Gent is a town in the center of Belgium. I had originally planned on going to Brussels, but since I'd already been there, I took a friends suggestion and headed to Gent when I discovered they were having this huge, 10 day music festival. There were 11 stages with all kinds of different music playing all week long.
Belgium has some of the best canals in Europe. Here again I found some cool installation art.
This is a local delicacy that I just couldn't get behind. It's kind of a licorice-type candy in the shape of a cone. They're sold everywhere. I tried it, of course, but, meh.
It's not just a music festival - it's also an arts festival. Check out this puppetry show of Humpty Dumpty. It was a real person's face in the egg. Pretty surreal.
Have you ever seen a such a big guitar?? I like how the girl in the blue isn't sure what to make of it. The pick he was using was about the size of a credit card.
I love how when you're in a boat, everyone wants to wave at you!
Lots of castles. Everywhere.
This street band was amazing. That girl had spunk for days, and sultry, raspy voice that stopped people in their tracks. Just out of the frame is a guy playing the stand up bass.
Probably one of the best street performers I've ever seen. This Irish guy grabbed a very shy girl from the audience and convinced her to throw him very sharp blades while he balanced on a 7-foot unicycle. Can you see the second blade flying through the air? (She tossed him all 3 successfully.)
This guy had a baby cart full of famous people marionettes. Here he treated us to a great performance from Freddie Mercury. This guy was amazing.
Speaking of Freddie, later on that night, I caught a Queen cover band. I really wanted them to be great - they weren't bad - but they sure looked great. Just made me really want to see the real Queen.
Now this was pretty amazing. Two performance artists on bungee cords danced on the side of this church. Thousands of people stood below and watched breathlessly as they flew around in the air.
Escargot. France isn't the only place to get it!
One of my favorite stages of the entire Gent Festival was "Swing Cite". Nightly live swing bands and of course, swing dancing.
Just look at how much fun that is! It sounded really, really great. One of the best eras in music, no question.
What swing dancing venue would be complete without a vaudeville show?
Even before the sun goes down, the fun is already on.
This is me pretending I don't like to have fun. (I do.)
Now here are probably my favorite street artists I've ever seen. These two creatures walked around the crowd being amazed at pretty much everything, babbling to each other in gibberish. Here the female creature inspects my chest hair.
I really could have watched these guys for hours. Reminded me a lot of creatures from the movie Labyrinth.
Canoe race on the river.
This was one of the biggest and loudest stages of the whole festival, Pole Pole (pronounced "Pole-ay Pole-ay"). This particular stage went until 3am, but the last outdoor venue closed at...9am! Several times we all came home when the sun was up. Hooray for summer!
Big crowds, big fun.
Every summer, for a couple of months, the owner of this estate opens up his very large backyard to the local public for what is basically a small, old-timey carnival and dinner. There's food, drinks, gypsies, fortune tellers, magicians, bonfires, and a big swing.
Just one of the several little train compartments around the pond.
Everyone getting ready for dinner. What a lovely, warm summer evening.
You better believe I rode that swing. It hung from a giant oak and swung out over the pond.
Gent has a small street that is dedicated solely to graffiti. There's always artists there creating new murals of pretty much anything.
Before and after.
Stay classy, graffiti.
The canal during the day. I love the step-up walls of old Belgian buildings.
My favorite restaurant in Gent, "Balls and Glory". Big handcrafted meatballs by a local TV celebrity chef, served with mashed potatoes. Inside the meatballs was a sort of herb gravy. This day I had it to go.
And here's when I ate in. So good!
The castle at night. Notice all the bikes parked on the fence. There are so many bikes in Gent, and therefore, a lot of bikes stolen, that if a bike is ever stolen and reported, the police's response is "Steal another bike".
I went by Swing Cite almost every night. This was the last night of the festival, and the biggest turn out for swing dancing. I made friends with most of the people you see here and in the background.
No other way to close out a music festival than with a performance by The King.
As a thank you to my hosts/new friends, and inspired by "Balls & Glory", I decided to cook a spaghetti and meatball dinner for my last night in Gent. Here's Pieter and I fixing it up.
Dinner is served! Here's the door by the bike that I came home to every night, and here we are in the backyard, living it up. Had such a good time with these guys! New friends for sure!
Inspired by a silly internet video, we all decided to see how manly we could try to throw with our non-throwing hand. Hilarious results!
Back to Paris, because I love this city, and it's also sort of the gateway to mainland Europe. I could walk around Norte Dame all the time, it's just such a beautiful area.
Here's a happy accident. I had a setting on my camera that would take two pictures almost simultaneously and merge them into one. But when quick movement like this happens, it results in a cool picture. Here you can see the up and down wing action of lots of birds as they fly away.
Bird lady, who sees pigeons as friends than pests. This while fence was lined with pigeons waiting for seeds.
Inside Notre Dame, mass was taking place.
The Shakepeare and Company bookstore, directly across the river from Notre Dame. One of my favorite places to visit in Paris. It's a great place to sit and read a book, or discover a new one. Notice the event on the board: a discussion on Jack Kerouac's "On The Road".
My last night in Paris, where else? Watched the sunset right here.
Goodnight, Paris.
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