Discovering Small Towns in Belgium: Ghent (Gent) and Bruges

4/22/2023

More on Food and Cocktails

Chocolate! Yes, Belgium is also known for their chocolate - GODIVA, for instance, although they are apparently going bankrupt and locals do not like their chocolate anyways. They have so many local chocolate shops here, you have to just choose a personality I guess.

So far, I've tried the Flemish beef stew (not a fan), Kriek cherry beer (I like), shrimp croquettes (absolutely disgusting), asparagus soup (weird huh, but good) and hummus (I don't really like hummus but couldn't put down).

Went to Chemistry and Botanics cocktail bar which was pretty good , I recommend it, but it's small so go early. Had the Cinnamon Oxidation and a Hummus plate then went over to the so-called famous L'Archduc: um, no. I hope there is a secret side to it, because that place was the most rundown facility I've seen in this whole trip. Inside, paint is peeling, chairs are worn out, drinks are super basic and I stuck with the hot chocolate which wasn't disappointing. I've heard praise that Lady Gaga and someone else visited this place- so there has to be a second side to this story! My take back: you only come here as an in-and-out crowd- grab a drink and be gone to another place.

Ghent

Overall an OK experience - not sure what I was going to expect since it was kinda last minute. Ghent was a pretty small town for nuns with everything turned into a museum of some sort. There is a still in-use women's dwelling that consists of several row houses circulated around a church and central garden, enclosed by bridges and somewhat of a wall - all those widowed or single came here since back then, single women had nothing else to give to this world- odd as it is that I am a single woman visiting this site and have the entire world available to me today :) Thank you to the early feminists who paved the way for women's rights! The rest of the town is more just walking through and a good lunch near the swan lake or the central canal.

Bruges

I thought 'fairytale town' was representative of something else yet Bruges is a whole city. Now there is a center with the most historic buildings still present and they are extraordinary - but you can really excite Americans with these kind of things, because the oldest thing we have is probably late 1800s and most have been restored and modernized that you cannot appreciate the history of it anymore. Everywhere else in the world, most sites have been destroyed by wars. Here, the buildings are pretty intact and although everything has been made into a bar or museum, you can appreciate the decor. There is one real canal in the city and the boat tour was a nice break from the cobblestones so I would recommend. They have horse drawn carriages which, now after seeing the scope of the city, probably a better way to get around.

**Correction: apparently, my New England ass forgot there are some older structures in the US - including in New Mexico and Massachusetts- unfortunately, something I was NOT taught in grade school was that Providence was pretty much burned to the ground during the King Phillip War so we have limited and greatly restored buildings- so still, not as impressive as 1600s Medieval European.

And to be clear, fairytale is not how I would describe Bruges. But it is Medieval.

With the tour, I'd say 3/5 for the simple fact that the guide MOVED and then gave us almost 1.5 hours of freedom. Almost. It was very complicated. You couldn't move much especially with the tourists and no map. I would recommend having a private guide that can lead you by neighborhood and allow time at each interested stop.