Day Eight - Ghent and "Modern Family"

Today we took a day trip to Gent on the train. Took the tram near the downtown area and walked to Simon Says for breakfast. Simon Says is a cute, affordable coffee shop.

We had a plate of pastries, orange juice, and coffee. I swear, the croissant was as good as the amazing one I had at the fancy, expensive Gerard Mulot bakery in Paris. Impressive.

Coffee + o.j. + pastries for two = 12 Euros. Reservations recommended.

We walked around downtown Ghent on a beautiful, sunny day. Definitely worth a day trip. There was much debate online on which city you should stay at, Bruges or Ghent, and which one you should day trip to. I'm glad we stayed in Bruges. It's so compact and there are a million places to eat. Ghent was a little larger and rougher around the edges.

In the town square

Lots of cathedrals that look like this in Ghent

Sitting by the river

We went through the Gravensteen Castle. It's amazing how castles are romanticized. They're all so cold and dark and scary. This one had a lot of torture stuff on display. I'm not really into the torture stuff, makes me queasy. Of course, Hubs was all over it.

After all the torture, it was time for lunch. We ate lunch at a restaurant in the Groot Vleeshuis (Great Butcher's Hall), Groentenmarkt 7. It's a great place to visit if you like food. Vendor's are selling meats and cheeses, hams hang from the ceiling, and tables are scattered throughout.

Hubs had the Gentse Waterzooie, Ghent's specialty, a curried chicken stew with carrots, leeks, and potatoes. Very rich and delicious. I had my fair share of it.

For variety, I ordered the lunch plate: an assortment of hams and cheeses, a salad, and chicken broth soup. All good.

We took the #4 Tram back to the train station and headed back to Bruges. Time to get our drink at 't Brugs Beertje. If you go to Bruges, you must go here, hundreds of beers and solid food. We went early, got a table, and spent the entire night there.

Kind of like "Cheers" but in Belgium

We needed some food to go along with the beer. Cheese plate:

And, of course, Pate:

Oerbier was my favorite beer of the night, and I had a few great ones:

The label is so cute!

It was the perfect evening. Amazing beer and delicious snacks. This was the Belgium I had dreamed of and it had all come true. And then it got better.

So, our waiter was a little crabby, I guess you could say. We had beer bottles and glasses on our small table, and then the two plates of food came and instead of trying to make room, he thrust the empty neighboring table into ours. As we continued to eat and drink, the place started filling up and I felt guilty for taking the extra table. We consolidated our food onto one plate and were able to free the other table. A guy my age nodded and smiled at me, I smiled back, he and his wife sat down at the table. I went on yammering about all my writing ideas. When I'm tipsy, I'm very inspired. I started talking about my pilot and the Modern Family spec I need to write. I went to use the bathroom and when I came back, the couple next door turned to us. "We were eavesdropping and we heard you say Modern Family and we just wanted to say that we're huge fans of the show."

I immediately liked Jenny and Whit. Hubs and I are huge eavesdroppers and my first thought was, how were we not eavesdropping on the Americans next to us? I didn't even pick up that they spoke English! Whit said he thought for sure I wasn't American because I moved the table. American travellers always assume other Americans are a-holes.

Whit and Jenny had just survived a hellish plane ride from Philly. The story involved a medical emergency, being halfway over the Atlantic, realizing that the emergency was a pregnant woman being deported who may or may not have been in labor, a long time figuring out what to do, and then turning around and going back to Philly. And then they got to start over again. So they were extremely grateful for the beers in front of them.

We talked all night. They were so smart and funny and in love. It was a joy to hang out with them. I think that's what travelling is all about, really. Meeting unexpected people, arriving at unexpected places, and having a different experience than you thought you would. Being at the right place at the right time. And that night we were.

After we'd been home for a few weeks, I asked Hubs what his favorite thing about the trip was, and he said this night. I might have to agree.