We chose Belfast rather than Edinburgh for Christmas but I couldn’t wait to see First Grandchild (FG) again and so we pitched up in Edinburgh early in January. The added benefit of going then was that we could celebrate Eldest Son’s birthday with him. As ever, we had a great time and experienced wonderful hospitality.
We did some of the usual things with an enthusiastic FG. We spent a morning exploring the National Museum of Scotland and another wandering through the Royal Botanic Garden. Both are great places to take toddlers and FG is very chatty now so trips like these are more pleasurable than ever.
Morning Across Edinburgh To The Pentland Hills From The Royal Botanic Gardens
FG also has a soul mate in my wife, Jane, when it comes to visiting the cafés in these places. Since I have pledged to overcome my fear of lukewarm/weak café coffee, and have added going to cafés when requested by Jane to my list of new year resolutions, I went along willingly with their desires.
We had driven up to Edinburgh and the journey was smooth with no problem with charging up the battery. As a result, we had the option to drive FG and his parents beyond Edinburgh for an outing. Since the weather was cold but clear, we chose to go to the beach at Yellowcraig near North Berwick.
Yellowcraig Beach
We had a lovely time passing FG sticks, stones and chunks of seaweed that he could throw into the waves amid Yellowcraig’s open vistas and its big skies.
Looking North To North Berwick Law And Bass Rock From Yellowcraig Beach
Back in his flat, we threw ourselves into entertaining FG with drawing, tower building (and knocking them down), Playdoh moulding, and reading. FG takes these activities very seriously and loves having control; I love that and it makes the times when he simply laughs and messes about even more enjoyable. He’s developing so quickly.
Before FG arrived, my wish was to see a grandchild before I died but now, inevitably, I want to live for decades so I see more and see them grow up. We are so looking forward to the arrival of a second grandchild in Bristol in a couple of months.
We did slip off for some ‘me-time’ too. I walked down the Water of Leith to Leith town. I’ve done that before but this time I went a little further to the edge of the port. Leith is a vibrant town that is being transformed into a trendy outpost on the edge of Edinburgh with a new and frequent tram connection. Next time we will try to get to see the Royal Yacht Britannia which has been retired to a berth there.
Late Afternoon In Leith And Leith Port
One Of Antony Gormley’s Water of Leith Statues Clad In A Hibernian Football Shirt For New Year
I also wandered through Stockbridge to see some of my favourite residential areas of Edinburgh. We still debate whether moving to Edinburgh – or at least having a permanent second base there – would be viable and sensible. The best Georgian flats and houses are lovely to look at and dream of owning. More practically, a modern flat would be a better target but there’s no harm in looking!
My Favourite (So Far) Edinburgh Square – Saxe Coburg Place
The drive home from Edinburgh always feels a lot less exciting than the journey up. Although charging up the car was again problem-free on the way, there was an hour-long stoppage due to an accident – a Range Rover towing a food truck strewn across three of the four lanes near Manchester – to further deflate the mood. But getting home is always a relief and a pleasure of its own. Now we are chilling out back in our weekly routine which includes evenings in front of the fire and series after series of streamed television.
A Cosy Fire At Home
Until the next trip to Edinburgh and more memory creation with the little one…..
Jane and I celebrated New Year Eve in our local pub but, I’m afraid to say, were in bed by 10.30pm. Despite not lasting out the end of year festivities, the turn of the year does always seem to me to be a highlight and a chance to think afresh about the world, and our actions within it. What better time is there to check on past personal resolutions, set some new ones and think as hopefully as possible about what lies ahead.
My New Year resolutions have largely been the same from year to year and have revolved primarily around walking more, drinking less alcohol and managing my weight. I’ve done ok in hitting targets in these areas and am not inclined to tighten the targets here. I walk enough, my weight is stable and I enjoy drinking beer, wine and whiskey too much to reduce my intake to, for example, the “UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) low risk drinking guidelines, based on up-to-date scientific evidence”. I may regret that one day, but not yet.
Beyond My Normal Walking Routes – An Old Cemetery in Woodchester, Near Stroud
Another of the New Year’s resolutions last year was to do more day tripping with Jane. The idea was to capitalise on the flexibility of my retirement and her limited working hours to decide at short notice, when the weather forecast was positive, to go on a short excursion. We did manage that a few times – a big success, for example, was our day trip very early in 2023 to Clevedon. But our joint resolve petered out so this New Year we have renewed it.
The Severn Estuary – A Totally Different Landscape To That We Are Used To
Once again, we have started well. Already we have made it to Frampton on Severn, embarked on a walk along part of the Severn Estuary in squally weather, and dropped into The Bell at Frampton on Severn for a drink in a previously unvisited (by me at least) pub. Now we have to keep that up and I’m definitely counting our trip to Edinburgh this weekend in the tally.
The Gloucester And Sharpness Canal, Frampton On Severn
As targeted, I did manage to read one more book in 2023 than the paltry total I managed in 2022. I want to read more novels and will especially focus on easy-reading crime and historical thrillers. It is unfortunate for my resolution target that the book I have just started is a sprawling 560 page novel (by Philippa Gregory) with a tiny typeface. However, it is exactly the sort of historical novel I tend to enjoy so I hope to up my reading pace.
