Day 12: Ghent

Ghent day 12:

Cuberdon, yuck

I've been in this city for about one hour and I have already thought that I could live here, well, vacation here. I am sitting down at a trendy little cafe about to enjoy a bowl of cougette soup. I still have no idea what that is but I wanted soup. I entered the cafe and asked the waiter if he spoke English and four of them turn around and said of course. And there they are all trying to figure out the American word for cougette. It is some green vegetable, but I’m not sure which one. This area is not touristy and so I think they are excited to have a young foreigner at their cafe. Again, a wonderful first impression of the city. I invited two ladies to sit with me since there were no other tables available and when I looked at their menu I found that the name of the restaurant is Simon Says, which is a cafe that is specifically mentioned in my guide map. The guide says that I need to try the carrot cake and although I'm not the biggest fan of carrot age, I had to try it. Yum! It definitely tastes like carrot but it's good. Nice and sugary and yum yum!  Just had a second group sit with me and then leave. See this place is busy and me being by myself is taking up a lot of space apparently. But whatever I'm just enjoying my carrot cake. Yum that was good. And thats why you take advice from someone that knows better.

Graffiti Street

Next I went to a traditional Belgium candy shop and tried the Cuberdon. I thought it was disgusting and couldn’t the finish the minimum four that I had to buy. They are supposed to be raspberry flavor and they are definitely not, at least according to my growing palate. The candy is shaped like a face so as you bite into it you are ripping its face apart. The outside is hard but the inside is gummy but runny gummy like the kind if you leave gummy bears outside for a while. The combination of everything just didn't sit well with me. The other two are still sitting in my coat pocket but I later gave them to a roommate.

On the way to Graffiti Street, I stopped for some fries.  Because I can't leave any belgium city without trying it's best fries I went to Jozef for some good old fashioned fries. They were very good it's just that none will ever compare to my first ones in Antwerp with the unlimited condiments.  Graffiti street is its common name and I just asked where it was rather than it's ordinal title of Warregarenstraat which no one knows. It's a narrow road in which people just spray paint graffiti all over the walls. It's legal and encouraged here and if you want you can buy your own spray paint across the street and leave your own mark on the city.

Milk Chocolate Hot Chocolate with Maltzers

I was going to attempt to climb the 256 steps to the top of the Bellfort an old Flemmish  watchtower but then I realized that I just happened to be in the area of another cafe on my list. At Huize Collette, I ordered a milk chocolate hot chocolate with maltezers (little malt duds). It was a very good chocolaty drink and I felt completely full after it. I needed to sit down for a while after the drink just to regain my strength and composure. Colette then told me about a little cabaret near by that I should visit. I asked her to mark it in my map and write it's name down. The actual cafe seemed like a bookstore in that one goes upstairs and can read any of the books there while sipping on a hot beverage. I tried to find the Bellfort but it was not open. I don't know if it was open at all that day. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow. There was another church that I went in and sat for a little until they started yelling politely for everyone to leave. That was 6 and everything else seemed to to be closed at the same time.  Everything was so quiet so early. I wanted to enter a few bookstores but everything was closed. Oy what a world.

Me, in front of another Church

I started walking around and two ladies sitting drinking wine called out to me so I answered and ended up sitting down with them and chatting for a little. They were drunk and I was bored. One is writing a book about how she felt emotions when she was still in her mothers womb. I don't buy it but whatever. They apparently had tried calling out to others just for fun and no one responded. No surprise there. Buy whatever I had nothing to do.

After talking with them about normality vs craziness I decided to find the bar that I was told about earlier. I walked in and asked him wait is this it. Yep. It's a small personal bar. At the main area maybe 15-20 people max can fit comfortably. This surprised me especially since it's supposed to be a dinner theater kind of bar with shows and magic. I arrived very early and just sat talking to him because we were the only people there. Eventually Ruth came and when I said that I was going to Bruges she told me that he is from there and gave me lots of advice as to where to go and that she is too going there tomorrow so she gave me her number and maybe I will find a way to call her and then we can take the train together and she can show me around a little. The issue is that I have these giant bags and can't really just walk around with them. Also I'm not sure if I would instead rather have that hour to sleep or relax rather than talk and such. But to make a connection with a local how can I pass up that opportunity. I'm not yet sure what I will do but I know that there us another thing or two that I still want to do while I am here in Ghent before I travel to my next destination (update: I didn’t call here).

Hulk Smash!!

The performers were really good. They are from Holland yet they only sang English sings. I talked to them for a while after the concert ended. I thought that the songs were all covers, the music was in english after all, but no they had written them all. I asked them why in English -that's not their native language nor the one they are most comfortable in. They said that they believe English is not only the universal language which will help then if they ever manage to make it big but also that English is a beautiful language and that they wouldn't feel comfortable singing in their native Dutch. The English you is simple and meaningful compared the complicated many forms of you in their language. We talked about how difficult it would be to break out in America.  I wrote down her name and will maybe find more of her music somehow.  Her name is Joke Derre.