Day 7 - Brggg to Gent to Brussels

We started the day as any day should begin.... with Belgian waffles. They tasted excellent, but we've found that the "wafels" available from frittkotts taste even better.

Not that we're complaining.

 We left.... Bergug.... and drove to Gent. Similar to Antwerp, Gent had a beautiful downtown area with gorgeous architecture and charming shops lining the streets. Our first stop was the Belfort Belfry, an amazing carillon tower in the middle of Gent. We climbed to the top and enjoyed the view.

What's brown and sounds like a bell? A bell, stupid.

St. Nicholas' Church

The carillon was controlled by this giant music box. Built in 1639 and still working today!

 We then wandered Gent and found some interesting sights.

We had lunch at a canal-side cafe, and got to watch the tourists float by in their paddleboats.

Trevor's frite count: still 7

 And then on to Castle Gravensteen! This was a medieval fortress that protected the city from invaders most effectively, but was converted into a factory at the turn of the century.  Luckily it was rescued and now is a touristy place to see turrets, arrow holes, and even medieval latrines.

The view through a murderhole

 Gent was not our final destination for the day. We continued on to Denderleeuw, to a bar called De Heeren van Liedekercke, considered to be the best beer bar in Belgium. It was pretty darn good.

A happy man.

After Denderleeuw, our final city of our tour, Brussels! After navigating the winding and confusing streets, we arrived at our host Dorothee's apartment, just south of Grand Place.

her dog Nano, who shares many qualities with Olive, strangely enough

 We had dinner at a cute establishment called The Village Idiot (in French) and called it an early night. It became quickly apparent that although everyone in Brussels speaks fluent French and Dutch, they all are adept at communicating in English with our measly one language minds.  Lucky for us!

Trevor's frite count: still 8.