I have added a few more New Year Resolutions to the usual set. One is to watch, and listen to, less ‘news’. Its depressing, I tend to talk over it with my views and critique, and listening to it at breakfast, at lunch, before dinner and then again before bed is repetitive and needless: stop!
I really need to get out in the garden more. There is always so much to do and the build-up of gardening tasks is one of the things that causes me anxiety while, once I get out there, gardening is one of the things that really relaxes me. It is also good exercise despite being challenging to my back. To compensate, I have added a resolution to stop talking about doing my routine back exercises and just do them.
There are a couple of others that will be harder to track. I want to do something a bit more creative but need to think harder about what sorts of things that might entail (watch this space – maybe….). Finally, I want to do a better job of satisfying my wife Jane’s frequent desire to have a coffee in town on the days we walk in together. Being stuck in my ways, I always prefer the very hot, strong coffee we make at home but I know Jane likes the sense of occasion having a cup in a café for a change.
In the interests of transparency, here is the full set of resolutions with 2023 performance against those carried forward. The key will be to stay healthy so their achievement is possible and hope the world doesn’t go to hell in a handbasket in the meantime.
Christmas in Belfast started at a furious pace. Youngest Son (YS) picked us up from George Best City Airport and whisked us off to an Asian small-plates restaurant in the centre of town called Yugo. We had an early, swift and tasty dinner there before zooming off again to traditional Irish bar in the old docklands, The American Bar. Here, we met up with YS’s future parents-in-law and had a catch-up chat while staying well out of the way of the regulars who seemed very proprietorial about their seats at the bar.
The Lagan At Christmas, Belfast
Then we crossed the road to the Dockers Club for a gig by George Houston who was an excellent warm up act for Joshua Burnside. Both artists were amusing between the enlivening music and they both had songs with interesting lyrics.
George Houston At The Dockers Club
It was a great venue; apparently the gig was sold out but it wasn’t too crowded. The acoustics were great. I could make out all the words of the songs as long as I didn’t stand behind the enthusiastic woman who thought she knew them all and thought we’d benefit from bellowing them out. Plus, the Guiness was creamy and proper. Seeing a gig in such a lively, functional venue was a real treat.
Joshua Burnside And Band
It was interesting to see YS and his fiancé bumping into several acquaintances and friends. Belfast is small compared to London where meeting up at a gig would be unlikely unless planned in advance. It is clear that YS’s partner has a huge network of friendships in Belfast through living in the city through her youth and, now, through her work as an osteopath and as a Pilates and yoga teacher. It is great to see how settled – and successful – they have become in Belfast.
It was late by the time we got back to their house and Reggie, their one-year-old dog was suffering cabin fever and then overexcitement as we walked in. Let’s just say he had an unsettled night of whining and moaning…. To be fair, he was very quiet on the other nights of our stay and he has settled down a lot since we last saw him in Spring. He no longer chews the furniture and stairs – though his history of this remains evident – and he is a very gentle dog whose only anxiety seems to be worry that everyone in his ‘family’ are close by. I’m looking forward to even more maturity by the next time we visit.
After that exciting first evening, the pace slowed and became very relaxing. YS loves a bit of technology and he has a huge telly with surround-sound in one room and a (pretty awesome) projector in another. That meant that while YS and I could watch football in one room, his partner and Jane could watch a stream of Christmas holiday movies in the other. The latter included Bernard and the Genie which we all watched. I hadn’t seen it since our sons were very young and was surprised that, amid the hilarity, some bits are amusingly inappropriate for the young.
We played games. YS won at HeckMeck as usual but Jane and I were dominant during my first exposure to Articulate! We had a hoot with that! I was less good at Jenga 😊
Ormeau’s Bread and Banjo Bakery – ExcellentAnd The Best We Have Found In Belfast So Far
We ventured out to the independent shops in the local Ormeau area primarily to get some very good bread and bagels. Then, for the first time, we visited Lisburn Road, which also has an attractive range of shops, and picked up sherry and some interesting wine.
Maven – A Cool Home Decoration Shop In Lisburn Road
I dipped out of some of the perusal of shops to walk through pleasant but wintery Ormeau Park. That enabled me to get exercise sufficient to enable conscience-free consumption later
Carved In A Tree Stump With A Chainsaw By Hazy In Ormeau Park
On Christmas Eve we had a lovely walk along the Lagan River and into the woods near the Stanmillis Sluice Gates.
Stranmillis Sluice Gate On The River Lagan
On Christmas Day we strolled through the Botanical Gardens and past the Queens University Sports Hall. There is a surprisingly large amount of interesting green space near to the dense but attractive residential housing of Ormeau – much needed with a dog as big and energetic as Reggie.
Belfast Botanic Gardens In Winter
On Boxing Day, the weather was excellent in the morning and YS insisted that we fulfil what is becoming a tradition when we visit him in Belfast: a sunrise walk on a beach. Fortunately, its winter so the need to see the sunrise was less demanding on our sleep patterns than in the past.
