that literally could not open because something was built in the way.  Totally drove Rob and I crazy given our somewhat OCD/perfectionist tendencies.  We also tried to do laundry (which we had successfully done in the past), but the washer would not drain any water — it would just fill with water and then water would cascade down the front of the machine like a decorative waterfall disguised as a washing machine.  Last, but not least, there was one very pesky mosquito in the bedroom, which was not fun when it came time for sleeping!  Once we were sufficiently settled in, we headed out to explore.  First on the itinerary was Grote Markt (“Great Market Square”) situated in the heart of the old city quarter of Antwerpen.  Here is a picture of city hall on one side of the square.

As you can see, we didn’t have ideal weather, but it was beautiful all the same.  Also, there was some random performance by a Japanese star — thus the chairs to the right.  We also enjoyed the view of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (“Cathedral of our Lady), the ornate gothic cathedral also located at the square.

After exploring around the square, we headed to Paeters Vaetje, a timber-lined pub just below the cathedral with more than 100 beers to choose from.  We had a bite to eat and a few rounds of brews (I had a Troubadour blond and a Grimbergen).

Day 7 (September 20, 2013):  After a lot of back and forth with the host, we were able to get the heat working in the morning, which meant we could finally take luke-warm showers.  Yay?  In need of morale improvement, we headed out for a renowned Belgian breakfast (/dessert)– belgian waffles!  We ate at Queen of Waffles and were not disappointed.  YUM.

After breakfast, we stopped by a Belgian chocolate shop (more yum, to-go) we re-visited the Grote Markt, enjoying much better weather than the evening before.

Then we headed back to pack up the apartment.  Can’t say we were sad to leave that place.

Next stop, Ghent!

Day 5 (September 18, 2013) [continued]:  After picking up our rental car, we set out for Utrecht.  Because the rental was a stick shift, I drove.  My first time driving in a foreign country!  It was interesting to see how, on a four-lane highway, all the cars stayed in the two right lanes only occasionally passing in the third most right lane with almost no one ever bothering with the left lane.  It was so organized — and nice!  Once we got to Utrecht, we dropped our bags off at our next airbnb place (on Lepelaarstraat) and then successfully searched for some free parking.  We walked to the Dom Tower, but had missed the last tour for the day so decided to walk around for a bit.  We were getting a bit hungry, so we stopped in an courtyard for some frites from a small stand.  In the Netherlands, they top their fries with all sorts of toppings.  At the recommendation of the stand-owner, we ordered frites topped with peanut sauce, may and onions.  It sounded kind of gross, but ended up being delicious (especially surprising because I really don’t like may or raw onions).

Next, we went in search of Oudaen, a bar/restaurant in an old castle, which Rob wanted to see.  We got a table and ordered some appetizers and beers for dinner.

Once it was getting dark outside, we went on a light tour of the city (trajectum lumen), which uses your phone’s GPS to track where you are and which interacts with an iPhone app which told you about the different light displays.

Day 6 (September 19, 2013):  The next day, we packed up the car then walked to the center of Utrecht to take a tour of the Dom Tower.  We bought our tickets in advanced and had just enough time to squeeze in a quick lunch.  It was by far the fastest sit-down meal I have ever had in Europe.  Before we left Utrecht, we took a tour of the Dom Tower.  The views from the top were great, and the tour was very informative (and great exercise, climbing all of those stairs)!

Next stop:  Belgium!