Day 38 - 40 Ghent

24 - 26 August 2014

Day 38
Short train ride
I think today is the shortest distance I've moved between hostels on this trip. Last trip too unless you count moving hostels in the same city. I only went 25 minutes on the train.

On my walk to the hostel, I possibly got included in a Google Street View picture too. It was on the corner of Jakobijnenstraat and Predikherenlei, so keep an eye out.

Google Street View car possibly getting me in a photo

The weather was still good when I arrived and I managed to get some good shots of the skyline.

View from the Sint Michielsplein bridge

The view from my hostel window

Belfry TowerDay 39
There are Belfry Towers all over Flanders, including in Bruges. I didn't climb the one in Bruges because the line was too long but I decided to climb the one here to get a view of Ghent from above.

Looking south west from the Belfry

Looking north west from the Belfry

Looking north east from the Belfry

Looking south east from the Belfry

In the tower you also get to see...

The main bell

About the main bell

The oversized music drum that triggers all the bells

Creepy staircases

The bells go off every 15 minutes so I got to see the music drum working and all the mechanics that go to the bells. I really liked how they set it up but it looked complicated.

Walking tour
I almost missed the start of this tour. I turned up to the meeting place early expecting to see someone with a sign, umbrella or shirt for the tour company or even just a group of people but nope, nothing. I went for a walk to see if it was in another spot close by, it wasn't, then came back just as the tour was leaving. Just made it! The group was only 6 people and the guide wasn't wearing anything special, so no wonder they didn't stand out.

The tour was good fun and the guide was great to listen to because he was so full of life. It rained lightly the whole time and the guide almost got us all with his umbrella at one point or another as he was spinning around with his spirited explanations of things. Here's some of the things we saw.

Painting of all the animals available on the menu at this restaurant

An architect's joke: a sun clock in a town that has 300 odd rainy days a year

A giant toilet roll. It's the toilet for a museum

Waffles and soup

It was still raining at the end of the tour so I went with three girls to a waffle place for a freshly cooked, traditional waffle then we went over to a soup shop and sat in there to have soup (surprise!), chat and hide from the rain.

Beer

At my hostel in Oslo, I met a girl who lives in Ghent and as luck would have it, she got home yesterday. So tonight I met her for a beer and a chat. She's from South Africa and I learnt some things about her country.

Day 40

Failtown

I was leaving today and I felt like fries so I wandered over to the recommended stall in one of the squares but it wasn't open. Next stop was to go to my friend's house for a coffee. I had the address and directions on a map but I still couldn't find the place. I'm from the suburbs so finding apartments isn't a strength I possess. By this time I was a bit wet because it had been raining all day so I decided to grab my stuff and head off.

Soaked

The walk from the hostel to the train station was about 40 minutes and by the end, everything I was wearing was completely soaked from the heavy rain. My bags had rain covers so thankfully they were fine but I couldn't sit on the train like this so I had to get changed. The only (publicly acceptable) option was to do it in the toilets. These were ones you pay for so you'd think they would be clean but they weren't. I spent a bit struggling to get changed in a small cubicle without letting any of my stuff touch the festy bits bit I failed and my towel fell on the floor. I'd have to wash it later. It felt good to be in dry clothes though.

I caught three trains to get to Den Haag, each with about 5 minutes transfer time and I'm glad to say that I made it through all of the treacherous points of failure without issue. Then from Den Haag I caught a bus to Noordwijk where I was staying.

Thoughts on Ghent

• It rained a lot, which really rained on my parade so to speak.
• I feel like I saw a good amount of Ghent because it's only small.
• It's far less touristy than Bruges but still has the same medieval feel.
• It's a nice place to stay but I probably wouldn't come back just to sightsee because I've already done it. Maybe to catch up with friends though.

Random stuff

The toilets in the hostel had a strange set up. They had cubicles that had a urinal and a toilet in them. That feels a bit redundant because you could just have a toilet to do the same job. I'm only speaking for myself here but I wouldn't be keen to have two people in there at the same time to maximise efficiency.

Double toilet power!