Fortunately, especially early in our walk, there were few other dogwalkers. Reggie the dog is gradually becoming more manageable with other dogs but he is over-enthusiastic and provokes fuss and bother. Amusingly, when he gets into a tangle with another dog, YS and his fiancé’s strategy is to run away as fast as possible – not to ignore the problem, but to lure Reggie away promptly. It sort-of works and some other dog owners found it funny.
YS’s Partner’s Pictures Of Reggie At Helens Bay
Finally, it being Christmas and all, we ate and drank well. YS had bought a selection of excellent beers with strange names from Boundary Brewing.
On the food front, a highlight, of course, was the Christmas dinner itself which included YS’s terrific pigs-in-blankets. We also feasted on a huge selection of local cheese that had been provided by YS’s next door neighbours in gratitude for tolerance in the last 6 months while they built a very substantial extension on the back of their house. (Hopefully, one day, YS and his fiancé will be able to build an extension too!). Then, on our last night, YS’s fiancé made a delicious prawn and orzo dish that I will try out at home.
A Full Plate Of Christmas Dinner – Lucky Us!
It was a lovely Christmas. Three years ago, Covid broke the mould of the succession of Christmas get-togethers with all of Jane’s family at our house. Then, two years ago, we decamped to the Isle of Skye for a small family Christmas with those sons and partners without a baby. Last year was a relatively small affair at our house with sons and partners that focused on First Grandchild as much as Christmas. And now we have done Belfast Christmas.
Chilled Out Belfast Christmas
Next year the plan is to host at our house all three sons and their wives, partners and fiancés plus what will be two grandchildren by then. It’s only a plan but it is clear that the time for extended 15 to 20-strong family Christmas lunch has, passed for us and, now I have retired and have no work constraints, I can envisage that we may be even more innovative in Christmas location and composition in the future. Long may that continue. Lucky us. Happy New Year!
Early December was cold and frosty; proper winter weather. I love walking around the village in weather like that, especially when the skies are clear and the sun is at least giving and impression of warmth.
Cold Cows And Local Winter Scenes
On one rather cold evening, I walked to Forest Green Rovers to see the football team I support. On the way I saw the annual winter light display that Ruskin Mill College hold in the valley the college occupies among the lakes, the ponds and the trout fishery it manages. I was already a bit tight on time so didn’t attempt to get a closer look. However, on the way back – disheartened by yet another defeat in what has been a long succession – I walked through the base of the valley to see the remnants of the display.
Ruskin Mill Light Display Including A Dragonfly Above A Lake and A Mouse
Many of the candles had naturally expired by that time and no-one else was about. The atmosphere was a strange mix of festivity and spookiness. The overall feel and several of the individual light-works were impressive. I felt lucky to have seen the display since it wasn’t officially open to the public and it only lasted a few hours.
Ruskin Mill Light Display
Jane has been investing a lot of time in getting our own Christmas lights up around our house. We briefly debated whether to put a Christmas tree up this year since we are not at home for Christmas itself. However, I was unsurprised when she arrived back one afternoon with a substantial tree and spent the rest of the day decorating it. Jane loves Christmas and the tree looks lovely as usual.
Domestic Festive Lighting – Door and Tree
The festive lighting around the house is also lovely. The excuse for it being even more extensive than usual is that, after several years of talking about having a drinks party for local friends and acquaintances, we finally arranged one.
I think it went well. It was great to see so many locals chatting animatedly with each other. Jane relieved the hospitality burden on us by hiring a youngster to man the ‘bar’. We both enjoyed the occasion while learning lessons about how to improve arrangements for the next one (should we get our act together again).
Plenty Of Festive Lights In Our Bit Of The Hamlet
That weekend felt very full because Jane spent much of the next day at our house with her siblings, sorting out a load of boxes of her late mother’s possessions. Good progress was made I believe. However, it’s a big task and there are still a number of crates and boxes in our spare room and corridors to examine. The contents need to split into allocations by sibling, for charity, for the dump and for a celebratory bonfire of family memorabilia that no-one wants to keep. The creation of this last stack of stuff is in line, Jane tells me, with one of several Swedish death-related cultural practices that celebrate the past while preventing our lofts getting filled with junk.
Now, with our Secret Santa presents already bought and no big family Christmas dinner to prepare for, we are in a quiet and welcome gap between our drinks party and Christmas itself. For that, we are off to see Youngest Son and his fiancé in Belfast. I fear we must prepare for a rainy Christmas not a cold, clear one but we are intent on having a great time. I hope all you readers have a great festive period too!
Some great and long-standing friends of ours from London visited us about a month ago. During their stay they offered to put me, and Jane, up for a couple of nights in London so I could attend a ‘Boys Night Out’ with some other mutual friends. These nights out with half a dozen other longstanding London-based friends have been going on for several years. We meet each time in a restaurant where country’s cuisine matches our progression through the alphabet.
