D. S. Friberg Blog

Gent – Week 2

Katie went to see Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” tonight at the theater in the Korenmarkt.  She liked it, especially the acting.  The French and German dialogue (there is a lot) was not translated into English as it was in American theaters, so she looks forward to seeing it again at some point.

Before she left, Katie made pasta with sauce for dinner….

…. to which I added several items found at the excellent gourmet foods shop on the corner.

The gourmet foods shop sits on the smaller of the two squares near our apartment.  This smaller square is called Bij Sint-Jacobs, literally translated “By St. Jacob’s,” owing to the ancient church that sits in the center.  Parts of the church structure date back to 1093, though most of it was built during the 13th-15th century.

In Bij Sint-Jacobs we also have our own friet (French Fry) stand.  Everything in Gent has a history, including this stand, which has been run by the same family through several generations.

Frieten are ubiquitous in Belgium, more so than waffels.  They taste a little different than American fries.  They are fried twice and served with your choice of sauce.  Most people choose mayonnaise.

The larger square near our house, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, is called Vrijdagmarkt.  I snapped a picture tonight while it was empty to show how big it is.  The tangled streets and many squares are confusing, but they are fun to explore.  Click here for a map of our neighborhood, with the red “A” marking our apartment.  The only way to really understand the layout is to come see for yourself!

While Katie was at the movie, Wes and I played with blocks and then went to the park.

Yesterday, Katie learned of a class offered once a month near Brussels covering the details of giving birth in Belgium.  The class is designed for foreigners and is conducted in English.  Perfect!  It was happening last night (7:30-10 p.m.)and then not again until October 7th.  Katie managed to reserve a spot for us, so on the spur of the moment we took off for Brussels.  I knew in theory that getting to Brussels is not difficult, but getting to the particular location of this class on short notice proved to be a challenge.  We left Baudelostraat 40 at 5:40 p.m., took the tram (Wes calls it the choo-choo-bus) to the Gent train station, rode a commuter line from there into the center of Brussels, took the metro (subway) a for six stops, and finally caught another tram out to the eastern suburbs.  This required no less than three different types of tickets and involved a snafu with the train conductor that almost cost us a 120 Euro fine.  But we made it, and only about half-an-hour late.  The class was informative, and there was quite a diverse group of couples.  We didn’t get home until almost 1 a.m.!

One final aside:  We have encountered an unexpected problem.  The windows don’t have screens, and it turns out that there are nasty mosquitoes!  It’s nice to open the windows, but we have been getting bitten in our sleep.  Wes has several bad bites on his legs.

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