I spent the last few months traveling from London to Beijing. Here is a taste of one place we spent time. Follow the links to read about others.
September 28th- 30th, 2005
After Devon John and I spent one last night with friends in London and travelled to Gent, Belgium (by way of Calais, France where we unfortunately got stuck for a night– though you should read our travel page for that story). We stayed with a lovely young woman and had a great time. I highly suggest Gent to anyone travelling through Belgium. The people we met were fantastically sweet and the city was gorgeous. Canals thread through the city and oh, the Belgian beer!
Near the center of the city we stopped at a chocolate shop, Jacqlin Handmade Belgian Truffles. The ornate pieces were quite expensive, but after a few minutes of hemming and hawwing, John and I decided on these two. A pistachio buttercream and a praline. The pistachio buttercream was quite good, but very sweet. I would have enjoyed a bit more of the subtle bitter flavor that lurked below. The praline was not nearly as good.
Next we stopped at a fantastic bread shop near the castle. It has no sign and I failed to learn the name however. We ordered a cheese and poppy seed breadstick and lovely roll.
Both were excellent. The cheese breadstick especially. It had a flaky, buttery texture and melted in your mouth.
Directly next door stood a "Belgian Waffle" stand. We ordered one from a delightful man in an oversized hat and savored it on the street.
This waffle was warm, soft, and superb. It tasted of apples and toffee and was far-too-fleeting.
Visit Gent!
Next stop, Munich.
show hide 5 comments
molly - so i had been feeling bad for john because he’s missing the white sox pandemonium but all i needed was a trip to this site to reaffirm that anytime you want to switch places, john, i’d gladly take your spot. theres nothing like the idea of gemma chasing sheep or finding bakers baking at 2 am with a bellyfull of whiskey to make you appreciate life.
Chloe - I love that you both are eating your way through all these places!! What fun. That waffle looks so yummy and I can almost taste what you were tasting!
keiko - Hi Gemma – glad you’re having a great time. The waffle looks superb indeed! Take care and look forward to reading more of your adventure…
gemma - I have been having a great time, and John has too for that matter, but I honestly think he would have rather been in Chicago for much of these last few weeks. . . Poor John indeed.
Hi Chloe, it has been lots of fun, it will be especially interesting as we make our way into Eastern Europe and Asia over the next few weeks. I can only imagine what sort of culinary suprises we will fine. I will be sure to post when I can find wireless, but it is getting harder and harder.
Thanks Keiko! It truly was a fantastic waffle. I have no idea how they created such a firm and creamy texture. I will have to experiment when I have a kichen in Chicago next. Take care!
www.globalcard2000.com - Visiting Belgium
Even though it is small size, Belgium has many places of tourist attraction. Most people visiting this country will one day or two are to spend in Brussels, which is the center of the capital. For those traveling from London to Brussels, it is always a…