From London Bridge (Unusually, With Tower Bridge Up)
We have made it through to ‘W’ which this time meant we had to meet in a Welsh, Western Samoan or Western Saharan restaurant. Perhaps controversially given the current politics in north west Africa, we went for the latter and settled on a Moroccan restaurant in Covent Garden. There, we were deposited in the basement where we were largely left to our own devices and had a relaxed evening of catch up while avoiding issues of Brexit, politics and climate change which might have provoked argument. We may be mates but we have diverse views on life!
Visiting London for this evening out and capitalizing on the hospitality of our hosts, provided a great opportunity to experience the rich range of exhibitions and galleries of this great city. Having sold my weekday bolt-hole 18 months ago, we rarely visit London these days. We are no longer members of the big cultural institutions and hadn’t planned well enough in advance to see the most popular and celebrated exhibitions. But exhibitions in the next tier down from the greatest were amusement enough.
Jane had accompanied me to London and, before she went off to meet up with London friends of her own, we went to the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. I have visited this many times and always love the photographs and the way they are presented in backlit screens. The range of material and the detail in the images is astounding to me.
From The Wildlife Photographers Exhibition – My Favourite I Think, By Olivier Gonnet
I hung around the Natural History Museum for a while to help me recall bringing our sons to the museum on many Saturday mornings when they were small. I saw several of the rooms including the new dinosaur section (including a robotic, moving tyrannosaurus dressed as Father Christmas!), and a small but diverting exhibition of photos of research and military stations in the Arctic by Gregor Sailer.
The first thing that astonished there was the transformation since my last visit. Then, all the rooms were filled with massive piles of rubble and shelving packed with dimly lit industrial artifacts put together by Anselm Kiefer in celebration of Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce. Gormley did fill the biggest of the rooms with more stone constructions – fired clay blocks positioned to represent 244 ‘body forms’ – but the whole exhibition was sparse and minimalist; a total contrast to Kiefer’s last exhibition here.
‘Resting Place’ By Antony Gormley (2023)
I was joined by one of our London hosts and together we did another circuit of the exhibition. I enjoyed it. I like the fact that I have now seen a range Gormley’s work in a variety of places and see at least some of the linkages and evolutions in his thinking.
Like the Wildlife Photography exhibition, this is an exhibition I have visited often over the last several years. It tends to be more repetitive in terms of content than the wildlife photography but I find it amazing nonetheless.
‘Aurora Over the Great Pollet Sea Arch’ (Donegal) By Brendan Alexander
I don’t really understand the techniques and equipment involved in producing the images. Indeed, I admire the photos that are relatively simple single take shots rather than the ones clearly involving huge telescopes, time lapse photography and overlays of multiple pictures. In any case, the results are, almost uniformly, incredibly beautiful.
‘A Rocky Rise’ (Pembrokeshire) By Carl Evans
We failed to get to the Royal Naval College in time to see the Painted Hall there before it closed for the day (my fault!). But we did get some good views of the Cutty Sark and the Thames as the sun went down in a clear sky.
Next morning, Jane left for home and I made my way across London to Kings Cross to take a train to Nottingham. Again, the weather was clear and bright. I loved my walk across the centre of the city while renewing my acquaintance with London’s diversity, vibrancy and bustle. Its such a rich city – in more ways than one!
The British Library And The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London
Then to Nottingham for a rather whistle-stop stay with my sister, a game of Mahjong, and a nice meal out with my Dad whose birthday followed the next day. He is 92. That is 90 years older than First Grandchild whose birthday we celebrated just a couple of weeks before. Incredible!
Autumn is turning to winter but there is still some colour in the trees and the occasional sunny day provides a bit of autumnal sparkle. I continue to feel fortunate to live in a pretty (but not prettified) part of Gloucestershire and we enjoyed showing it off a bit while some friends stayed with us at the end of October. When the sun is low as it is now, the Cotswold stone of the houses glows beautifully and the crispening leaves on the trees glimmer in the breeze.
Local Autumn Colour
I am well behind on the bedding down of the garden and allotment for winter. I have made some progress but, when the weather has been nice, I’ve tended to take the opportunity to go for local walks. When the weather has been cold and wet, I’ve stayed close to the heating in our kitchen. I feel that, as I get older, I feel the cold more than I did.
Chilly Early Starts
Our First Grandchild (FG) doesn’t seem to feel the cold anywhere near so much! He is thriving up in Edinburgh. We visited Edinburgh recently to celebrate his second birthday and his parents’ first wedding anniversary. They have a lovely flat and, now there is a wood-burner in the lounge, a very cosy spot for the evenings. FG can now lark about before bedtime in his nightwear – or just his nappy – without me feeling chilly by proxy.
We stayed in Edinburgh for longer than usual but hopefully avoided overburdening the working parents by staying a couple of nights in a hotel rather than with them. FG seemed to enjoy having two more people to order about especially once his birthday brought more toys for us all to play with.
He also liked his usual trip with us to the Royal Botanic Garden, where we collected different colours and sizes of leaf. It’s a wonderful, free resource regardless of the time of year.
Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens
On the actual day of his birthday, we all joined him on an extended visit to the National Museum of Scotland where he joyfully rushed from exhibit to exhibit. It’s a great place for kids.
The National Museum Of Scotland
We had other lovely family outings in brilliant sunshine to Saughton Park, which had an interesting history and a goldfish pond which fascinated FG, and to Lauriston Castle gardens with its great views across the Firth of Forth. Much to Jane’s satisfaction, each visit involved a café stop. This is something that, when we are alone together, she finds hard to persuade me to indulge in. With FG, it’s another little opportunity to watch him develop.
Lauriston Castle With The Firth Of Forth Beyond
It was convenient that we had our car, could get around easily with everyone, and that ES and his partner had some time off work so they could enjoy their anniversary and birthday fully.
Jane and I also went off on our own for perusal of Stockbridge’s shops (Jane) and walks by the Water of Leith (me). The Water of Leith was gushing more than usual following the recent storms which made the riverside walk somehow even more pleasurable than usual, especially as the sun was shining.
Views Along The Water Of Leith (Including An Anthony Gormley Statue Top Right)
We also managed to slide off for an hour in Spry, our favourite wine bar, and for a set of very tasty, innovative small lunch plates at Noto where Eldest Son (ES) and his partner had celebrated their anniversary a couple of nights before.
My Walk Along The Water Of Leith Led Me To Murrayfield
While FG and his parents went off to a birthday party of one of FG’s contemporaries in south Edinburgh, Jane and I took advantage of more sunny weather to climb Blackford Hill. This afforded great views north of Arthur’s Seat and the city and I had a bit of an internal psychic glow knowing that this was where ES had proposed marriage.
Views North From Blackford Hill
In between the anniversary and birthday festivities, and as the weather deteriorated, Jane and I visited the newly opened half of the National Gallery of Scotland. This great new space doubles the size of the gallery and has some excellent works including many by the Glasgow Boys and the less renowned Glasgow Girls.
The New Galleries At The Scottish National Gallery
In a slight overdoing of cultural experience for one day, we also visited Dovecot Studios to see an exhibition called ‘Scottish Women Artists: Challenging 250 Years of Perception’. This too had art by the Glasgow Girls. I thought the exhibition was a bit uneven but particularly liked the works by Joan Eardley and a few others.
Dovecote Studios: Scottish Women Artists (Including Joan Eardley And Alberta Whittle – bottom right and left respectively)
While we were in Edinburgh, ES’s partner cooked us lovely meals and we had great toast-laden breakfasts (Archipelago Bakery sells outstanding bread) plus a couple of substantial delivery meals from local food outlets. Fortunately, this visit, we met ES’s partner’s parents again and we all tucked into an Indian spread while sharing FG-stories.
FG’s birthday cake was a delightful mum-made ‘hedgehog cake’ with chocolate buttons for spines (he loved the candle blowing out process and the chocolate). Later, his birthday dinner was a shared set of delivered pizzas. Meals delivered to the door are rare treats for me; we don’t have them at home since the choice is limited and the distances feel too great. I put on weight in Edinburgh but it was well worth it.
Birthday Joy
It’s a long way to Edinburgh and back in our car (though we again had no real problems with charging it up as we travelled). But we love Edinburgh. Jane and I know that had ES not met someone from there who wanted to settle in the city, we would not have had such an opportunity to get to know Edinburgh so well. There is so much more to see there and we look forward to another trip for ES and his partners’ birthdays early next year.
On the morning of our second and last full day in Ghent, Jane and I set off north again to the Museum of Industry. The sun was already shining again, the temperature was pleasant and we seemed to be finding, together, a good pace and combination of visiting the sights of Ghent and of casually taking in its atmosphere.
Gent is a significant industrial centre and, it seems, has been so for centuries. The museum focused on Ghent’s history in textiles and printing.
Museum of Industry, Ghent: An Original ‘Mule Jenny’ Brought to Belgium Illegally From The UK To Spawn The Textile Industry In Ghent
There were working machines and technical descriptions but what was even more interesting were the accounts of peoples lives as the city’s industry developed. These were presented among relevant artifacts through short videos that I found very informative. This was an excellent museum.
Museum of Industry, Ghent Including Some Very Large Looms And A Lot Of Old But Operational Printing Equipment
Following a quick stop for a revitalising coffee and off-the-beaten-track people watching at Peaberry, we used our trusty ‘CityCard’ to embark on a guided boat ride around some of Ghent’s waterways. The sun helped make this a very pleasant and novel excursion. The boat also took Jane towards another linen store that had been recommended at the Museum of Industry.
Views From The Ghent Watertram
While she sought out the linen she wanted and then sat in another bar, I went off to visit the Bijloke campus.
Bijloke Campus: A Mix Of Old And New
This campus is a monastery and hospital founded in the 13th century that is now a collection of buildings of various vintages that include the Ghent City Museum and a concert hall. I spent longer in the City Museum than I had planned – I found it very interesting and its contents dovetailed nicely into what I had learnt in the Museum of Industry earlier in the day.
