Belgium | Blissfulbritt

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Gent, Belgium

Posted at 5:00 AM by Brittany, on September 16, 2019

First impressions can be misleading. If I lived my life based solely on first impressions I’d be missing out on some amazing opportunities. My first impression of Gent was not a good one. The city had a lot of constriction happening which seems to be a reoccurring theme for all of Europe, the weather was hot making me moody, and there were a lot of people…everywhere.

I don’t like being uncertain of where I am when driving a car, and while searching for a parking garage upon arrival in Gent, the car navigation system continuously tried to take me down roads that were closed. There were bikers EVERYWHERE, and I ended up driving onto a pedestrian only street. I wasn’t aware I couldn’t drive here until someone stopped me and kindly advised I turn off the street.

Thankfully one of my roommates had access to Google Maps, and she guided us a back way to the parking garage. I have never been happier to park a car for two days in my life. All I needed was to be mobile by foot and my first impression started to change.

We stayed at an amazingly convenient Air B&B right next to the city center, and this made a perfect home base for our two days in Gent.

There is a bridge that brought us into the city from our Air B&B, and I can confidently say I have never seen a city that looked quite like Gent looks from this angle as I approached. It was absolutely stunning and I was amazed at the architecture.

We arrived in the evening after our day in Dunkirk, so we made ourselves some dinner and planned for the following day. There was a walking tour starting on the above bridge (3 min walk from Air B&B) at 10am, which was the perfect start to the day. I’ve grown quite fond of the free city walking tours, they are a good way to become somewhat acclimated with a new city.

The tour was two hours, and took us to some of the main highlights in Gent as well as some local known neighborhoods.

We did a free walking tour in Brugge as well, and our tour guide in Brugge told us a story about how Brugge and Gent used to have animosity towards each other. The rivalry is now all in good fun, but once upon a time the two cities were enemies.

According to Brugge, Gent came and stole a golden dragon from their town, and placed it upon their Belfry tower.

According to Gent, Brugge stole the dragon from the vikings (I think) so regardless the golden dragon didn’t belong to either of them. The dragon still sits atop the Belfry tower in Gent, and I don’t anticipate it being stolen a third time. I found it fitting that the two cities I chose to visit in Belgium had this kind of history.

Dragon atop the tower.

Our tour guide took us through an area he originally referred to as “the ghetto of Gent” which was a misrepresentation of what’s actually just an alley where it’s legal and acceptable to spray paint the walls. The city covers the walls with fresh paint every so often for a naked canvas, and people come to paint their hearts out.

I found a little bit of myself in that alley.

It me.

Fake news: this can was actually empty.

After the tour, my roommates and I split ways for a few hours to explore on our own. I wandered my way down backroads and cobblestoned streets for a while, and decided to splurge on a shot of espresso. I don’t drink coffee for a myriad of reasons, but sometimes I splurge regardless of the repercussions. I wasn’t going to splurge on food in Gent, so coffee it was.

I stopped into a local shop called Barista Coffee and Cake, and my suppressed foodie coffee lover was swooning. Vegan treats and coffee galore. Big sigh.

Coffee in hand, I decided to do a boat tour, because anytime I find myself in a city with canals I gravitate towards the boats. The tour was only 7 euro for an hour, and I loved seeing areas of Gent I wouldn’t have seen by foot. Despite the morning clouds that greeted our day, the sky quickly turned to sun after noon and the boat ride was HOT.

My boat tour guide covered things my walking tour guide did not, but my walking tour guide covered the most important topic. He told us the best place to buy chocolate from in the city, and since I’d come all the way to Belgium and hadn’t bought any chocolate yet I decided to trust his recommendation.

I trusted him because he recommended a local shop, and when I walked in I could peek over a ledge to see them making the chocolate below.

I planned to buy a small pack of chocolate for my mom, but that quickly escalated to 22 single pieces of chocolate of which I ate 11 of upon my arrival back in Germany (I DID space it over two days, which is a big deal for someone with BED.) The other 11 are safely awaiting the arrival of my mom and sister next week. The woman at the chocolate shop was wonderful and patient with my never ending “and what’s this one” question.

