Into Flemish Belgium

Today we have experienced many forms of transport. In order: taxi, plane, bus, train, train, tram (or trolley), tram, bus, car. And feet. These all happened from 4:15 am to 3:30 pm to transport us from Madrid to Maldegem, Belgium where we will spend the next 2 weeks. The trains in Belgium were clean and fast. People speak Flemish and French. More Flemish where we are. We stored our backpacks (€3.50 for 24 hour locker) at the train station and made time for a refreshment excursion into Gent (or Gand in French).

Gent is a charming college town, hosting an annual 10-day cultural, music and theatre festival, De Gentse Feesten, which is going on now. The plaza surrounded by medieval architecture was festive with music and stands setting up to sell all types of food & beverages, clothes and hats. We heard a cello, accordian, and guitar being played on the street as we wandered by. Lots of homemade ice cream, chocolate, and sweet stands. Apparently Norah Jones and Ornette Coleman beat us here. They played at a jazz festival here just last night! Because of the festivities, the town is somewhat crowded. Still we saw an old 12th century castle, the Gravensteen, and walked the bridge over a canal.

We will be WWOOFing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms - www.wwoof.org) at Hugo and Rita's farm for the next two weeks. We set this time up with them back in February. There are two other wwoofers: Darrell, a Scotsman studying conservation and Paulo a Brazilian studying in Moscow who are staying in a separate house. We are in the caravan, which is past the rabbits and horses, through a grove of blackberry trees, under grapevines and in the unfinished greenhouse. It is quite cozy and hidden from everything. It's definately the strangest place we've stayed yet, but not the smallest. The table turns into our bed. Andrew has beaten Darrell at chess already; team Stein won the first fuse ball game, too. Woohoo. Both wwoofers are super
friendly, have been here a while, and are showing us the ropes. Rita and Hugo live in an old restored farmhouse, which is attached to the hotel they run for guests. Their daughter who works in Brussels picked us up from the bus station. Their son is studying at the university in Gent. They are friendly and have offered us lots to drink but seem to be very busy. Rita runs the kitchen single-handedly while Hugo runs the farm and garden projects. Both speak very good English. Their home runs 85% on solar power. The whole operation is almost completely self-sufficient using all their fruit, vegetables, and animal products for sometimes as many as 25 guests. We saw chickens, skiddish rabbits, a horse and pony, goats and a handful of baby kittens. Oh, and apparently the rabbits aren't pets! The farm is big and all that we saw was in the immediate surroundings. Lots of trees and flowers, birds and butterflies. It is beautiful. We will
get to discover more of the farm tomorrow. We start the day at 9:00. The environment seems very laid back, yet with a satisfying sense of productivity. We are looking forward to a bit of routine to break up the feeling of perpetual movement.