Inside Ghent City Museum: The Monastery Refectory and Cloister
By the time I got back to Jane, I was ready for a beer and planning for the evening. Guess what? More beer and another burger!
This time we ate at the Artevelde brewery and I cleared another item off my Belgian bucket list: drinking a sample tray of beers. All of the beers was good and the accompanying burger, almost overwhelmed by chips, was one of the best we had while in Belgium.
Artevelde Brewery
We had a final beer in the rather luxurious bar in our hotel. This time we got free beer and snacks courtesy of the fact that we had eschewed a laundry change during our stay – apparently a small encouragement to eco-practices pursued by hotel management. That was a nice bonus to round off our stay.
On our final morning, Jane did a bit more shopping while I took a farewell look at Ghent from the top of the Ghent Belfry (Belfort). Once again, the presentation of information – once I had found the way in – was very good. I was glad that I went early in the day though, since the stairwell was not built for crowds!
Ghent From The Belfry (Belfort)
Our journey back to Brussels and then London and then home was uneventful. There was plenty of time to contemplate a very good city-break holiday and how, after all these years of going on holiday together, Jane and I have both compromised to find, I think, a good balance between sight-seeing and chilling out in cafes and bars. We must plan another.
Following our day in Bruges, we had two full days in Ghent. As in Bruges, we spent quite a bit of time just walking the streets. However, there were churches, museums and galleries we wanted to see and, to facilitate that, we bought a pair of Ghent ‘CityCards’. Despite the significant up-front cost, these proved good value and reduced the hassle around ticket buying and queuing. Also, they encouraged us to venture into a couple of places that we might not have bothered with if an entrance fee had been required.
Ghent Waterways: (Quite) Early Morning
First though, we had to fortify ourselves with breakfast. On our way to Bruges the previous day we had passed a café, STEK, that had looked promising and we made the first of what turned out to be two visits there. The breakfast was excellent – rivalling the brunch we had had the previous day in Bruges – and again I was sold on the inclusion of peanut butter in my banana crumble. I have been adding nut butter to my breakfasts at home ever since.
Lovely Belgian Breakfasts: Blackbird (Bruges) vs STEK (Ghent)
Our first gallery visit in Ghent was to the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art Ghent (S.M.A.K.) to the south of the city. This was only established in 1999 and, frankly, the collection betrayed that. The gallery has some big rooms – all white as is usual for galleries of this type – but there wasn’t a huge amount on show. I enjoyed the peace and quite of the place but we didn’t stay long.
In S.M.A.K.
We strolled over the road to the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK). This holds a vastly more comprehensive collection than S.M.A.K. It’s collection represented art across several centuries, a solid coverage of Belgian art and a diverse set of artists from Hieronymus Bosch (who I always find interesting) to Rubens, Rodin and Magritte.
St Bavos Cathedral – A Painting By Belgian, Pierre Francois de Noter at MSK
I was initially impressed by the incredibly well-preserved colours in the medieval religious works, then flagged a bit through the portrait rooms, before reviving as I moved into the galleries of more modern art. The gallery has been renovated recently and it was very comfortable, quiet and well laid out according to chronology but also thematically.
A More Modern Belgian Painting – ‘Skeleton Looking At Chinoiseries’ By James Ensor
Having had our culture infusion for the day, Jane and I strolled back in increasing sunshine towards the centre. We popped into Saint Peter’s Abbey but were confused by the lack of things to see and took what turned out to be a wrong turn into the attractive, but unremarkable, adjacent gardens and vineyards. It turned out that these were open to the general public and we were now locked out of the Abbey. It was not the only time during our stay in Belgium that a combination of our lack of language skills and dubious signage confused our sight-seeing.
St Peter’s Abbey And Church, Ghent
We found our way back to the Abbey entrance but since there was no exhibition on, we moved swiftly next door to Our Lady of St Peter’s Church. This was part of the original abbey complex which was one of the earliest settlements that ultimately became Ghent. It dates back to the 12th century and was rebuilt in a Baroque style in the 17th century. It was impressive inside and out.
Inside Our Lady Of St Peter’s Church
The sun was well out by now and we continued a relaxed walk along the Ghent waterways, past the new and radically modern-looking library to St Bavo’s Cathedral.
Ghent City Library
As expected, the Cathedral was crowded with tourists most of whom were seeking a view of the famous Ghent Altarpiece which was completed in 1432 by the Van Eyck brothers.
The altarpiece has survived clandestine sales of some of its parts, thievery, war and religious uprisings. It has been restored in recent years – indeed, we saw part of this process during our visit to the Fine Arts Museum. It is now largely back in St Bavos and is a huge tourist attraction, including a virtual reality tour (which I opted out of).
Inside St Bavos (With The Ghent Altarpiece To The Right)
While Jane sought out places to buy Belgian linen, I visited St Michael’s Church and St Nicholas’ Church. In the latter, there was an ongoing service so I didn’t loiter.
