Any idea where I am?  How about now?  OK, you’re getting close…you are here:  Céad mÃle fáilte romhat!  “A hundred thousand welcomes to you” is an Irish Gaelic blessing that’s lovely in sentiment and even lovelier when spoken.  When I said I could listen to Dutch commercials and be happy, I hadn’t yet spent a few days …
The Mother of All Croustillons
 I’m feeling a little overloaded with amazing architecture so today I’d like to take a break and update on a couple of items I blogged about recently. Remember when I went to the fair the first night I got to Europe and ate something called the croustillon? It was doughy and sweet and fatty and what you might say écoeurant …
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Gentrification Has Come to Ghent!
 First things first. That’s my belt sticking out from under my shirt. I know I’ve been eating out of my mind in Europe but I do not have a pastry gut. Yet. Anyway, just for fun let’s pick up at the Sint-Michielsbrug (bridge to the far right of pic above). Right behind me but in front of the cathedral, …
Or Is That DessertS?
 From the MIAT I wander into other parts of Ghent’s historic center. It is now 1pm so instead of focusing on stuff like this…  I’m eyeballing this (isn’t that a great name for a restaurant?):  But Italian wins out today so I grab this table,  and my feet thank me while I look out of this …
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My Lucky City of Ghent
 Over the next few days I am taking you through my lucky city of Ghent (Gent in Dutch and Gand in French) in the Flemish region of northern Belgium. The first time I saw Ghent it was on a damp day and in the grayness the city resembled a gothic painting, beautifully haunting. I knew then that I would …