 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
GENT - DAY ELEVEN - TWELVE |
|
|
Previous Blogs: Day 1-3 Queen Mary 2 | Day 4-7 Queen Mary 2 | Day 8-9 To Belgium | Day 10 Brussels | Day 11-12 Gent | Day 13-14 Amsterdam | Day 15 Amsterdam
Click on pictures for larger version |
|
|
DAY ELEVEN |
|
|
Now it's time to leave Brussels and head for Gent (or Ghent
depending if you're Flemish or French). We were going to take the
train but Didier offered to drive pick us up. Distance between
Ghent and Brussels is 27 minutes by train and 48 minutes by car. And apparently there is no open container law in Belgium! Our wonder chauffeur Didier made sure we had only the best Belgian Ales and Wendy had a glass on wine for the ride home. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 First we stopped off at An & Didier's home for lunch. Didier built this house himself! |
|
We loved all the remnants of their past visits to Florida - dolphins
and pink flamingoes peppered throughout the house.
|
|
 There are all these stalls in amongst the medieval buildings. Food, clothing, ornaments whatever you want. |
Then it was time to hook up with the rest of the family and go to
the Christmas Market which is of course now called The Winter
Market. Even Belgium is forced to go "Politically Correct".
|
 This guy just does garlic. |
 Toys and games |
 Use your best Jeff Dunham Voice... Belgian Waffles... on a stick! |
 They even have an ice rink and rental skates. Something I would have done 20 years ago but I'm too old for that now! |
 Wendy and the ladies rode the giant Ferris wheel. While we gents drank BELGIAN BEER!!!
|
|
| But tonight was not about street food. We are eating dinner at Amadeus, a restaurant that Marc decorated and still showcases his work. This is one of several Amadeus restaurants that showcase his art. | |
|
|
|
|
Marc's daughter, both sisters, brother-in-laws, ex-wife and
ex-girlfriend, even the ex-girlfriends parents and ex-boyfriend of
an ex of an ex arrived to remember Marc. Got the family tree
straight yet? Think about where we are on these crazy
branches! LOL A great celebration, with a few tears and a lot of laughter. We bought Christmas Crackers and hats from England to bring a commonwealth Christmassy feel to dinner. |
|
|
Then it was just a short walk through the cobblestoned ancient street back to our apartment we rented through Air BnB for $80 a night. |
|
DAY TWELVE |
|
 |
Our goal today is to knock off yet another one of the 7 man made wonders of the world - The Delta Water Works in The Netherlands. It is only a hour and half drive from Gent, so Thierry agreed to be our guide. Thierry is Patrice's Husband. Patries is Marc's Baby Mamma. And Livina is our Niece. Got the whole family tree yet? Good!! :D |
|
It's NOW OFFICIAL!!!! We have seen all seven of the man made wonders bringing us up to a total of 20 out of 22 possible wonders of the world |
|
 |
 |
| The Delta Works is not a world wonder because of the way it looks, it is a world wonder because of the way IT WORKS. 26% of the Netherlands is below sea level and the Delta Works keeps the sea from drowning the Netherlands on a regular basis. And Florida thought it had flooding problems!! | |
 |
 |
|
The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. The Delta Works is not for reclaiming land but protecting the existing reclaimed land from further devastating floods. |
|
 Some of the structures built also created beautiful beaches. |
We stopped for lunch and sampled a local specialty: "Kibbeling" fried fish. |
 In 2015 the Tour De France bicycle race ended right here. |
 |
 The countryside in Netherlands is very pretty with lots of windmills. |
 |
| Our last evening in Gent was spent with the family exploring the Medieval City of Gent and eating Belgian beef stew! | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
And finally...
|
|
 |
Yeah, I can think of a few people that resemble this label! |
 |
I get you man, been there done that! |