Our Hotel (1898 The Post) And St Nicholas Church From St Michael’s Bridge, Ghent (From a Similar Angle to The Painting By de Noter Above)
St Michael’s Church was rather lovely – probably my favourite of the churches in Ghent that I saw. It is another very old church; it was started in 1440 but its tower was only completed in 1825. Its internal brickwork was beautiful in the dappled sunshine coming into the nave past nearby trees and, although ornate in parts, it felt slightly less polished and more homely than some of the other churches we had seen.
Inside St Michael’s Church; Empty, Airy And Beautifully Sunlit
Whoa! It had been a very full, long morning. By now we were ready for something other than churches and galleries. Food and Belgian beer beckoned.
I spotted that the brewery for the beer I had drunk on our first night in Ghent, DOK, was open for food as well as drinks. It was at the northern end of the waterways surrounding the centre of the city and we set off in what was by now warm, continuous sun. As we approached the brewery, we passed Bar Broei, a rough and ready looking bar that nonetheless sold good, homemade snacks and excellent beer. We chilled out there very comfortably and with a very personable barman for a couple of hours.
Bar Broei – Rough And Ready But Just What We Needed After A Long Morning Sight-seeing
We resumed our walk to Dok Brewery and discovered that it was in an industrial area surrounded by a variety of street food outlets busy with, it seemed, mainly local residents. This was perfect for us and we tucked into more beer and, of course, a beef burger.
Dok Brewery: Vibrant Eating And Drinking Establishments
Such meat eating was becoming the norm. So were the early nights back at the hotel, first in the bar and then our room. We still had another day in Ghent to go.
Jane and I spent a few days in Belgium. We had visited Antwerp several years ago and had been surprised at how much there had been to see and how interesting the city was. We wanted to see a couple of different Belgian cities this time and to travel by train. We booked the Eurostar to Brussels with an included ticket on to Ghent with the intention of also visiting Bruges. Jane booked an impressive, centrally located hotel in a building with an interesting history; we were all set.
Ghent Post Office (Designed 1898) Now Shops And Our Hotel For A Few Days
The UK train workers dispute disrupted our journey to London and we decided to drive to Jane’s sister in Teddington, and impose on her our need for a lift to the Tube. Fortunately, the Eurostar was on time, comfortable and smooth. The onward journey to Ghent in a double level carriage was especially comfortable as we accidentally sat in the first-class upper deck and had great views of the Belgian countryside. Taxis seemed absent at the station but the tram into the centre of town was easy to navigate and a bit of a novelty.
We settled into our hotel room and then relaxed into Ghent’s late afternoon sunshine with a stroll around the northern bend of the River Leie and past the Castle of the Counts. We ended up at a sunny, packed bar overlooking the river and indulged in our first taste of local Belgian beer.
‘Gravensteen’ – Castle Of The Counts, Ghent
We also had our first taste of Belgian beef – I confess that I ate more beef in our three days in Belgium than I think I have in the last three years. When in Belgium…..
We made our way back to the hotel for an early night (very early given the UK-Belgium time difference) and resolved to make an early start for Bruges the following morning.
View From Outside Our Hotel Including St Michiels Kerk
The rail journey to Bruges was again easy and comfortable. Once in the city, we just walked around in lovely October sunshine for a while, just taking in the gorgeous juxtaposition of medieval architecture and the river and canal network. Of course, there were hordes of tourists many of which were participating in large guided tours led by guides with little flag poles; not my cup of tea!
Me And Other Tourists Capturing The Sights In The Centre Of Bruges
We shuffled out of the main flows of these tours into peaceful side streets and quiet corners. Wherever we looked we saw pretty bridges, attractive buildings with the traditional stepped parapet walls, and an overall sense of cleanliness and history.
Starting To Get Away From The Bruges Crowd
We walked north to a vegan café, Blackbird, that Jane had discovered online, for a well-earned brunch. We had what turned out to be my favourite breakfast or our brief Belgian holiday; an acai bowl laden with fruit, yogurt and peanut butter accompanied by a wonderful cup of coffee. I’m a nut butter convert now!
The ‘Blackbird’ Cafe In Typical Bruges Buildings
We continued to wander along the canal paths past stunning buildings and back to the city centre. On our way we popped into the Bourgogne des Flandres Brewery for a local brew, a quick rest and a view of boats going up and down the waterways. Then we pressed on to visit the 800-year old Belfort (Belfry) to learn more about the city and get a elevated panorama.
Belfort, Bruges
The belfry dominates the main square of the city and required a 366-stair climb to get to its top. On the way up is a Treasury with its artifacts and a lot of information about the city and, especially, the way the bells in the tower were used to signal peace or danger.
Near the top we could enter a floor where the belfry carillon with its 47 bells sits. It was installed in 1748 and has been repeatedly extended and restored. It is like a huge musical box with a large cylinder with pins that cause the bells to ring in a particular sequence that can also be set by a keyboard. We were able to see it working although the chiming of the bells is best heard from outside.
The Carillon, Belfort, Bruges
At the very top floor of the belfry, the views were predictably spectacular.
