My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
Thursday, January 30, 2025
As we left the ship the day before, I ran into my friend Arnold who is actually from Belgium. When I told him we were going to Brugge, he said, “Don’t go to Brugge – go to Ghent! Ghent is much better than Brugge!”
I did not believe him – what could possibly be better than Brugge?
Well, since we had a second day in Belgium, Leah and I decided to find out. We said goodbye to William (who, unfortunately, had to go back to France because he’d completed the cruise he had booked) and skipped down the gangway to discover that it was raining.
We hopped in a taxi and took it straight to a train station that Leah had discovered the day before on her way back from Brugge. Everyone on the ship had told us that there was nothing in Zeebrugge and the nearest train station was in Blankenburge, but Leah had found one! The train came quickly, made a stop in Brugge, and continued on to Ghent. We chatted the whole way. Once we arrived, Leah looked up directions to get to the old town.
Leah (and I) wanted breakfast – real breakfast. To be fair, I pretty much always want real breakfast. But I warned her: this might not be as easy as it is in the US – or the UK. From what I’d gathered, European breakfast was closer to coffee and a pastry than a full English.
Leah was determined.
We found some other Americans who I had met at my cocktail party for American guests the night before – they had asked for advice on what to do, and I told them about my plan to go to Ghent – they had obviously figured out the route! They raved about the coffee shop where we found them, but the coffee shop did not have any savory food. The guy behind the counter suggested we could buy something from the shop across the street and bring it back to enjoy with his coffee.
Not good enough. We continued on our mission.
We were nearly at the old town when a window caught our eye.
We walked into STEK. There was just one hightop table available. We could sit there if we liked? We did.
I was so impressed. Leah had held out until we found the perfect place. We were the only tourists there. The atmosphere was everything.
And they had a pumpkin spice latte! I thought I’d missed pumpkin spice latte season!
I wanted to order everything on the menu.
Satiated and caffeinated, we turned the corner into the old town.
Okay. So this is what Arnold was talking about.
Ghent was stunning. The rain did not phase us one bit.
We turned the corner to try to find the entrance to a church when I noticed something so intriguing that I had to look closer!
How bizarre!
It had a roof, but there weren’t really any walls. It was not a bridge. I was fascinated.
As we passed the church I asked my new friend about her spiritual beliefs (you know… since she wanted to see the church). She said “Nothing.” And here we were!
Leah declared, THIS was her church! – A building of Nothing for her beliefs!
EVERYWHERE we looked was picturesque.
William had told us there is a castle in Ghent. I love castles. But wait – I stopped him. Is it a real castle? Like a fairytale castle? Or is it more like a fort like the ‘castles’ they have in Italy?
He said not only was it a real castle – they have a comedic audioguide. He told us to make sure we asked for the funny one.
Leah and I dramatically asked for the funny audio guide (though it turned out that the drama was unnecessary as it was offered to everyone, even without a secret code) and slowly made our way through the rooms of the castle, giggling at the odd Belgian humor.
We came to a room displaying five flags, each representing one of the most gruesome events in the castle’s history.
In a chipper tone, the narrator told us about severed heads that had accidentally slipped off the pikes they were mounted on. The humor was so weird and delightful.
And then we found the toilets! They were positioned hanging out of the castle wall over the street.
There was plenty of privacy – unless someone down below wanted to look up through the hole…
I found this concept wildly entertaining.
Across from the entrance to the castle, there was a shop selling Belgian waffles. We needed those. The day before, we’d tried the Brugge-style waffles (Leah wanted another one of those). I opted to try a Brussels-style waffle this time.
I succumbed to the temptation of banana and chocolate (with Nutella) toppings.
But I had to concede that the plain one was incredible all on its own.
Then we looked at the time and realized – we had to get back!
We were having so much fun that Leah, who up until now had always gotten back to the ship at least two hours before the all aboard time, had relaxed enough to lose track of time!
We grabbed a tram and rushed back to the train station, and managed to find a train going back to Zeebrugge.
While waiting on the platform, Leah realized she hadn’t settled on the perfect magnet for her collection. Don’t worry – I told her. I would come back to Ghent and find one for her (it would give me even more incentive to come back).
She has an incredible magnet collection at home. Her washer and dryer are covered in magnets from all of the places she’s traveled. She told me her kids sit down and reminisce about their travels while folding laundry, using the magnets to spark their memories.
On the train, the clock seemed to be ticking faster than we were moving. Leah became more and more stressed.
What happens if people don’t get back in time?
I told her that I would message someone on the ship -but I really didn’t want to do that. As a (sort of) crew member, I’d need a much better excuse for being late than “we were having so much fun we lost track of time.”
We pulled into the station and I ordered an Uber, which showed up moments after we stepped of the train.
Leah was in awe.
She had never used Uber before. I was flabbergasted.
We made it through security, and after a short shuttle ride from the terminal, we were back on the ship with 22 minutes to spare. Safe!
I was besotted with Ghent. I couldn’t wait to come back when I had more time. Even though we’d left first thing in the morning and returned just in time to catch the ship, it still felt too short.
The next morning, I walked Leah to the bus that would take her to the airport where she would fly back to real life.
And I went to meet Rose who was going to pick me up to celebrate my birthday.