Belgium: Bruges and Gent

I arrived in Bruges, Belgium on Wednesday, the 20th- After a 13.5 hour bus ride, a 1 hour train ride, and a 20 minute walk. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I went to a place called Bocca, where you get a giant take out container of pasta for 5 euros. I filled myself up with pasta, stopped and sampled some Belgium chocolate, and went to a place called De Garre where I drank a delicious sour beer. ( I can’t express enough how much I love sour beer. It is the best and strangest beer there is).
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My hostel room. My hostel ended up being fairly nice this time around, and I genuinely enjoyed staying there. I could have done without the 3 male roommates, 2 of which insisted on coming in loudly at 3 am each morning and turning the room into a dungeon of stale bed farts. But oh well.

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After all of that excitement, I was in bed by 6 PM. The next day I woke up fairly early and had breakfast at a cafe called Juliette’s. Then I rented a bike because I was determined to see a coastline. I took a 30 mile bike ride to Knokke-Heist and back. It was honestly one of the most beautiful bike rides I’ve ever taken- there is a vast network of numbered bike paths and most of them are separated from the road and surrounded by trees, canals, and beautiful nature. (And corn!)
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I made it!

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Back in Bruges.
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The view from my hostel window.

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After my long ride, I decided to eat more pasta and then go to a beer tasting event.
We tasted:
Duvel
Tripel Karmeliet
Westmalle
Chimay
Hoegaarden

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I made some friends from the Netherlands and Ukraine.

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After the beer tasting, I had to return my bicycle- biking through the dark streets while intoxicated is especially thrilling.

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I decided I needed one more Lambic- style sour beer, so I went to Brugse Beertje.

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After that I was pretty done, so I went back to the hostel and slept. Overall, this day was one of the best I’ve had on my travels- biking and beer make me sublimely happy.

The next day I took a train to Gent to hang out with my friend Lien, who I met in Poland. Lien was kind enough to invite me to stay with her!

The graffiti street in Gent

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Marjan and Lien
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Lien lives in this incredible 5(?) story house with 4 other girls. After exploring the city and having coffee we went back to their house and Lien made dinner, a traditional Belgium dish called Waterzooi. It was delicious.

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Then there was an impromptu marriage ceremony, of course.

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The following morning, Lien and I went on a nice bike ride, ate french fries, and said goodbye. I’m so happy I met her.

Then I went to the station to catch my bus to Amsterdam.