My box of goods was only 15 euro, and let me tell you…it was worth every penny. That was some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had. I later discovered this chocolate shop is a family business of a father and son, with two shops in different areas of Gent. I visited Cédric Van Hoorebeke located closer to the city center. Both father and son are married, and their lovely wives handle the shop front while the men make the chocolate.

Now that’s a family business I can support.

After buying my chocolate and dropping it off at our homebase, it was time for dinner. I had stuck to eggs, avocados, and apples for breakfast and lunch, so dinner had a bit more flavor. I eat the same things most everyday, which usually consists of chicken in some way. Half chickens are my go to in Europe, and Belgium was no different.

My meal was good, and I was mostly full, but after meeting back up with my roommates I helped my roommate finish her fries. Belgium is the home of the French fry after all, and I had never eaten fries with mayo before so I gave it a try. HOT diggity dog…I saw the light. Fries and mayo IS A THING and it’s wicked delicious.

To wind down the evening we sat at a bar for a beer (not for me) and soaked in the remainder of the day.

The following morning we had until around noon before we planned to drive back to Germany, so I spent an hour exploring Gravensteen, also known as the Castle of the Counts. This castle has a self guided audio tour and was hands down the best castle tour I’ve ever done. The commentary was informational and FUNNY.

It kept me focused and entertained, which is sometimes hard to do.

The castle is smack in the middle of the city and dates back to 1180. The history behind this castle was fascinating, and the views were worth the 10 euro entrance fee. This was the perfect way to end the quick trip to Gent. My first impression of this city was not an accurate representation of what I later discovered. This city is rich in history and beauty.

This wrapped up my roomie trip to Belgium, and I once again was so glad Spain didn’t work out for us. Everything happens for a reason. and I couldn’t have asked for a better week with two of my favorite people in Europe.

Q: Can you think of a city you had a first impression of that turned out to be wrong?

| 13 Comments Tagged Belgium, Brittanys Life Abroad, Chocolate, Gent, Travel, Wanderlust

Brugge, Belgium

Posted at 5:00 AM by Brittany, on September 4, 2019

Ahh Brugge, the romantic historical town in the northwestern part of Belgium. Brugge was not on my radar until I moved to Europe, and it was as if The Google knew I wanted to see the world, because Brugge popped up on my suggested browser a few months after I arrived. I subconsciously tucked this popular destination in my brain for a later date, and that later date arrived after a series of unfortunate events.

You see, I was scheduled to take a trip to Spain for the month of August with my two roommates. We had requested time off for this trip months in advance, booked a rental car, found wonderful Air B & B’s, and did extensive research – aka watched The Cheetah Girls 2. I was ready to strut like I meant it through the streets of Barcelona.

A few days before our scheduled departure, we received an e-mail advising us there was a scheduled strike at the Barcelona airport the day we were meant to arrive, and we were informed our flight might be cancelled. Um, what? There wasn’t much we could do, so we waited to see what the fate of our trip would be the day of departure.

According to our tour guide who graciously took this picture of us, Colin Ferrel jumped out of the window between my head and my roommates head to the left of me during filming of the movie “In Bruge.” Also – HBD to the pretty lady on my right.

I suppose I should be thankful that we got notice a day and a half before our travel day (instead of the day of) that our flight was indeed cancelled, and truth be told I didn’t really want to go to Spain anyway, but it’s been over a week and I’m still awaiting my refund. I’m a bit perturbed by the entire situation, but it was out of my control.

With some quick cat like reflex planning, we planned our backup trip in an hour. My roommates asked me,” Switzerland or Belgium?” Without hesitation I screamed “BELGIUM” and my subconscious vision of Brugge reappeared into my frontal lobe. I told them I wanted to see Brugge, and I wanted to see Gent, and badda boom badda bing we officially shifted gears towards Belgium.

