Alice

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Alice

Alice

“Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – Queen of Hearts, Alice in Wonderland. Droplets of wax pool at the base of an antique candlestick holder. An orange flame breathes and extends towards the painted ceiling. Rows of teapots smile from the shelves – winking and whispering to the suiker and sucre jars across the dining room. Glistening chandeliers cast a glow over tea-sippers and bounce rays of warmth off walls the color of a rain-kissed rose. This is Alice. I’ve found my new favorite tearoom in Belgium. We’ve come to Gent for the GentseFeesten,

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Beluso

Beluso

“Hum, how about Portuguese? It has five stars. . . and it’s just around the corner from the museum,” I raise an eyebrow to my husband. He grips the steering wheel and leans forward. Parking in Europe, the anticipation of the unknown, stresses him out.    “Like I said, it’s just around the corner from the museum,” I eye my phone, the Citadel park in Gent is coming up on our left. “Sounds great,” he exclaims and smiles when he comes upon a parallel parking spot the size of a moving truck outside the STAM museum.     We unload the

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Balls & Glory

Balls & Glory

Intrigued by the name, hungered by the concept, I made dates with Balls & Glory in multiple cities and I can attest – this isn’t just marketing. Balls & Glory satisfies the strongest of cravings, leaves you pining over an unforgettable experience, and calculating your return.   All play-on-words aside, meatballs are a tradition of Belgium and Balls & Glory takes this yummy goodness to a whole new level. Whereas most meatballs are small and smothered – Balls & Glory handmade meatballs are the size of a baseball and sauce fills the inside – resulting in a taste explosion! My

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Kouter Flower Market

Kouter Flower Market

A concrete slab. Construction lining the concrete slab. An ornate pavilion overlooking the concrete slab. That’s what I knew of the Kouter Square. We’d been to Gent a handful of times when we lived in the Netherlands, and had always parked in the garage below. We took the elevator with the stroller and wandered into the city from this central location. We lived in Gent for a month before settling in Antwerp. We packed up the kids one Sunday morning and headed into town via tram to explore the many markets the Gent guidebooks and websites listed. We stepped off

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Holding Hands

Holding Hands

Confession: I saw this couple holding hands through a park in Gent and it made me really happy.

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Citadelpark

Citadelpark

My footfalls beat on the gravely asphalt. I’ve escaped my three children for a bit, leaving them in our temporary apartment with my husband. Running was a habit I picked back up after moving to Texas. In Leiden, I exhausted myself daily just biking or walking my kids around town. Once I moved back to Texas, I was determined to continue biking my kids to school. (Despite the rolling-down-of-windows-wave “Hey? Do you need a ride?” questions from other well-meaning Moms in mini-vans.) I eventually gave up once the temperatures headed into the 90s. We still played outside or went to

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Gravensteen Castle

Gravensteen Castle

Torture chambers, spears, swords, and authentic suits of armor. Enormous wooden doors laden with ancient metal hardware. Gray stone walls – impossible to penetrate, the place where prisoners met their deaths, and fantastic views of the city. It’s Gent’s own Gravensteen Castle. Our first week in Gent, we set out to explore the city. The grand castle in the middle of the city was a no-brainer on the “must visit” list. We walked up to the grand structure, flags on the top of the towers flapping in the wind. The rates for the museum were 10 Euros for adults and

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