Gent and Norweigens

Well Gent was fun. I spent the day looking around, making my feet sore again. I checked out a whole bunch of churches and a castle. Drank some more good Belgian beer and tried their chocolate. I'm not really an authority on chocolate, and while I appreciate its creamy, goo-filled flavour burst, I probably don't get as much out of it, as say, anyone with a pair of X chromosomes.

I don't have a lot to say about the sightseeing of Gent, other than there was a lot of old, medieval architecture, apparently a lot of which was only built in the past century to give it that authentic kind of feel. Even if it may not be for realz, it feels quite legitimate. The guildhalls were cool, with their little golden statues above them, and the Kulminator was a lot more quaint than I expected. I was thinking it would be a raucous pub with many drunkards, but it was just a quiet little establishment with an old lady behind the beer tap. It was in the middle of the day though, so I guess most people were still at work.

There were a lot more people out and about in Gent than there were in Antwerp. After finishing my tour about 6PM, I went back to the hostel to look up the information I'd picked up on Bruges and Brussels. Shortly thereafter, a Norweigen by the name of Fleming entered and we had a chat about various things. He looked familiar, and it turned out he was one of the few people I'd seen in Antwerp at the previous hostel. We discussed the proliferation of Jews in that area, and he explained that they were 'Ultra Orthodox', which explained why they all had the little curls, funky suits and hats. He took some pictures of them apparently, I wasn't really game to, in case they thought it a bit rude.

We went out for dinner at a fairly fancy establishment, it cost about 25 euros each. It's not really my thing, I prefer to the smaller, quieter (and cheaper) places. It's my opinion that you're more likely to get authentic local cuisine. I ordered a pint of Hoegaarden, and it came in the most massive glass I've ever seen. I should have taken a photo.

We finished up and bought another beer at a place not far from the restaurant and had a few more chats. It was good to have some company for the first time in a few days. I'd realised earlier that day that I hadn't really met anyone for a couples of days, and as a result had barely spoken for that period of time. It's a weird feeling. At any rate, got plenty of chit chat in with Fleming, although I will add that he is the slowest beer drinker I have ever met! At any rate, we went back to the hostel about midnight and so endeth the day.

I got up, booked my hostel room in Brussels and headed out to Bruges.