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A city that feels like a small town. A small town that vibrates
like a major city.
These days, you have to start your tour of Ghent at the recently
opened SMAK. It's the dream come true of Jan Hoet, a flamboyant
man who has made his museum into a crossroad of cultures. The SMAK
not only holds an excellent collection of modern art, it also welcomes
trendy people to party all night amongst paintings and sculptures,
and hosts receptions for large companies too. On New Year's Eve,
the SMAK even offers babysit over one hundred kids!
Jan Hoet's son - Jan Hoet Jr - shares not only his father's name
but also his style. He runs 't Café, a small bar in the SMAK.
If you want to meet shiny happy people, that's where you have to
go.
My favorite restaurant is Brasserie Anna (Huidevetterskaai), which
is in a renovated warehouse. Around midday it's crowded with people
who know where to find a delicious lunch at a reasonable price.
A small river runs through Brasserie Anna and the best waiter in
town works there. Ask for Dany.
You'll find lots and lots of fine restaurants all over town, and
even more of those in the Patershol. The Patershol is one of the
oldest quarters in town, next to the medieval castle, Gravensteen.
The only problem there is making a choice. Other popular restaurants
include Mineral (Onderbergen) and Koningshuis (Poel). Both places
are small and welcoming enough to make you feel like you're having
dinner in the chef's living room.
For quicker and cheaper bites, try Eat@Café (Wilsonplein)
or the flashily decorated Short Order (Hoogpoort), where you have
to microwave your own box of noodles.
If you want to do some serious barhopping, Ghent is your kind of
town. If the weather permits, you can relax on plenty of terraces
outside the cafés that surround the Vrijdagsmarkt, the Korenmarkt,
the Sint Baafsplein or the Graslei. At night, students go to the
many bars on the Overpoortstraat or at Klein Turkije. For late nite
fun, the Club 69 (Oude Beestenmarkt) is very hot now. The cool kids
go there for some 'beau monde lounging and dance'. Watch out, it's
only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10pm to 6am. If
you're not such a late cat, try the cocktail bar Limonada (Heilige
Geeststraat). Close to it, next to the Sint Niklaaskerk, is the
Manteca. It's a salsa bar and it's hot. If you like a quiet talk
in a smoky joint, try the Hotsy Totsy (Poel). It's a secluded waterhole
for professors and students, artists and writers.
De Vooruit (Sint Pieters Nieuwstraat) remains one of the most spectacular
places in Ghent. It was built at the end of the nineteenth century
as a meeting place for the socialist movement. (Remember Ghent was
an important city during the industrial revolution.) This huge building
has been renovated now and holds many halls for theatre, dance and
music, and a very large café too. You'll find the same sort
of people - students, theatre lovers and people that read a book
once in a while - at Het Magazijn (Penitentenstraat). Sometimes
live bands perform there. One last tip: go check out the flashy
and funny decoration at Pink Flamingo's (Onderstraat). It's a nice
little place to have a beer or two.
By the way, try to be in Ghent during the Gentse Feesten. For ten
days at the end of June, the city is one big party zone. Alcohol,
culture and food mixed together make thousands and thousands of
people crowd the streets and go mad.
I kept one of the most remarkable places for last. The Mokabon
(Donkersteeg), is a small coffee bar that hasn't changed in ages.
And we hope it never will. It's the best place to have great coffee
and to relax quietly after having visited all the places mentioned
above.
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