And in the morning, I'm makin' waffles!

I wasn't enjoying my new job in London very much so I decided to go to Belgium for a few days to catchup with my friend Bec. I wouldn't usually give in on a job that easily but for the sake of finishing one week earlier than I had originally intended, I thought why not. This is my year to travel so I'm allowed to be a little selfish with it.

I met Bec in Bruges. She's been on the road for 7 months now and she takes it all in her stride. She's the definition of a good traveller (and I don't think she even knows it) - she travels modesty and sustainably and she respects the local culture, custom and language as much as she can wherever she goes. Go Bec, so proud of you! She writes a pretty mean blog herself, you should check it out.

Bruges was beautiful! Someone we met described it as an 'open air museum' which sums it up to a tee. The whole town centre is UNESCO protected. It's a bit like being in a fairytale. It's not a very functional town but it's idyllic. I liked the 'step' roofs on the narrow houses. The houses (the majority of which are still lived in) appear stuck together, bordering the quiet, cobblestone streets.

The streets of Bruges

Bruges

Playing tourist in Bruges

After a couple of days in Bruges we took the train to Ghent. It took half an hour. Man I love these little European countries - it's so quick and easy to get around. Ghent is bigger that Bruges and it's more of a working city. Like Bruges, Ghent has a medieval history. The spectacular Gravensteen castle sits quietly in the centre of town. It doesn't demand attention, there's no manicured grass around it that you can't walk on, it's just there - a reflection of how modest Belgians are about where they live. The Belfry is quite impressive too.

View of Ghent from the Belfry

Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a university town so it's more vibrant than Bruges. We happened to be there for the annual light festival. Every year, students from the university create art with light. Some of the exhibits we saw were really cool and many of them were dynamic. The light bulb cloud was my favourite.

Light festival, Ghent.

Light bulb cloud at the light festival. Very cool!

That night we went to the Bierhaus on the river. The girl serving at the chip shop recommended it to Red and Alice. Just quickly, Belgians are obsessed with fries. Chip shops everywhere. They socialise over chips the way we do over coffee. French fries are not actually from France, they are from Belgium. The Americans got it wrong. The Belgians don't really care though, they are far too easy going to make a fuss. Besides it means less tourists and more chips for them, win!

Back to the Bierhaus. In my previous post about Germany I mentioned that I'm not a huge beer fan. Well that was in September and I feel like I've grown as a person since then :-P Belgian beer is amazing! Better than German beer in my opinion but I'm no expert. The lovely bartender at the Beerhaus recommended a few trappist beers for us to try. The 4 of us sat at the bar and enjoyed the atmosphere - it was a great night with great company. My favourite trappist beer was Orval. I also had St Bernardus Prior which wasn't trappist but was probably the best beer I've ever had in my life.

Orval is too yum!

Red, Alice, Bec and I in Ghent

Oh I forgot to mention the waffles. Belgium waffles are not wafer-like. They are thicker, sweet and a little chewy - best eaten plain or with a little bit of icing sugar. Delicious! Dank u Belgium!