Just to change the pace abit, I have decided to combine 3 days into one. Some highlights of these 3 days were:
Sleepins - not up before about 9am each day but needed as out fairly late most nights
Tour de France - never been into it before, but really enjoyed watching it and learning the ins and outs from Koen (don't tell Dan and Herbie!) It wasn't just that Cadel was doing well, it was also seeing the landscape, and not being bored silly by English speaking commentators - they spoke Flemish. Also a great advantage that it was at reasonable times through the day, rather than having to stay up late at night
Belgian beer - Choc, Koen and I were going to write out a list of all the beers I tasted, but it never happened. Lets just say that Koen was pleased with my efforts, and there weren't many I didn't like - one cherry one I really couldn't drink but the rest were pretty good. We visited some excellent pubs - so many with a lovely atmosphere. I would love to go back to Gent when it isn't festival time to enjoy them even more.
Jenever - flavoured gin, my fav is vanilla (a lot like a vanilla flavoured baileys)
Gentse Feesten - the festival is great! There is just so much to see - people of all ages out drinking, eating, watching bands, street performers, etc. The festival goes for 10 days during the summer holidays. Gent is a uni town but the uni students have gone home for the summer. The first festival was held in 1843, so it has a very long history, then in 1943 was resurected to the current format - altough now on a lot larger scale.
Shopping - there is a big sale on in Belgium, that goes over the period of a month. We had a look around, and I was thrilled to (ignore this bit guys as you won't understand) buy new bras as the ones I have after months of travelling and handwashing, were falling to bits and did not really enhance my assets (if you know what I mean!). Also bought a couple of souvenirs and a little present for myself - thanks Choc for all the fab advice! You can help me spend my money anytime :-)
Great food - especially one beef casserole type dish, and Koen's home-made bread. We had African one night - it tasted great but did not sit well in the stomach for any of us.
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| Francois, Choc and Koen |
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| One of the many beers I tried |
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| Jenever - vanilla flavour |
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| Entrance to Pol's bar where we get his famous Jenever |
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| Pub across from Choc and Koen |
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| Men's urinal - found on a lot of street corners. Most surprising thing is that over some of them they have a sign indicating it is for both sexes - not certain how women would do it though!! |
The only thing disappointing about my time in Belgium was that most times when we left the apartment, it rained. Bit of a shock to the system coming from brilliant sunshine and mid 30 temperatures in Croatia to wet Belgium, where the temp rarely got over 20.
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