Ghent and Bruges: chocolate, lace, waffles, and fries

Ghent

A great little city that had all the charm you would expect from Belgium but with the feel of a larger city. We imagined ourselves living in Ghent, riding our bikes to work, buying our bread from the local bakery. The city was an unexpected surprise and felt like a much better place to visit than Brussels.

Eating out on a budget:

1. Toto Italian: You feel like you have stepped into Italy here. Large Margherita pizza for €8!
2. Gruut Brewery: A special brewery that brews beer without hops. Basically there isn’t as much of that bitter taste you get with regular beer. Share a ham & cheese croque (toasted sandwich) with your beer sampler.
3. Dinner vending machine: A must see. Located somewhere near the train station this vending machine distributes dinner entries all for less than €5! We didn’t try any but it looked promising.

4. Quetzal Chocolate Bar: A fun chocolate bar that smells like heaven when you walk in. We shared a hot chocolate with a side of brownie. Yum.

5. Leonidas Chocolates: A chain of chocolatiers serving up some of the better chocolate in Belgium. Best thing is that you can get about 4 pieces for less than €2.

6. Himschoot Bakery: Located in downtown this this tiny bakery serves up some great bread. We got the Soja Mini (soy bread) for less than €2.

7. 3,14 Koffie Thee: Best place to get take-away waffles. We asked for ours with Nutella on it.

8. Vve Tierenteyn-Verlent: A boutique shop that looked like an old apothecary specializing in mustard, spices, and extracts. Even if you aren’t buying anything it is a fun place to look around.

9. Hooiaard Deli: A classic deli that will fill you up. A huge sandwich was only €3!

Places:

1. St. Bavon Cathedral: Probably the most popular one in the town. It was being renovated when we were there but you can still access the church.
2. Graffiti alley ways: You can find these alley ways covered in graffiti throughout the city. These designated alley ways are the few places where graffiti is actually allowed in the city.
3. Gravensteen Castle: An impressive castle that includes a torture museum. We only looked at it from the outside but you can enter for about €8.

Renting bikes:

Bruges

Eating out on a budget:

1. Dumon Chocolates: There is a lot of chocolate in Bruges. Shops line the little streets and you might be tempted to get some from a touristy place…but don’t. The best is at a place called Dumon. It is owned by a mother / daughter team and their chocolate is to die for. Not only is each little chocolate a visual masterpiece on its own but the taste is unbeatable. I think I teared up eating some of these. A box of 15 chocolates is only €6.75 and is the best way to try a good variety of chocolate. Miraculously we still have some left because you only need a couple at a time with how rich they are.
2. Pasta in a Box: Many places though out the city serve ready made pasta in a cardboard box for about €4-6. Tastes great and is plenty enough to share!
3. Fries at Casa Patata: Casa Patata serves double fried fries that are as crispy as they are delicious. The traditional way to eat them was with mayonnaise. Probably one of the fattier things we ate.
4. Waffles at Oyya: Oyya is the best place for take away waffles and ice cream. It is located right near the center of town. We tried the natural plain waffle. They are thick, chewy, and sweet on their own. No need for a topping. Although we didn’t get the ice cream, it looked amazing.
5. Le Trappiste: An old cellar bar offering rare specialty beers. We did a tasting of 5 different beers for only €10. We tasted everything from cherry beer to beer that smelled (and tasted) like stinky cheese. Belgium beer is strong and the sampler was plenty. 

Places:

1. Lace: Bruges is known for its beautiful handcrafted lace. We found this little shop called Maison Pickery that sold the most beautiful lace I had ever seen in person. No machine lace found here! Everything was so delicate and it amazed us that someone was able to create these works of art by hand! The lady who ran the shop still makes the lace today which is rare. If you see how you make the lace you will realize why it is a dying art. The setup is a mess of little spools of thread and pins interwoven to magically create a lace pattern. You use the pins to create the outline of your pattern. The thread then wraps around the pins in such a way to create the lace. It takes an unbelievable amount of concentration and patience. I could not do it.
2. De Kringwinkel: A huge secondhand store which is basically a bigger goodwill. It was a good place to find cool trinkets and escape the rain for a bit. They have a cafe downstairs the serves some tasty soup for only €1.50 which saved our lives on the cold day.
3. Think Twice: A secondhand vintage shop that changes its inventory every 5 weeks. Everything gets cheaper as the 5 weeks pass by in order to make way for the new inventory. When we were there everything was on massive sale for only €4! Huge wool jackets, cool vintage dresses, leather shoes, all of it for only €4. I wish I had more room I my backpack and a larger budget to buy some of these things.
4. Sint-Janshuis Mill: Traditional windmills in a beautiful park along the river. You can even go up some of the windmills for €2. We just parked ourselves on a bench in the park and enjoyed some of the Dumon chocolates. Perfect place to go on a sunny day and take in the scenery.
5. Grote markt: Located in the center of the city including the Belfry. If you come on a Wednesday be sure to check out the market here. There is a fun mirrored art display in the center. At first it is just a weird shape of connected mirrors but you can step inside through a hidden door and actually watch tourists as they pass by. A very fun way to people watch.
6. Lace Center/Museum: The Lace Museum showcased lace masterpieces throughout the years. It was remarkable to see it all. You could even use an interactive screen to learn how to make different patterns of lace. Upstairs in the museum were demonstrations of lace making which meant there were a bunch of really old ladies making lace! My favorite lady was the oldest one and she walked in on a cane, sat down, and then started to move the spools of yarn around so fast it looked like a mess but somehow the lace was created.
7. Belfry: The famous bell tower in the center that can be seen from anywhere in the city. It used to be even taller but had been struck by lighting and burned at the top. You can pay €8 and walk 366 steps to the top of the tower! It would be worth it on a nice day to get a view of the whole city. We skipped going to the top because the days we went it was rainy and overcast.

More pictures from our Belgium adventure