Day 2: Ghent
I arrived by bus into Ghent, Belgium mid-afternoon on Friday and was welcomed by Robin's smiling face! After a short moment of jumping out of excitement, we made our way to Robin's house and then out for an evening of sightseeing in Ghent. Ghent is a gorgeous little city that was a main city-state during the Middle Ages, and still has some beautiful medieval buildings in the city center to show for it. Plus, with a river running through it, it's hard to beat the views. It really was perhaps my favorite city in Belgium. Such a mix of a university town with the culture and nightlife, while still being easily accessible by public transport to major cities around the country and continent. And I am SUCH a sucker for old buildings and town squares that you can wander through at leisure. Loved it. And we ended the day with a giant rack of ribs at a restaurant called Amadeus. Genuinely perhaps the most I've ever eaten.
"Noses"a well loved Belgian sweet!
Day 3: Brugge/Bruges/The Little Venice
According to Liza, "...if you've seen the film In Bruges---ignore it. The Real Bruges is better." And no, she tried to be in the film, but didn't make it as an extra. Fair enough, when everyone in town is vying for spots! Liza, another wonderful friend from Aussie-land, showed me around her hometown of Bruges all day and it was a GLORIOUS day. Again, nothing overly exciting to share, but a gorgeous (but cold) day of simply wandering streets finding pretty photo spots. Though I will leave you with this fun fact about Brugges: there is a beer pipeline under the city. Look it up. After that discovery, we made sure to have a Belgian Waffle, and ended our day with a Beer Museum chatting about life, love and becoming Belgian.
Eating my first proper Belgian waffle (Brussels waffle)
Oh yeah, and thi group of people in Carnivale dress kinda hung out and just walked through the city posing. No idea why. So that was fun.
The world's largest bottle of wine. Okay, fine. It was just the beer menu. But still.
The most DELICIOUS part of the day was dinner. Robin had gotten everything we needed to make Vol-Au-venti and so after cooking up a storm (mostly Liza and Robin--I was taking pics). We had the best Belgian meal everrrr. Okay, I probably can't make that distinction. But, it was really really good. And I've promised them I'd make it at home and send them a picture of the results--ssoooo who's in?
Day 4: Brussels
The final day in Belgium was great because I got to spend it with not one but BOTH of my wonderful Belgian tour guides! Since Robin actually works in Brussels, we made her lead most of our tour. But it was fun pretending to be a tourist with both of them in the city. I found Brussels to be surprisingly--meh. The historic portion of the city was absolutely stunning. But, beyond that--it was a very normal city. For me, the best portions of the day were eating various strange fried meats at a Frituur, laughing at the Mannaken Pis, a famous statue of a little boy peeing into a fountain. Brussels is a pretty serious city.
Robin haggling for tea cups at an Antique Market (she CRUSHED it)
The Atomium
Couldn't get rid of these two paparazzi. Followed me all friggin day.
They take their waffles VERY seriously. And I did get the second (Liege) waffle. Don't worry.
Frituur lunch! NOMS.
Mannaken Pis
Making sure our waffles don't go to waste
Town Center/Town Hall
Finally, at the end of the day--the girls dropped me off at the train station. After some long goodbye hugs I made my way to Maastricht, where I'm currently sitting on a couch with Jessica, a friend I haven't seen in SEVEN years. Life is crazy. Tomorrow we're off to explore this fun little college town--so until then people!
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