You know what they call a Quarter Pounder in Belgium? A Royal with Cheese in Ghent

VINCENT: ...You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris (& Belgium)?

JULES: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?

VINCENT: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the f.....k a Quarter Pounder is.

JULES: What'd they call it?

VINCENT: Royale with Cheese.

Pulp Fiction  (see clip from Youtube above)

Royal with Cheese

Vincent (John Travolta) from Pulp Fiction was right; it's the little differences that are funny in Europe. For example they really do put Mayonnaisse on French Fries in Holland, and a Quarter Pounder is called a Royal with Cheese in Belgium (top of page). Travel is interesting, because you see how other people go about things, like basic things, like eating. Or how they get around the place. Here in Ghent they have a well developed electric tram network, and get about on bicycles. Bicycles are huge in Europe with every city I've visited having dedicated bicycle lanes. Sydney is still catching up with the dedicated bike lanes, and we are soon going to reintroduce trams. Definitely better for the environment, and with the average traffic speed in Sydney about 26 kmph, bikes are probably faster anyway.

Ghent is pretty cool. A University town with a thriving arts community. On Saturday night we saw an excellent modern dance performance at the theatre called, 'What the body does not remember'. The good thing about dance is that you don't need to know the language. It would be hard if it was a play. We met some friends here, and enjoyed hanging out at the hip bars in the city. It's a very relaxed sort of place.

Ghent is an attractive city as well. Above is the celebrated Cathedral. Below is Ghent Castle also known as Gravensteen. For the ghoulish there is a torture museum inside that you can visit.



The main attractions are within a short stroll of each other, but if you need to go anywhere further you can hop on a tram for 1.20 Euro per trip if you buy it from the ticket machine, or 2 Euro from the driver. You could hire a bike and whizz around the city like the locals do. It's very quiet here, without all those noisy cars.

This place is like a Toll Booth for the canal. It wasn't too popular when it was built because the locals had to pay the tax to move their goods by water. Everybody hates paying tax. It's universal.

You may have noticed the grey skies, and the clouds that look like it is going to rain at any moment. That's because it really is going to rain at any moment. Basically, you need to take a mini traveller umbrella with you, and think layers of clothing. I take a Patagonia Down Jacket that weighs 600gm and scrunches down to a small brick sized package, which goes in my daypack. It is windproof and amazingly warm for it's weight. I also carry a Golite rain jacket that weighs hardly anything. I also have a light weight wool cap or Beanie, as you might know that you lose a lot of your body heat from your head. In combination with the mini umbrella that sort of covers all the bases, however in really strong wind then the mini umbrella won't cut it of course, and you will need a proper umbrella. At various times of the day you will find yourself taking off a layer or adding a layer depending on the weather conditions.

So, the best thing about Ghent is that you have this beautiful old city with all the benefits of modern living complete with it's cosmopolitan feel. Plus, it's only 30 minutes to Brussels or 45 minutes to Bruges, which I will be visiting tomorrow.

TRAVEL INFO

The best website on Ghent - http://www.visitgent.be/en/home

Travel Tip:

- Buy the tram tickets from the ticket machine for 1.20 Euro instead of 2 Euro on board.

- In Northern Europe think layers of clothing & carry a mini umbrella.