WEEK 2 - ALICE KOFFIEHUIS and Niamh FISHER-BLACK

Back in Belgium, a difference of about 30° warmer then Northern Finland, but o so depressing. In Gent a grey sky, raining, not the most cheering weather. Another good reason to look for a nice hot coffee in a comfortable place.
Lieve suggested "Alice", just behind the Sint Michiels church. Little walk from were we left our bikes behind. It took a few seconds before we saw the place in the street as it is not really very visible from the corner of the street.

But once you walk in the hallway you can imagine that this is a beautiful house probably belonging to a rich family many years ago. The size of the doors and height of the ceiling reminds of notary houses or a house belonging to important people and family.
The place is named after Alice De Witte (°1930 in Zelzate), a woman that worked in the grocery shop of her parents and loved preparing meals "flemish style" and baking cakes. So it was not hard for owner Eric to find a suitable name for his business. His mothers name "Alice".

When you walk through the door, the elegant interior match beautifully with the house. Typical Boudoir style, warm and cozy. A friendly team welcomes you and shows you some places to sit.










                               You get a menu and I am sure everybody can find something to his liking. The whole range of different coffees made with a Kovatec coffee machine is available. Also High Tea for Two, Brunch, breaky and a quick look on the lunch menu almost made me stay for the typical Gent dish, stew made with Liefmans Goldenband-beer and a slice of bread with Tierenteyn mustard.
We had a cappuccino and Lieve had a fresh tea (not a tea bag) and I must say that the coffee belongs to the best ones I had since I started this coffee-blog. I need to come back for more. You pay when you walk out at the counter and he reminds me of the old grocery style shops. I could imagine "Alice" standing there, but in fact it was a younger version.

ALICE, le goût de la nouvelle grandeur - Onderbergen 6 - 9000 Gent
www.alice-gent.be - closed on Monday

Niamh 
 While we walk in the rain, our young female Kiwi girls had their cycling battle in Australia.
Eight New Zealand women took part of the Santos Tour down Under. A four days races held in South Australia. Four of these riders were U23's.
Let this be the category we will be focused on (together with the U23 males) in this coffee & bikes-blog for the coming 11 months.
The four youngsters of the Vantage New Zealand National team all rode a well. So it was hard to nominate the rider of the week, but the 2nd place in the U23 general classification of Niamh made me decide for the sister of junior world champ team pursuit Finn Fisher Black.

from left to right:
Amanda Jamieson (37th on GC - 9th U23)
Grace Anderson (18th on GC - 5th U23)
Deborah Paine (44th on GC - 11th U23 + 7th KOM)
Kirsty Mc Callum (26th on GC)
Niamh Fisher Black (13th on GC - 2nd U23)
Elyse Fraser (28th on GC)

don't forget that these girls finished 6th on team classification, amongst several World Tour teams!
The Tour was won by Amanda Spratt, the Australian numero uno for the last few years!

Next : Gravel and Tar (19 Jan)