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| The Dendermonde town square |
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| Eighteen of us were divided into 4 groups for beer tasting |
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| And then each group had ten bottles. Belgium has a diverse group of beers |
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| Dinner: shrimp and eggplant we always had two choices |
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| I liked the maps in each town but they never indicated where we were on the map |
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| this building is labeled Art Deco in case we could not figure it out on our town |
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| alley way |
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| the next day we had a mid-morning stop in Melle, home of the best beer in the world' Delirium Tremens, which was the only beer I had before my Belgian trip. We stopped in a combination bar barbershop coffee house. As I had only 10 miles to go, I had a cherry beer which has very low alcohol content but tasty. Usually a bit of alcohol makes exercise impossible |
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| Lots of elephants around town. Nearby there was a bar called De Roze Olifant (pink elephant) This beer contributed to my drunkenness the night before as it is 105 % alcohol. Why the elephants? That's what you see after you drink |
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| Crude selfie in front of barber station |
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| De Roze Olifant |
After dinner and after our beer drinking binge, I couldn't get anyone away from their bottles to walk with me. We had tried earlier to explore the town by bike but some university was graduating causing traffic jams causing us to head back. So I staggered to the much emptier town by myself in the cool of the evening. Maybe I walked a couple of miles. A very cute town.
The next day we hopped on our bike over the locks, to Melle, home of the pink elephants and caught yet another ferry. Sometimes when I travel, particularly in touristy places, various tradesmen try to cheat me, especially in Venice. For the most part, the Netherlands and Belgium seemed free of that: correct change always given, no hidden fees,etc. But here the owner charged us an euro over for our drinks than what I later read in the menu. I guess they figure rich Americans can afford this. We biked to outside of Ghent, which turns out to be my favorite city., ate lunch on the barge before heading out on our next adventure.
3 comments:
Hi EC, I accidently deleted your comment though I did read and appreciate it. Loved the pink elephants too
Did you pay without protest? I would have felt compelled to make a stink. I bought coffee at a little cafe that charged me more than the menu (which was on a large board behind the counter) listed, and when I complained the woman said that the prices had increased, but that the new menu was slow in coming. I simply walked away leaving the coffee on the counter. When I got home, I gave the place bad ratings on several internet sites.
I loved the photos. I should think that when people who live in many countries visit America only to see the same ugly stores along the same ugly strips from one side of America to the other, they must wonder why we're so stuck on ourselves.
I always look for potted plants in your photos, and this time I found a snake plant and some petunias.
I didn't see the menu until I had drunk most of the beer. Someone had suggested that we leave a tip as the shop was opened early especially for us but, he had got his 'tip'. I d take a bunch of elephant coasters so I feel we are even
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