Last weekend Anja and I took a four-day vacation to Belgium. "Belgium?" you might say. "Such a small country - what can there possibly be to see and do there?" "Isn't that where Hercule Poirot was from?" Yes, Virginia, Belgium is a small place, and that's where the mythical detective was from. But there's an awful lot to do and see there. I was in Ghent briefly on a business trip in April, and I liked what I saw so much that we booked a holiday weekend shortly thereafter.
The flight from Munich to Ghent takes only slightly more than an hour; the plane is mostly full with business travelers. Ghent itself doesn't have an airport, it's a 50-minute train ride from the Brussels airport.
We stayed at the Hotel Flandria Centrum, a small, inexpensive but cozy hotel. Americans used to large rooms and modern facilities might not care for it, but we found the owners friendly, our room was quiet and clean, the breakfast was excellent, and there was free Wi-Fi. It's located in the old town, only minutes away from the Sint-Baaf Cathedral.
For those who love beer, Belgium is definitely a place to visit. Depending on whose list you see, Belgium is reputed to have at least 800 different kinds of beer, most of which are very hard to find outside of the country. That's fine - beer doesn't travel well, I'm a firm believer in drinking it where it was made. There are lighter beers in a Pilsener style, and heavier dark beers which start at around 6.5% alcohol and go up for there. Be careful!
The food is good too. Belgium is famous for its french fries (I believe they claim to have invented them); they eat fries with almost everything, and they're quite good. There are many meat and fish dishes, and numerous ethnic restaurants - Moroccan, Turkish, Thai, and more. Prices are somewhat higher than what we're used to in Germany.
Ghent is a wealthy city with a long history, and was fortunate to avoid serious damage in the wars of the twentieth century. We walked around the city for hours, enjoying the churches, cathedrals and houses of wealthy citizens from past centuries. There's also plenty of shopping, starting with hand made chocolates.
While there we also took a day trip to Bruges, which is only about 20 minutes from Ghent by train. The town is like a postcard. It's beautiful, but packed with tourists. Ghent is more of a real town, it also has a famous university.
I've posted quite a few photos to my profile on Facebook, and will probably upload some or all to Flickr. So in lieu of a detailed travelogue here (see Puglia), I'll just say: visit Belgium, you won't regret it!
The flight from Munich to Ghent takes only slightly more than an hour; the plane is mostly full with business travelers. Ghent itself doesn't have an airport, it's a 50-minute train ride from the Brussels airport.
We stayed at the Hotel Flandria Centrum, a small, inexpensive but cozy hotel. Americans used to large rooms and modern facilities might not care for it, but we found the owners friendly, our room was quiet and clean, the breakfast was excellent, and there was free Wi-Fi. It's located in the old town, only minutes away from the Sint-Baaf Cathedral.
For those who love beer, Belgium is definitely a place to visit. Depending on whose list you see, Belgium is reputed to have at least 800 different kinds of beer, most of which are very hard to find outside of the country. That's fine - beer doesn't travel well, I'm a firm believer in drinking it where it was made. There are lighter beers in a Pilsener style, and heavier dark beers which start at around 6.5% alcohol and go up for there. Be careful!
The food is good too. Belgium is famous for its french fries (I believe they claim to have invented them); they eat fries with almost everything, and they're quite good. There are many meat and fish dishes, and numerous ethnic restaurants - Moroccan, Turkish, Thai, and more. Prices are somewhat higher than what we're used to in Germany.
Ghent is a wealthy city with a long history, and was fortunate to avoid serious damage in the wars of the twentieth century. We walked around the city for hours, enjoying the churches, cathedrals and houses of wealthy citizens from past centuries. There's also plenty of shopping, starting with hand made chocolates.
While there we also took a day trip to Bruges, which is only about 20 minutes from Ghent by train. The town is like a postcard. It's beautiful, but packed with tourists. Ghent is more of a real town, it also has a famous university.
I've posted quite a few photos to my profile on Facebook, and will probably upload some or all to Flickr. So in lieu of a detailed travelogue here (see Puglia), I'll just say: visit Belgium, you won't regret it!
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