So long London! I had a really nice time in London, to the point I may have gotten a bit TOO comfortable. It was easy. The last day I had a gross cold, so I just stayed in and did laundry. Very wise decision, feeling good today. Today I quickly walked from one train station in Brussels to another so I could see the Grande Palace. Wow-ee. Gorgeous. I'm glad I hop-skip-jumped out to see it. I also got a sugar and butter crepe which I thought was SO BELGIAN.
Brussels
Brussels
And onward to Ghent! Today really felt like day one of my adventure. But so did London. And Iceland. It was the first day away from English though. If it were not for the kindness of folks, I would be stuck wandering Belgium. I would become legend in these parts. On cold snow-covered nights, you can hear her cursing to herself... She is the Tourist of Flanders.
Anyway, that is not my fate. I made it! Ghent is stunning. A Disney princess should be singing over the canal in the morning. Jimminy Christmas it's beautiful! 100% credit to Justin Jackson for telling me to go here, otherwise I would have been unaware it existed.
And the hostel here is lovely! So clean and spacious and check that view. I really know how to pick 'em.
Staying: Hostel Uppelink
My room! Fireplace!
View outside my window. No joke.
------
In my hostel I met this very cool girl from Dublin traveling around. She's rad. We walked around a bit and found this restaurant full of people, all locals. Good sign. The menu was all in Dutch and we were a bit lost. "Spare Ribs" were obvious, so we ordered a "Halve Kib" of those. I assumed this must be "half rack." Incorrect, Lizziepie. It meant half a chicken. So we got an order of spare ribs and half a chicken. Needless to say, I've had more protein tonight than the previous week.
And before the meal, they brought out bread and salad and these little bowls with sauces. We assumed they were unique Belgian sauces for the bread. We were sampling them and putting them on the bread. Um no. Salad dressing. I even said one tasted like Thousand Island. Because it was straight up Thousand Island dressing I was putting on bread. My coolness is off the charts.