My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
Wednesday, 26 February 2025
As you may recall from my previous Ghent post, as Leah and I waited for the train to leave Ghent and take us back to Zeebrugge, Leah was very upset that she hadn’t settled on a magnet from Ghent. She had a magnet from all of the places she had traveled to but none of the magnets we had looked at in Ghent were the right one. I promised her I would get her one and mail it to her when I returned to the US. I promised this because I really wanted to come back to Ghent, and also because I had seen souvenirs from places nearby, so I was pretty sure I could find a magnet from Ghent somewhere else in Belgium. She wanted the little houses but couldn’t find one that had a waffle on it – most of them had beer. The week before, with Peter, I had found two magnets that were almost what she wanted – one said Gent and one had waffles and said Belgium. I bought those just in case.
When port strikes had prevented us from docking in Le Havre the last week of January, everyone said that it would happen again. I thought that meant that it would happen every week, but for the last three weeks we had docked as scheduled in Le Havre. Then I started hearing rumors that the strikers would strike again and we would have another overnight in Belgium! I had a plan. I asked the Cruise Director if I could cancel my hospitality hours – if we had an overnight, no one was going to come visit me. He said yes. WOO HOO! I was going back to Ghent!
Ghent is about an hour and a half from the ship. With my hospitality hours and an all aboard time of 5:30 or 6pm, I barely had time to go get lunch in Brugge (which was much closer to the port than Ghent). But if we were staying all night and I didn’t have to come back to sit in a lounge, I could really make the most of the day without having to stress about catching the ship!
Then I saw in the ship email: now Belgium was going on strike and it would affect the train service. COME ON! They were encouraging crew not to go out too far and to let guests know that the train service may not be so reliable. I did some research and it appeared that the trains were still running, they just weren’t running as frequently. Ghent trains were still running on the hour. I concluded that I would probably be able to make it back before midnight.
I took the free shuttle to the terminal. Leah had found a train station in Zeebrugge that we had taken to Ghent last time, but with the train strikes it looked like going through Blankenburg would be a more reliable option. I ran into an American with a suitcase who was meeting a friend in Brugge. She wanted to know if I wanted to split an Uber with her. I told her I was going to Ghent, but I would show her the way to Brugge if she wanted to come with me. She was very appreciative. We took the tram to Blankenburg, then just barely caught the train. I showed her where to get off in Brugge and I continued on to Ghent.
I found STEK, the restaurant that Leah and I discovered on our last trip. Their special was a peanut butter latte – I had to have one.
The food was just as good and the service was just as lovely as I remembered.
Okay. What do I want to do with my day? I know!
I’ll go on a boat ride!
There were two options, on opposite sides of the canal. I picked one and then sat in the boat for 20 minutes waiting for the tour to start, reassuring myself that I hadn’t picked the wrong side.
It was so beautiful we were here on a rainy day, but it was even better with the sun shining.
And this black door – what is that for?
Just uploading these pictures brings back the joy I felt that day. I don’t think there are words that can describe how happy I was – everything I looked at was so cool.
He clearly hopped over the fence to sit on those steps, have a snack and draw or paint or write – I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but I wanted to do that.
After the boat ride I wandered around trying to figure out what to do next. There had been a man playing a violin, and the music had echoed through the canals.
Was there a way to get to one of those balconies that overlooked the canal?
The sun was bright but it was COLD. I decided to check out the Bierhuis that I had seen from the canal. I think it’s called ‘t Dreupelkot. This place had a great vibe inside.
I ordered the Delirium RED Strong Cherry. I got out my journal that Rose had given me for my birthday. The man at the next table complimented me on my choice. I asked if I had correctly detected a North American accent? (I’ve been doing this for months now – trying to figure out who the Americans are on the ship without offending the Canadians). He was from Ohio and was in Belgium working at a nearby University. He had been here many times. That was so cool. I told him I worked on the ship. I was here for the day – what should I do?
Wow this beer was good! I deemed it my new favorite.
He gave me a list of things – I told him I had toured the castle and gone on a canal boat ride. He said this place where we were was his favorite bar – so I was off to a great start. He said I should go to St Bavos (which I didn’t get to), I should climb the Belfry Clock Tower (which I did). Do I like books? I do. There is a place called Books and Booze where the owner pairs drinks with books – (um… YES PLEASE!). I should go to the Troll Cellar (which I never found – I couldn’t figure out what he was referring to on Google Maps), and if I wanted to do something REALLY touristy I should go to the Dulle Griet bar and tell them I want a shoe beer (more on that later). I asked about food. He said Belgium wasn’t really known for its cuisine and everything was pretty touristy. If he had to recommend something, he said I should go to Altier friets, which was right around the corner. Fantastic. I mean, if I was going to keep drinking Belgian beer, I should probably eat something. He got up to leave, I thanked him for the advice and never saw him again.
My mom was in Africa and she had just had a spiritual experience with baby elephants. She told me that ever since, she had seen elephants every day. I told her that the elephants had found me too!
Though I really wanted another cherry beer, I decided to order something different – so I ordered the one that they would cut you off after three of them!
Properly buzzed on life, Ghent, and Belgian Beer, I set out to see more of the city and do some of the things this guy had suggested.
I found the House of Nothing that I’d found with Leah
Here’s the view from the ground.
Luckily there was an elevator that took me straight up to the top!
I stopped at each level going down. There was a bell:
Back on the bottom I returned to the list from the guy from the bar.
I thought this place would be a bar, but it seemed to just be a shop. I was still mesmerized.
It was such a fascinating concept and a beautiful display.
I tried to find books I recognized – there were books in various different languages.
I stopped in a souvenir shop and found just the magnets Leah was looking for – I couldn’t decide between the two so I got her both.
The next stop was the shoe bar – the touristy one. At Dulle Griet, you could trade your shoe for a giant, two-feet tall glass of beer. They would ring a bell and put your shoe in a basket that hung from the ceiling. Allegedly, if you drank the whole beer by yourself without breaking anything, you could get your shoe back.
I ran into three Americans from the ship and they wanted to hang out with me and do whatever I was going to do. But they don’t drink alcohol. And I wanted to drink more Belgian Beer. We decided to get fries. It had started raining.
We went to the fries place that they guy recommended.
After that I tried to find that first Beir place that I had found but in the rain I got all turned around and couldn’t find it. So we ended up at a more touristy place that happened to have the beer I wanted! So that worked out.
We caught an Uber to the train which was running as scheduled and we got back with plenty of time for one of the Americans to go to the silent disco on the ship. The Uber driver had sparked a very controversial conversation which I enjoyed the whole way back. But now I was ready for bed. Ghent had been everything I wanted it to be – once A-Ghen(t).