I'm liking the Picnic table print...

BD3

Last day in Belgium... my original plan was to hit Antwerp.. but since Dave and Nic were heading to Ghent and would've been cheaper for us to share the go pass to see another place then why not! Plus Antwerp may have been more appropriate for a weekend anyways according to CY.

So woke up at about 9am the next morning... showered and checked out of the St. Christopher's hostel.. it was quite a nice hostel (ran into a Jenn/Blaire type backpackers from Kelowna) with spacious dorms. Anyways, the plan was to meet Dave and Nic at the train station to head to Ghent!



My overall review of Ghent: nice little city with lots of historical architecture and a nice main chillout place by the canals.. but when you're from Amsterdam... it's nothing too shocking..uh oh.. am I taking it for granted already? It was neat because Ghent is right in between Brussels and Bruges in which French prevails in the former and Flemish in the latter.. what was it in Ghent... not sure.. seemed like everyone and anyone could've spoken either.

took the train to the centre... and then our master planner Dave planned a day route for us to hike it back to the train station by the end of the day.


lots of historical architecture and churches...







found a nice place to have lunch and chill out in the sun.





on we walked into a "labyrinth" of streets and then eventually ended up at a huge castle in the middle of the city.. and with the admission so cheap for students... why not!




my travel mates for today is Nicky and David!

Nice views from a top the castle..




after the castle... when for a stroll on the canal side, when to search for some food and headed towards a huge park that is close to the train station




this is where I run out of memory! but basically after the park.. went to the train station and then Nicole and I caught the train to Antwerp to go back to North Holland but Dave took another one to make use of the Go pass to head back to Maastricht. Ended up having to change trains in Antwerp and then at Rotterdam, Nic and I headed our separate ways as she had to catch a connection to Utrecht.

Thanks for the Invite guys and hope to see ya soon!

BD2

woke up to a beautiful morning in Brussels...


got up early to meet Hester and Becs to head to Bruges this morning and rendez-vous with Dave and Nic. The Hester and Becs were headin back to Utrecht later that evening.
While walking in the streets in the morning.. it was EMPTY.. I thought it was because it was Easter Sunday.. but then somebody told me Brussels is usually like that...
Go-passed it from Brussels to Bruges, cost of trip = 4.50 Eur

guy looking like Mario giving funny look; prolly thinkin; "what's this asian guy doing with these two foreign white girls?"
Arrival in Bruges, met up with Dave, Nic and Emelieke (prolly spelled it wrong), a local from Bruges that is part of the lc and is hosting Nic and Dave. She printed out a bunch of stuff about Bruges because even she hasn't done all the touristy things yet...

First thing.. head to the canal cruises...












headed for some lunch at the market square after a little bit of exploring...





After lunch headed to the Church of our Lady to see Michelangelo's Madonna and Child





after ice cream parted with bec's and hester as they headed back.. we went back through the shopping street where Nic insisted we do a little shopping..
after shopping, went to the Basilica of the Holy Blood where supposedly they have a vial with the blood of Jesus Christ.
finally got to check into my hostel (yup been lugging my luggage the WHOLE time... then after checking in headed towards some green hills with some of Belgium's windmills...



then some decent food at the local restaurant and FINALLY.. get to sit down and enjoy some Belgium beer...


After dinner, you can see the guy in the orange sweater below... he's from Bruges, but works in Dubai and sometimes Saudi Arabia and gets paid 500 Eur per hour doing some IT stuff.. he then saves enough money to go to the Amazon in South America... and apparently has done this a few times... he made waiting in the line up not so bad... as it was the SLOWEST working cash machine in the city...
Afterwards.. nic headed back to Emiliek's house and Dave and I stayed and eventually met Emiliek at Brugges Beertjes... a famous pub in the city for locals and tourists.. serving over 300 Belgium beers... oh it was heaven... after lots of beer.. stumbled back to the hostel and had a good nights sleep.