Friday, May 12, 2017
From Oodenarde to Ghent, where we traveled by coach to visit the charming town of Bruges.
When I had traveled to Europe with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus in November of 2013, we performed in Frankfurt, Paris, and Luxembourg, but a number of us stayed for two extra days in Brussels. Of that group, several took a day trip to Bruges, Belgium, and came back raving about its beauty. Bruges has been on my must-see list for almost four years now, and our Avalon cruise gave me that opportunity with an optional half-day excursion to see the canals and beautiful old buildings of the city.
The coach ride through farmland and skirting a couple of towns took about an hour. We parked outside the old city center and, after an introductory half-hour boat ride through the city canals, spent an hour or so with our guide learning more about the history of city. When we broke for lunch, I sought out a chocolate store to purchase gifts for my carpool colleagues who have been covering for me in my absence. Then we went in search of Flemish beef stew, which the Jazzman wanted for lunch. And when we couldn’t find exactly the ambience he desired, we decided to try the Verdi Restaurant and Tearoom just off the main square, which was pointed out by our tour guide. After walking in and being seated, I was in heaven. Busts and painted glass portraits of Giuseppe Verdi decorated the room, along with chandeliers and sconces of blown glass. The password for the wifi was “La Traviata” and the Verdi Requiem was playing on the sound system. Yep—this was my kind of restaurant. We dined on croque madame and a toasted ham, cheese, and tomato sandwich. After this, his second experience with croque madame, the Jazzman declared it was being added to his post-retirement learn-to-cook list. That works for me!
The canals throughout the old town were populated by swans. As our guide explained:
Brugeans have a medieval swan legend, that of Pieter Lanchals (‘long neck’). Lanchals was the right hand man of Maximilian I of Habsburg, who tried to seize power in Bruges but was imprisoned in the Craenenburg house at the Market Square and made to watch the torture of his henchman, including Lanchals, whose head ended up on a spike at Gentpoort. On his release, Maximilian regained power and forced the city to keep swans in the canals for eternity because of their long necks.
At 1:30, our group started walking back to the bus. Along the way, we walked through the Beguinage. I loved the thought of this quiet refuge for nuns and, later, when the population of nuns decreased, for single women seeking their refuge in these quiet havens. I wished we had been there a week earlier so we could see the lawn between the buildings covered in hundreds of daffodils.
Did I share my Cleveland friends’ enthusiasm for the town? Not quite. By this point in the trip, I was feeling oohed and aahed out! But there was also a second reason: every town we visited on this trip was overrun with not only old vacationing travelers like ourselves, it was overrun with school kids out for a day of history field trips or architecture scavenger hunts. Or maybe their teachers had merely said, “We’re close to the last day of school and I don’t know what else to do with you.”
There were people everywhere. Everywhere. To me, it was exhausting.
So, yes, I thought it was a lovely town. I enjoyed seeing the old buildings and learning about the town. But I just needed a break. On the hour-long drive back to Ghent, the Jazzman and I decided to skip the walk through Ghent in favor of a few hours to relax on the boat.
The evening was special—the gala dinner. On a big cruise ship, that means formal or at least very dressy attire. On Avalon, gala translates to “dress up if you’d like.” Darn, I should have brought my new me-made sequined tunic as Marilyn suggested. Somehow I missed the portion of the pre-boarding documents that mentioned the gala dinner, so I donned a black long top and black leggings and boots. For me it’s work wear, but I fit right in with all the dressed-up ladies, including Marilyn in a darling black lace sheath.
The menu was exquisite. It went like this:
- Appetizers
- Trilogy of salmon
- Assorted grilled vegetables
- Soups
- Dutch onion soup
- Wild forest mushroom soup
- Intermezzo
- Half a broiled rock lobster tail with Parmesan risotto and saffron sauce
- Fresh white asparagus with potato and sauce Hollandaise
- Entrées
- Beef Cannelloni al Forno
- Poached fillet of Red Perch
- Grilled baby red peppers
And, of course, the dessert was baked alaska. But before the dessert arrived, we were treated to a parade of all the crew—reception desk; housekeeping; bar; dining room; the musician; the cruise director; all the managers; and all the unsung heroes who work behind the scenes, keeping everything ship-shape. We had great fun cheering on all the hard-working individuals who made our vacation so enjoyable.
After an hour in the lounge with drinks and music, we called it another day.
Ghent Photo Gallery
