A very nice lady was waiting for us at the home we are staying in. Her name was Jean and she totally reminded me of my Grandma! She had dinner ready to go when we got there and left after she saw to our settling in. We had spaghetti with the best meat sauce I've ever tasted. It had a mixture of vegetables like peppers, mushrooms, zucchini and tomatoes in it was well as the ground beef and sauce. I wished out loud that I had another stomach so I could eat another bowl! It was SOO good! And there was so much left over even after we stuffed ourselves that I had some for lunch this afternoon and we heated the rest up for dinner. Guess what? There is still some left! Wowza!
This morning was a late start thanks to our even later bedtime last night, but we were all grateful for the sleep. There is a fan in the room I'm sleeping in (!!!) I cannot express to you the level of pure joy as I lay eyes on it. There isn't any air conditioning in, seemingly, most of Europe and I get really warm when I sleep so this was a saving grace-haha :) I finished getting ready and hopped on a bike to see the village and take some pictures. If there is one thing about the places I've been so far, it's the architecture. Even the smallest and most simple brick cottage caught my eye and made me stop to take a picture.
There was a festival going on in Ghent, about a fifteen minute car ride from the village we are staying in, that we didn't know much about. So we hopped in the car with the hopes of finding more out. We met up with some friends of the family and they took us to a local brewery that uses herbs in their beer instead of hops. It was called Geruut (I think, don't quote me). It's right along the canal so we sat outside and ate croque-monsieurs (thank you French class) and chatted about life and got to know one another better. A gusty rain storm kicked up right in the middle so we headed inside to wait it out. The forecast predicted rain the rest of the evening so we left for home. It wasn't what we had planned, but it was still a grand ole' time. I got some great pictures and met friendly new people.
I have videos of driving to Ghent and once we get into the city, but they take forever to upload here so they will be on my YouTube channel found here.
I knew we'd driven west, but I didn't know we'd gone that far...;)
Just a random 737 on top of a building...
I took this for you, Melissa! It was across from the 737.
Sylvie and I refer to these as the 'ugly town houses' because they totally detract from the old cottage-y look the rest of the village is sporting.
Look, America! A McDonald's and a Texaco!
First picture taken once we were out of the car in Ghent.
The old gets mixed in right with the new
left side of the canal
Everyone just laughed when I told them shoes on a wire in the States meant that drugs were near by...:)
there are gorgeous clock towers everywhere--that's how villages began, a clock tower and church in the middle with shops and houses surrounding...
right side of the canal
These big guys are EVERYWHERE
I feel so privileged to get to have these unforgettable experiences. I can't wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store for us!
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