Author: Ella

I mentioned in a post a couple days ago that we’d stopped in at the Museum of Fine Arts (. ) in Ghent. I am not one who seeks out old masters. Sure, I can admire the technical prowess and the part played in the evolution of painting – use of perspective and sometimes painstaking…

We spent the day in Bruges. A 30 minute train ride from Ghent. Of course, the tram from our apartment to the train station took another 30 minutes. If you are into medieval towns or if you saw the movie “In Bruges” and now think Bruges is a romantic and exciting place to be, join…

First thing this morning (10am ), Grubb had tickets for us to visit the famous Ghent altar piece, a triptych called The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyke at St. Bavo’s cathedral. Grubb will wax eloquent but I wanted to praise the technology.  Before being allowed to view the painting, we…

I had waterzooi with chicken along with a Gin fizz.  Grubb had some sort of pork tenderloin with potato croquettes.  “Waterzooi” comes from Dutch “water to boil” or “watery mess” Waterzooi is a stew-soup chock full of vegetables. Traditionally potatoes, carrots, leeks and celery. The broth is enriched with a little cream and egg yolks….

Shadow of the day

Here are some more photos from our first day wandering in Ghent.

The gods of trains smiled. Or maybe the smurfs took the day off. One train, one platform, on time. Ghent is just under 30 min by train from Brussels (about 30 miles) so it didn’t take long. Soon enough, Vera and Phillipe were checking us in. Our apartment occupies the attic floor of their home…

I dunno but he keeps promising to explain soon. From yesterday at the Wiels Contemporary Art Center.

Chicken skewers (tangy), salad (crisp) and fries (thick) with white garlic sauce plus beer for me. Grubb had similar except fish skewers and he chose curry ketchup as the sauce for French fry dipping. And the non alcoholic sparkling water. Today I tried the Tripel karmeliet beer.  “An Abbey-style blonde beer by Brouwerij Bosteels in Buggenhout….

Street art speaks for itself, whether it’s comic strip murals, feminist statements or god-help-us, the Smurfs (which were created in Belgium. That could actually explain the nutty train platform maze). The Mallones neighborhood of Brussels is rife with large scale paintings. Also, I broke my sunglasses (just cheap ones) and needed a replacement. I also…

Friends Charlie and Wynette are currently walking the Camino and everyday they post a shadow picture. So Charlie and Wynette, we think a shadow challenge is in order. 

Our neighborhood (Sint-Gilles / Ixelles) is particularly dense with art nouveau buildings.

Starting in Persia…ending in Palestine with a flow through art nouveau and odd contemporary in between. We had a late start and a lazy day. Our first stop was for coffee at KooKoo with a Persian touch. Cappuccino and slice of pistachio rosewater cake for Grubb and chai latte with a slice of lemon cake…

Subtitle: Toto, we aren’t in Japan anymore. Mechelen, a charming little town just north of Brussels. “Punches above its weight” Claude says. Today we decided to head that way. Tram to train station, train to Mechelen. No biggie. So, the tram was good. First tram ride. No fussing with tickets. Tap our phone to pay…