Before catching the train to Gent, we picked up some Printen, a local baked good very similar to ginger bread but usually covered in chocolate.
We had a connection in Brussels that we missed because border protection was in full force. Was ok though as Laura found anothe train heading the same direction 20 minutes later. I made eye contact with a strange looking Belgian bloke on the train who turned out to be quite friendly & offered me one of his cans of beer!
Gent is another (!) one of those cities that when you first arrive it just blows your mind how pretty it is. The hostel we stayed in was inside a building built in the 1500's! Within sight of the front door are 3 old churches, a bell tower & a canal overlooking the busy part of the city. Picture perfect from all directions. Also a university town, the locals buy beer from the supermarkets and take them down to the canals to drink & eat on the stones (while getting stoned). We followed suit before heading to an all-you-can-eat vegan buffet. It was Vegetarian Thursday, a Gent thing where everyone only eats veggo each Thursday. They also call it the vegetarian capital of the world, with over 200 vegetarian only restaurants.
On the second day we checked out a flea-market which was mostly 2nd hand junk but I managed to find a cool scarf for $1 Pound. Laura was very jealous. Also went on a free walking tour which was guite good. Passed through & explained many of the buildings & monuments which we had seen the previous day.
After the tour we settled down on the canals again with veggie burgers, beers & frites. Frites being a national dish of Belgium. I believe we had enough frites to last us a month. Samurai sauce was the bomb. Laura found a pub playing free live music & it ended up being pretty good! 3 of the 4 bands were great, which one of them being from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, the same place as the old rascal John Davies from Kirkby Stephen!
At some point during the free shows these three Rebels without a Cause waltzed in and danced merrily right up against the stage whilst zapping their little hand lazer about.
The 3rd was AFL Grand Final day back home and we found an Irish Pub that said they would play it for us! In Belgium the game started at 7am so we got up early and headed down only to find the pub didn't open until 8am :( Managed to at least see the last half so it ended up being fine.
Purchased some waffles to show Laura what they are like. Devoured... More frites were had & we also argued over something stupid because we were both pretty tired.
Went back o the hostel to get a beer before the rugby, ended up joining this drunk disorganised group of hostel-stayers who, by the time we finally left the hostel, walked around aimlessly like a bunch of zombies for 20 minutes. As luck would have it we stumbled into another free gig with an insane Zylophone player.
Oh we also walked a very long way down to a park earlier in the day where we sat reading for an hour or two. The park had two large abandoned uildings, one of which used to be a casino we were pretty sure.
We had a connection in Brussels that we missed because border protection was in full force. Was ok though as Laura found anothe train heading the same direction 20 minutes later. I made eye contact with a strange looking Belgian bloke on the train who turned out to be quite friendly & offered me one of his cans of beer!
Gent is another (!) one of those cities that when you first arrive it just blows your mind how pretty it is. The hostel we stayed in was inside a building built in the 1500's! Within sight of the front door are 3 old churches, a bell tower & a canal overlooking the busy part of the city. Picture perfect from all directions. Also a university town, the locals buy beer from the supermarkets and take them down to the canals to drink & eat on the stones (while getting stoned). We followed suit before heading to an all-you-can-eat vegan buffet. It was Vegetarian Thursday, a Gent thing where everyone only eats veggo each Thursday. They also call it the vegetarian capital of the world, with over 200 vegetarian only restaurants.
On the second day we checked out a flea-market which was mostly 2nd hand junk but I managed to find a cool scarf for $1 Pound. Laura was very jealous. Also went on a free walking tour which was guite good. Passed through & explained many of the buildings & monuments which we had seen the previous day.
After the tour we settled down on the canals again with veggie burgers, beers & frites. Frites being a national dish of Belgium. I believe we had enough frites to last us a month. Samurai sauce was the bomb. Laura found a pub playing free live music & it ended up being pretty good! 3 of the 4 bands were great, which one of them being from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, the same place as the old rascal John Davies from Kirkby Stephen!
At some point during the free shows these three Rebels without a Cause waltzed in and danced merrily right up against the stage whilst zapping their little hand lazer about.
The 3rd was AFL Grand Final day back home and we found an Irish Pub that said they would play it for us! In Belgium the game started at 7am so we got up early and headed down only to find the pub didn't open until 8am :( Managed to at least see the last half so it ended up being fine.
Purchased some waffles to show Laura what they are like. Devoured... More frites were had & we also argued over something stupid because we were both pretty tired.
Went back o the hostel to get a beer before the rugby, ended up joining this drunk disorganised group of hostel-stayers who, by the time we finally left the hostel, walked around aimlessly like a bunch of zombies for 20 minutes. As luck would have it we stumbled into another free gig with an insane Zylophone player.
Oh we also walked a very long way down to a park earlier in the day where we sat reading for an hour or two. The park had two large abandoned uildings, one of which used to be a casino we were pretty sure.
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