Back from the land of pancakes and waffles!

So this past weekend I spent 3 days in Gent, Belgium with Caroline. We decided to take a girls weekend and check out this beautiful historical city. In National Geographic Traveler, Gent was rated the 3rd most well-preserved historical city in the ENTIRE WORLD!

click here to see the complete list:):)

The trip was loads of fun, and the best part was that I got try out my new "couch-surfing" wings! We stayed with 2 different hosts. Our first hosts' name was Elias and he was super friendly and had a great personality that some might call weird, but we found particularly hilarious. Our second hosts were a house of 4 guys (you're think "oh no" right)...well they happened to be some of the nicest people I think I've ever met. Their names were Bart, Pieter, Wim and Jochen along with Bart's girlfriend Ruth. So we got to experience a new city and also meet real Belgians from the town to show us around!

Here are some highlights of the trip that I definitely don't want to forget:

*We left early Friday morning (around 8am at Place de la Concorde) to catch out bus to Brussels and there were only 5 of us on the bus so it was a nice trip there. When we actually arrived in Brussels our busdriver had no idea where he was going and we got a nice drive by tour of Brussels since it took him about an hour to get us to the right train station. He was really nice though...but he stopped at every single stop light to ask someone for directions...by the end of the ride we were laughing our asses off.

*When we arrived in Gent at the Saint Peter's train station (I have no idea how it's spelled in Dutch) Elias met us and we walked about 5 miles to his apt on the other side of the city with our backpacks...needless to say we got a good look at the city and we even stopped for a break to taste our first Belgian beer.

*We spent the first day just walking around and exploring the center of the city. The architecture was absolutely amazing and the town itself reminds me of a smaller version of Amsterdam, but less touristy. It was built over canals and there is a big medeival castle right in the middle along with 3 different gothic cathedrals with towers that all line up with one another...
-The Bell Tour
-Saint Nicholas' Cathedral
-Saint Bart's Cathedral

We went to the top of the bell tower to see an aerial view of Gent.

*The first night we made dinner for our host. We got groceries and I made a giant bowl of guacamole and a big pot of bean chili! Elias introduced us to his roommates and to his brother....we were a little dissapointed that we didnt get to meet his grandpappy and play chess (apparently he meets his grandpa every week to play Chess) Because we were so tired, we didn't end up going out the first night. We just went to bed early so we could get up and be refreshed for the next 2 days in Gent.

*On Saturday we got up and got some hot chocolate at a café with Elias and his brother Brecht, then we walked around a bit. Luckily the weather was fantastic! We got an early lunch of pancakes topped with fresh fruit and yummy milkshakes!! (they were big on milkshakes in Gent). Afterward, Caroline and I decided to go on a boat tour along the canals, which was great! we got to see so many neat things that way!

*That night we moved to our second host's house, and hung out there for a bit have a quick nap and chat. We all then decided to go out to eat at this famous spaghetti restaurant that serves giant bowls of fantastic pasta...along with beer of course:):)Bart, our host, is actually a DJ and invited us to a party that he was invited to play for that night, but the funny part was that it was a Boy Scout party for all the Dutch 15 and16 year olds in Gent....we were definitely the oldest ones there, but we DID make friends with a 16 year old, Arnold, who taught us the "Belgian dance"...which was basically swing dancing. We ended up laughing the entire night.

*Sunday was my favorite day in Gent. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we decided to go and get waffles then visit the Gravensteen castle. Well, the waffle places weren't serving waffles until about 3pm, oddly, so we decided to go to this super cute tea restaurant and got an afternoon brunch that consistes of amazing pancakes (again) with blueberries bananas, scones with english cream, eggs, freeze squeezed orange juice and a pot of tea...all of this only costed 13 euros!!! (in Paris a meal like that would cost AT LEAST 25 euros). We sat in the sun and talked and watched all the people that were walking by.

*We next went to the castle and spent almost the entire day inside. The architecture was amazing and extremely well preserved. The word Gravensteen in Dutch literally means "castle of the count" and dates back all the way to the year 1177 and was constructed by the count Fillips of Alsasse. There is a torture instrument museum inside and you can walk all around the walls and the courtyard. We took tons of pictures and just had a blast. Afterwards we decided to walk to the Saint Bart's Cathedral and take a look inside, but on the way there was a nice little park so we stopped to lay in the grass for a bit and started to to handstands and yoga.

*Our last evening in Gent was spent at our host's house. They invited us to have a BBQ with them so we all sat, ate and talked then we decided to watch a movie, which I fell asleep in because I was exhausted. We woke up the next morning early and caught our bus back to Paris...it wasn't the most comfortable ride because the bus was completely packed and I had no armrest, but it was only a 3 hour ride.


voilà, my weekend in Gent...now for current stuff:

We have our first couchsurfer staying with us from Australia! His name is Keith and he is awesome....we pretty much just want him to move in. This weekend we are taking him to the countryside with us which should a be a blast and a cool experience for him.

I've booked my flight back to the US and I'm staying in Connecticut for at least the first half of July..and I cant wait to see everyone!

(oh, yeah. i'm graduated too!! WOOHOO!)

now the big question is: WHAT'S NEXT???

xo. Hill