Ghent and the Van Hoorebekel Chocolatier

We woke up this morning in Antwerp, Belgium.  One of the great things about the port here is that it is literally downtown.  It is less than 250 yards from the ship to the Cathedral. 

After breakfast this morning, we got up to walk around in downtown Antwerp before boarding a bus with 36 others for a short trip to Ghent and a visit to a small chocolate factory.  Along the four-lane limited access highway we were impressed by the soaring windmills.  No, not the kind you associate with Holland; modern electricity generating ones.  Our guide said that windmills supply 3% of the country's electricity, but that is supposed to rise to 10% in the next couple of years.  (Nuclear power plants produce the majority of Belgium's electricity.)

 

Ghent is famous for its medieval architecture and we enjoyed a leisurely walking tour of the old section of the city, which is laced with picturesque canals.   The highlight of the short excursion was our visit to the Hoorebekel Chocolatier.    The owner, and chief chocolate chef, treated us to an interesting and tasty demonstration of the art of creating wonderful Belgian chocolate treats.    Pictures are worth a thousand words, but they aren't worth a single taste of one of his delicious treats.

   

 After some more leisurely walking around the old city, we enjoyed a late lunch in a little café that featured Belgian pancakes (though they are more like crepes).   We split a ham and cheese buckwheat pancake and a strawberry one.  We of course washed them down with some Belgian brew. 

     

One of the features of a Semester at Sea voyage are the various "interport" guests from the countries we visit.    We have mentioned previously the Irish woman who accompanied us from Halifax to Dublin.   Since London, we've had a young Belgian woman on board.  She is a student of Arab language, history, and culture.   We had a long conversation with her after dinner.   Barry had hoped to get a better sense of the reality that the large Muslim immigrant populations experience in Europe and, particularly, the distinctive features of that in the Spain and Portugal where Islam was once dominant.   She was not familiar with the Iberian peninsula, but was able to help us better understand the factors that draw immigrants form the middle east to Europe and the challenges they are facing in Belgium and France.  She is a passionate supporter of the cause of the Palestinian people in Israel and hopes, upon graduation, to go to work for someone like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch.  She is a passionate committed young woman!

 

We will go to bed early tonight as tomorrow we will rise early to take a commuter train to Brussels.  From there we have train reservations to Frankfurt and Heidelberg.     We are booked in a bed and breakfast there for the next two nights.