A Burgundian Mood... Gent

THANK YOU ALL for yesterday's birthday greetings!  Much, much appreciated!

Left about half an hour earlier than I did last time, with Brugge again in mind, but traffic between Bergen op Zoom and the exit to Antwerp led to an abrupt change of plans.  As Gent was much closer, Gent it was.
('Gent' = 'GHent' and not as in 'gentle')

See those black parasol things in front of the buildings?  That is where I had a most yummy spaghetti dinner with a beef carpaccio for starters and the usual black tea with fresh lemon to quench the thirst.

Before dinner, though, I had, finally, enough time to visit the local medieval castle, Gravensteen.  We're talking Philip of Alsace, the first real Count of Flanders.  By the time the Burgundians took over, there was a more luxurious castle built nearby, where eventually Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was born.  While the medieval stronghold is still standing, though, that more comfortable palace is no more, except for a well-preserved piece of its wall.  According to the old chroniclers and historians, Gent has always been a rebellious, recalcitrant city, and this is because it became wealthy, extremely wealthy, very early in its existence, so wealthy, in fact, that kings, dukes, counts, and emperors fought to rule it, of course with the view of using its riches to fund their wars, and it had enough income to stand up and dictate to aforementioned kings, dukes, etc.  The Burgundian lifestyle is alive and well here, to this day, and there is a convivial air of hospitality, generosity, and general joie de vivre you do not find, for example, in cities such as Rotterdam and Utrecht.

Extra 1 = the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was also Charles I of Spain as well as Duke of Burgundy, the most important titles on the European continent in the 1500s on the shoulders of one man.
Extra 2 = Gravensteen, the castle of the Counts of Flanders.  'Graaf' means 'Count (as in Dracula), and 'steen' (sounds like 'stain') means stone, which was the main building material for castles and such, so in the end it also meant 'castle'.  You could be wealthy or 'steenrijk' ('stain-rike') meaning 'possessing many stones', which meant you had enough to build your own castle.

Phoned AW that I would not make it back in time for dinner.  He sounded strange over the phone and it turned out that he has an irritated throat.  Nevertheless, he left for Tuesday evening live bridge, with a new, perhaps temporary, partner, whom I'll call Louisa, because his regular Tuesday partner, Roland, who started playing again, flatly refuses to have himself vaxxed and does not want to have himself tested every week, as proof of either a negative test or two jabs is the new requirement at many venues.  I am now suddenly wondering if somewhere during their last two meetings Roland may have nonchalantly bequeathed something to AW.  The mere idea of it makes me angry -- how utterly, utterly selfish!  And not to have informed AW until 'just now' is unforgiveable.  Anyway, I hope the symptoms are nothing more than that of an ordinary sore throat.  He had been drilling a bit in the kitchen and perhaps inhaled some of the dust.  I hope that is all it is.