From The Belfort, Bruges
We resumed our wander through Bruges’s streets while skirting the densest crowds and made our way to Saint Saviour’s Cathedral, also known as Sint-Salvatorskathedraal. This is a beautiful, airy space with a huge nave, impressive tapestries and remarkably vibrant stained glass.
Saint Saviour’s Cathedral, Bruges
As with several of the historic buildings we visited whilst in Belgium, there was a Treasury. This one had several lovely pieces on show.
The Saint Saviour’s Cathedral Treasury
By now we were beginning to think again about beer and food. We walked back towards the north end of the city centre and found a delightful waterside bar (it was hard to know if the waterways were river or canal but here the water was flowing and not at all smelly). The sky was cloudless and the temperature, view and atmosphere was so perfect that we settled down for a lengthy session of beer and more beef – a very nice steak and chips this time.
Bruges’s Waterways
Replete, we decided we had had a lovely but sufficient Bruges experience. Our phone batteries were low – I’d forgotten to bring my remote charger and Google Maps is such a battery suck. Jane had to start asking passers-by for directions (I would rather use the position of the sun than ask anyone the way!) Finally, a circuitous route took us back to the station, the return journey to Ghent and another early night in our hotel there to prepare us for a couple of days of Ghent sight-seeing.
A few weeks ago we were in Ireland and Edinburgh. Later this week we are spending a few days in Belgium. In between we have slowed down into more usual routines and come to terms with the fact that, despite unseasonably warm weather, the trees are starting to turn and Autumn is upon us.
Some Of The Last Big Dahlias From The Garden This Year
There is still a lot to do in the garden before closing up for Winter. I’ve made some progress in that I have brought in an excellent harvest of potatoes and onions, have started to pull down the climbing beans and their frames and have collected the wood remaining from some cut trees from out of the field.
Some Of This Year’s Bumper Crop Of Onions, Potatoes and Squash
However, I need to weed the currants and leeks, and harvest the squash and Jerusalem artichokes. I also need to dig over all the vegetable beds to give the bindweed and creeping cinquefoil another almost crippling blow before the end of Autumn. I say ‘almost’ since it cannot be eliminated, only managed.
Preparing For Winter – Wood Turned Into Wood Store
A further project is to tidy up the compost heaps which have become very dilapidated. Jane will be upset that I will once again put together a rather improvised set of heaps using old pallets rather than use the purpose-built wood frames that she bought for me years ago. I continue to save those for when we move to our ‘Tin House’ (currently rented out) in Jane’s nearby childhood village of Amberley. The timeframes for that are vague but my short-term solution for the compost heaps will suffice in the meantime; I just need to get my skates on and do it.
My Over-Full, Collapsing Compost Heaps
That effort needs to fit in alongside getting a grip on my small allotment in Amberley which I have held onto as another sign of our intention to move to the ‘Tin House’ at some point. Also, we have taken on a mini-project to help Middle Son (MS) and his partner to design and enhance his new garden in Bristol. This was a requested alternative from MS to a more typical birthday present. We really enjoyed delivering our first instalment of help while he cooked us a lovely roast lunch.
A low light of the last few weeks has been watching the steady decline of Forest Green Rovers (FGR) – the football club I support (enthusiastically through often through gritted teeth). Relegation last season following glorious promotion the previous season wasn’t entirely unexpected especially after our now much lauded manager left abruptly for Championship and, more recently, Premiership football. But we are struggling again this season and the disconsolate and disappointing defeat in the last match was very dismaying. What goes up can come down!
FGR At Meadow Lane, Notts County. A Proper Football Stadium
On the other hand, a highlight in the last few weeks has been a weekend in Nottingham with my sister and Dad. I saw FGR play Notts County while I was there – we lost again, though only narrowly and a little unluckily – but what was most encouraging was seeing my Dad fighting his way back to the level of activity and health he had earlier this year. For a while this summer he was really struggling with a side-effect of the innovative, and seemingly successful, cancer treatment he has been on. Now that side -effect has been addressed, he has his mental agility and much of his strength back, and his treatment has restarted.
I stayed with my sister in her new house not far from my Dad, but spent the days with at my Dad’s house where we reminisced over tea, lunch and a game of Mahjong. We played with a lovely, intact, bone Mahjong set that has been in the family for ages. The feel of the bricks and the counters that substitute for money is wonderful. Dad was able to demonstrate his powers of mathematics were undiminished as he worked out who owed who and how much after each round. I lost all I had won when we last played back in May last year.
Playing Mah Jong
The rest of the month has flown by through a routine combination of the village men’s Talk Club (restarted after a summer break), a morning a week at the Food Bank, local walks solo or with friends, shopping for and then cooking good home food, and evenings of streamed television.
Our current streamed television of choice is Fauda on Netflix. It’s a gripping action series that develops interesting male and female, Israeli and Palestinian characters over four series. We are about to watch the last episode and we shall miss it a lot when it’s over. The last series is partly set in Belgium. I think later this week we will be visiting rather different parts of the country from the vast, labyrinthine housing estates depicted in Fauda!