Just when we thought everything was squared away, I got notified that there were no more rental cars at our local Europcar (after we already booked places to sleep in Belgium), which brought momentary panic to us all. We decided to take a train to Munich to rent a car from the airport, and drive it back to Garmisch the day before our trip.

It took five hours round trip.

This was almost the trip that wasn’t thanks to all the hoops we had to jump through, but perseverance gave us a lovely trip to Belgium I shan’t soon forget. Brugge is just as fairytale like as they say, and it’s no wonder this city brings flocks of tourists to see its cobblestone streets, medieval architecture, and Venice like canals.

The drive to Brugge was brutal, and as the only driver (shoutout to being an old lady and not having an extra rental car charge) I was feeling the 12 hours of open road hard by the time we reached our hostel. We stayed at Hostel Europa, which had free parking (what I cared about), was less than a 2km walk to the city center (what they cared about), and had free breakfast (what everyone cared about.)

By the time we started our following day in the city, I had forgotten all about the long drive west. We didn’t have much planned for this city, other than to find some colorful houses, eat a waffle, eat fries, eat chocolate, find the sheep, and find the windmills. We stumbled upon a free walking tour at just the right time, and we were able to learn some history about the city.

Old hospital. This one’s for you dad.

After we did the walking tour, we went to eat at House of Waffles per the suggestion of our tour guide. I was intrigued by the idea of savory waffles, but sadly this BLT waffle wasn’t worth the splurge that comes with eating gluten for me. My only regret of this trip was that I ate a savory waffle instead of a sweet waffle. I didn’t want to splurge too many times, so I didn’t eat anymore waffles on this trip.

I should have known better, waffles are meant to be sweet.

The waffles provided just enough energy to wander the residential streets of Brugge in order to find the sheep. Tucked away from the tourist streets is a small park called Hof De Jonge. This park is home to local sheep that graze on the grass, and is known as one of the hidden spot to visit in Brugge. Our trip to Belgium occurred during one of the countries few heat waves, and the 90 degree air had the sheep hiding for respite.

I turned the corner and was saddened to find no sheep in the park. Just when I lost all hope, I saw one lone sheep running towards the shade. Success.

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After the sheep it was off to the windmills. Four historic windmills are left standing along the ramparts of one of the canals in Brugge. In the 16th century there were upwards of 23 mills in the area, and the remaining four offered a break from the bustling city center. My roommates humored me on my walk across Brugge to find these mills, and the last one of the four offered a small view of the city below.

At the top of the windmill stairs were two local girls enjoying a beer and escaping from the late afternoon sun. I couldn’t help but think this was a terrible place to drink alcohol because of how sketchy the stairs were climbing up and down…does this make me old?

I used to frolic in the face of danger and now my fear radar is continuously maxed out.

Our final “scheduled” adventure was to take a boat tour on the canal. This was a cheap ten euro adventure where we didn’t learn anything we didn’t already know after our free walking tour, but it was fun to see the city from the view of the water. Plus our trilingual captain was nice to look at.

The rest of our evening was free to wander and refuel. After my waffle lunch I wanted something “safe” for dinner, but continued the vacation mindset and ordered my chicken with fries. When in Belgium. Did you know, fries originated in Belgium?

American soldiers stationed in Belgium were first introduced to French fries during World War I. As the official language of the Belgian army was French, soldiers nicknamed the delicious fried potatoes “French fries.” The name stuck, and decades later we’re still giving credit to the wrong country.

Brugge is a lovely city, and I’m thankful to have crossed it off my list, and I’m thankful for the mysterious way God works. Had it not been for that Barcelona strike, we’d have gone to Spain instead. Not to say Spain wouldn’t have been enjoyable, but something tells me Belgium is more my style.

Regardless of where we went, I was just happy to spend a week with my roommates. I am thankful that we not only live well together, but we’re close friends too.

Who can guess which cat pillow is my favorite?

Q: Would you have called it quits after the cancelled flight and no local rental cars, or adapted the “where there’s a will there’s a way” mindset?