Ghent was the first place I visited where they primarily speak a language I don't understand. Although lots of people spoke English, I was still out of my comfort zone. After I got over the initial feeling of ignorance, I got used to not knowing what was going on. The few words and phrases I learnt in Dutch were largely unnecessary for communication.
Double decker bike storage at the train station
Street art: sakura (cherry blossom)
Street art: giant snake
Church with bike parking
Locals sacrifice pigeons to appease the gods
I arrived at my host Didier's house, and was almost bowled over by his very friendly dog as I walked in the door. We chatted all afternoon, and I was totally amused by his smiling pessimism - he'll tell you how the world's going to end with the biggest grin, it was very entertaining. He gave me a list of places to go and beers to try. Our first stop was vegetarian burgers, but unfortunately after busing across town and dodging all the people, piles of cardboard, and bikes on the footpaths, the restaurant was closed (for renovations or permanently, I'm not quite sure). We had hot chips for dinner in the end, from Frituur Jozef, eating them under the awning of the food truck, hiding from the rain.
We still had a bit of time before Didier started work (as a dj at the Kinky Star), so we headed to the Trollekelder for a beer. In the menu, they had articles about beer, including one about Tui, from NZ. I wondered if that was really the most interesting Kiwi beer for Belgians to discover...
Article about Tui Brewery (it's in Dutch)
Day trip to Bruges:
After pastries for breakfast (Belgian pastries are more or less like French pastries, only with icing, chocolate sprinkles, or almonds on top), I caught the train to Bruges where I spent the day with Karolin (German) and Mylo (Canadian), two travelers I'd met on the bus from Lille to Ghent. We also hung out with Becky and Jack (English), who they'd met on the walking tour.
Bruges is the a picture-perfect tourist city. Like, seriously, rows of horses and carts in the town centre. I'm pretty sure everyone who actually lives there works in the tourism industry. Crowds of tourists, even in the rain; but tbh, it was still gorgeous, grey skies and all. I understand why everyone goes there.
Rows of horses and carts in the main square
Aside from beer, Belgium is known for its chocolate.
Chocolate boobs in chocolate lingerie
We started with waffles (can you go to Belgium without eating waffles?), then moules frites for lunch, Karolin and I sharing a big pot of mussels.
Moules frites for lunch
In the afternoon, we did a brewery tour, squeezing onto sofas by the fireplace in the crowded pub at the end.
The old machinery
and the new
Brugge zot, the beer from the brewery we toured,
accompanied by Brutus, Mylo's travel mascot
Vedett, a light Belgian beer. I'm not a huge fan
We raced across town to get to the streetfood market for dinner. It was really small, few people willing to brave the rain, but the music was great!
Empty streetfood festival. Most visitors huddled in the
marquee listening to the music. I hope they had better
weather and more visitors the following night!
I wasn't so good at holding the phone still, and my finger was over the lens at the beginning, but here you go:
Back in Ghent:
Moeder verste, the house beer
Didier and I went to a pub in a converted convent for lunch, T'Oud Clooster, with good hearty food and their own beer. I accidentally ordered a bottle of water that cost as much as a coffee (tap water isn't offered in these parts of the world).
We got back to Didier's place and met his incoming couchsurfers, Rachael and Lewis (British). I had planned to bus to the Netherlands that evening, but as my bus was delayed by two hours and I was uncertain about if and what time I'd arrive, in the end I stayed an extra night. Thanks Didier!
This meant I got an extra day in Ghent, sightseeing with Rachael and Lewis. It was a lovely day, so we sat down to watch a live band in the square. Unfortunately, it had rained earlier, so when a big gust of wind blew, the shelter of the temporary stage dumped bucketfuls of water onto a trumpet player near the edge, poor guy! Didn't catch that on camera, but here's some more music:
We went to the supermarket to get some stuff for lunch and dinner. When I saw the price of tinned tomatoes (upwards of €4.60 for 2 400g tins, and they weren't bio or anything) I decided to have fresh tomatoes with my pasta. Didn't realise tinned tomatoes were a luxury product in Ghent!
The tourist info centre had really cool interactive tables where you could find out how many people had visited from your region, as well as other useful things, like opening hours of local attractions.
Aotearoa is on there, I just cut it out of the frame. Oops!
Next stop was the castle museum.
Can you imagine holding this sword? It's taller than me!
The sword
It was windy at the top but the view was great. I carried my
pack all day btw - 3 months worth of stuff to the top of the
castle and back
Guillotine. There were a whole
bunch of torture devices, too
Toilets were on the outer wall, dropping away
right into the moat
I believe this metal statue is a saint?
Finally, we found the pianos we'd read about in the tourist info centre, and Lewis performed for us.
Didn't get it on video sorry!
As much as I enjoyed Belgium, it was finally time to catch the bus to Rotterdam.
Bonus photos, because my sister Sarah is right, I'm terrible at choosing photos:
More bikes, train station, Ghent
Houses all different colours, Ghent
River, Bruges
House with amazing plant, Bruges
Animals in the chocolate shop, Bruges
Tourists, Bruges
Enjoying the weather, Bruges
Another chocolate shop! Bruges
The beer pipes that run under the city, Bruges
View of the city from the top of the brewery, Bruges
The old vats they used to make beer in. Workers had to crawl inside to clean
them. They worked in pairs, in case the one inside passed out from the fumes
5th - 6th September 2017 It was raining as I left Nantes, boosted by an early morning cup of tea at the station with Clare. View from the train window; rain and train tracks 5 hours on the train isn't so bad with a kindle full of books! I arrived in Tourcoing on Tuesday afternoon, caught the metro to Lille, and wandered round the city for a bit. Old buildings in Place Charles de Gaulle There are lots of weird faces and busts on window frames The opera house Clock tower Optical illusion Look! It's me! In Lille! Mounted police officers - seems so old timey My couchsurfing host Emily met me outside the cathedral, where she told me about its facade - referred to as the ugly cathedral by locals, it was the winner of a design competition a few years ago. The ugly cathedral We went inside, and she wouldn't let me look round until we were in the middle of the church. The back of the church I turned and saw sunlight glowin
I'm finally going travelling again, by myself this time. I thought I'd share some info about travel planning with you. While it's exciting as the trip becomes more real, this part can also be super stressful! When I decided I was leaving Nantes (where I've lived for 1.5 years) I had no idea where to begin. There are so many places I'd love to go! To make it easier, I've made a list of the places I can't miss, and since then I've been joining the dots. In central Europe, for example, my list consists of visiting friends in Germany, teaching English in Poland, and visiting a friend in Greece. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia have since been added to the list, following many recommendations. On the way to Germany, I'll visit Belgium, and the Netherlands. I haven't quite got that far yet, but I might visit another country on my way south, too. This way I get to spend time in the places I really want to visit, but I also get to discover citie
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