German Christmas Tour: Day 28 - Ghent

We gave ourselves a later rise today - just enought time to get some breakfast in before our 10:30am booking at Sait Bavo's Cathedral. We found a cafe halfway between us and the cathedral - Cafe Rosario, and set about brussels waffles, coffee and croissants. We ordered the 'leige' waffles - the same type we'd had in the house of waffles in Brugge, but these ones were a little thick and gluggy rather than light and crisp. Definitely not what we'd been expecting. Still, it's a warm fucking waffle! and with cream and chocolate sauce, that means delicious - especially first thing in the morning. On the plus side, these guys knew their way around an espresso machine! The coffees were great.

Leige waffles at Cafe Rosario.

Repleat for now, we wandered down to the cathedral in time for our booking. The cathedral itself wasn't as impressive as it could have been after being in the Cologne Dom, but it was nonetheless a magnificent building. What we had come for though - the Ghent Alterpiece the "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" was something else entirely. It was an amazing work of art - reportedly the first true major work using perfected oil painting techniques - and we admired it for a good long while. The way the cathedral had provided protected accessibility to the work was impressive, and we really got to see it up close and personal. Particularly impressive was the way the colours jumped out of the various sections.

Belfry in front, the Bavo's Cathedral in behind.

Inside the cathedral. 

The Ghent Altarpiece - the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb

Our artistic souls filled, we then jumped on a boat cruise of the Ghent city canals. Although much less stunning than the Brugges canal trip, the driver had some very entertaining banter, and it was a cool way to see old town. We learned a lot about the buildings we'd been seeing for the last 2 days.

Canal boat tour of Ye Olde Ghent

Our tourist thirsts quenched, it was time to head to Ghent's main item on our beer-touring  bucket list - pub De Dulle Greit, and the quenching of our other thirsts. We found the pub, arriving just after midday, and plonked ourselves down at a table. 

De Dulle Griet

In no time we'd ordered up a round of their signature 'Max' beers - Clau and I choosing the dark variety, that's bier #45 of the trip - De Dulle Griet Max Dark, and Eb the Blond; bier #46 - Dr Dulle Griet Max Blond. These represented just over a litre of beer in a signature 'Max' glass - a glass that you must supply 1 shoe as pfand (deposit) to receive. The shoes are hoisted in a basket up to the ceiling (or taken away on a tray when the basket is full!) and only returned when an empty glass is presented. 

Drinking biers #45 & #46 - 'Max' beers at De Dulle Griet.

Katrina ordered a smaller bier - a Tempelier Blond, which quickly became bier #47 of the trip.  We were getting hungry again by this stage, so to go with our beer we ordered salami and cheese. The huge chunks of same arrived on plates with toothpicks in, and we greedily set upon them. The salami in particular was really nice, and complimented the beer extremely well.

Chunks of peperoni and some nameless cheese!

 

Bier #47 - Tempelier Blond.

As our Max glasses were drained of the last of their drags (so damn good!) we noticed some students across from us drinking something red and frothy. It looked like cherry beer to me - and it was quickly identified as the cherry flavoured Lindemans Kriek. Being over a litre-in at this stage, we quickly concurred that we should give it a try, and so Lindemans Kriek became bier #48 of the trip. We all agreed that it was very nice, and so damn easy to drink - sweet, frothy and delicious.

Bier #48 - Lindemans Kriek

With the Kriek dispatched, it was time to settle the bill, collect our shoes, and find some more food. We still hadn't had a perfect belgian fritte, so we decided to head to the much lauded 'Frites Atelier' to try their offering. This we did in short order! grabbing ketchup as the only accompanyment (unbelievably they were out of mayo!). Damn those frittes were good though - crisp as heell and so fluffy on the inside. A great choice! 

Amazing frittes from Frites Atelier.

After our frittes experience, those of us that went hard at at Dulle Griet retired to the hotel for a rest before dinner. Katrina (who hadn't drunk quite so much) went out for a sightseeing stroll.

When dinner rolled around, it was at a highly recommended Belgian restaurant - Mémé Gusta. To be honest, there isn't much to relate. I didnt enjoy the food, which was quite rich in the french style (and all I had was a steak! how do you fuck up steak?). Eb had mussels again, which he always enjoys, while Katrina and Clau had hanger steak which they didn't enjoy. Not a successful meal all told.