Day 11: Conference begins

Last night Nuri woke up in the middle of the night screaming for an hour. We tried everything -- holding, rocking, Tylenol, orajel. He was obviously still very tired and probably somewhat frustrated from our recent increase in traveling and us forcing him to stay in his stroller "just a little while longer" so that we can get him and the suitcases off this or that train. In addition to changing time zones and homes, meeting new people and then saying good-bye, and fighting ear infections in both ears, he has also cut three new teeth while he has been here, all of them pre-molars. So the poor guy has been through a lot.

Needless to say, when my alarm went off at 6:45, none of us were happy to jump out of bed. So Sal and Nuri kept sleeping and I went down to continental breakfast and brought them up a few food items in case they didn't make it down in time. I went to the conference a bit worried about how they were going to do this morning.

I met back up with them at noon, and it turns out they had spent the morning exploring Gravensteen, a medieval fortress with various weapons and torture implements on display. They had gone with my colleague's girlfriend Kristina, who is also hanging out in Ghent while the conference goes on.

The conference was catering lunch, but I decided to go out with Sal and Nuri instead and because the talks right after lunch weren't relevant to my research, I was able to take an overly long lunch with them and explore the Cathedral here. The Cathedral was beautiful and had some lovely stained-glass windows. It also had some rather unusual windows with geometrical designs (uncommon in a Christian church). We went down to the crypt, where a number of clergy robes and other church items were on display, as well as some abstract art of the crucifixion. We paid admission to see the Van Eyck brother's panel painting, the Adoration of the Lamb, a rather detailed display that took 40 years to complete.

After that, I went back to the conference and Sal and Nuri went with Kristina to the top of the belfry, which apparently had a gorgeous view of Ghent and some impressive bells. We met back at the conference at 5. The conference had organized a boat tour of Ghent. We set out on the canals of Ghent, which Nuri really enjoyed (he got to see ducks). We got another historical overview of the city and saw some buildings that we had missed yesterday.

The boat tour ended at Gravensteen, the medieval fortress Sal visited this morning, where the conference banquet was to take place. Most scientific conferences organize a "banquet" which is a fancy dinner that attendees and family are invited to attend. We didn't have intentions of paying 60 Euros for an extra ticket for Sal, but one of the staff scientists I knew didn't want to go, so we obtained his ticket. As we stepped off the boat, we were greated by a hunchback court jester and a line of ladies in medeival garb. We entered the fortress and started out with a tour, which was great for me, since I hadn't seen it earlier. Sal was kicking himself for paying admission to the fortress earlier that morning. Then they started serving beer, wine, other beverages, and hors d'oeuvres. While we were standing there in the courtyard, there was a plethora of amusing entertainment which we weren't expecting. One man was running around doing fire tricks (eating flames and blowing alcohol into flames). A bird trainer was calling hawks to and from him arm. He later brought out a vulture, who was larger than Nuri and must have had a 6-foot wingspan. Since Nuri loves to chase birds and the vulture seemed to be the only bird he had seen that wouldn't run away from him, we had to hold him back to prevent his eyes from being pecked out.

Eventually we all made our way into the banquet hall and proceeded to be served a 5-course meal. Nuri had no patience for this, so Sal and I took turns taking him outside into the courtyard and playing such games as "climb the bench," "find a thin rock to drop through slots in the picnic table," and "walk along the curbing between the dirt and the cobblestone." The meal began with a raw shrimp salad, followed by a delicious chicken soup (technically waterzooi), beef stew and Belgian fries, an assorted dessert, and coffee and truffles (which we had to miss because Nuri was ready for bed). Of course the only part of the meal that interested Nuri was the dessert. We're going to have to wean him back to a non-sugar-based diet when we get home.

We got a little lost on the walk home, but made it eventually, and quickly settled in while Nuri watched "bunny." We turned it off and cuddled a squirmy, sugar-hyped Nuri to bed. Again we fell asleep before he did, unintentionally.