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).

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 dude 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.

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!)

I made it!

Back in Bruges.

The view from my hostel window.

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

I made some friends from the Netherlands and Ukraine.

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

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

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

Marjan and Lien

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.

Then there was an impromptu marriage ceremony, of course.

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.