Day 19 - Amsterdam to Ghent

Jan 1st - Happy New Year! When the alarm went off at 6:00 am, I was definitely happy that we had made it an early night (well, an early night for NYE standards that is). As we headed off for the train station, it was still dark & hardly a soul on the streets.

Our destination for today is Ghent (Gent), where we are staying for 4 nights, and using as a central location for some day trips in Belgium - with a stop first in Antwerp to walk around & find some lunch. Once our bags were stowed in the locker, we realized I'd left the camera in my bag in the locker. We'll just have to rely on the blackberry again for some pics instead of paying 5 Euro more to unlock & relock :)


Cathederal in Antwerp



Antwerp

We spent close to 2 hours wandering around Antwerp - it seems like a good desitination, but probably better on a different day, as the streets were eerily quiet & empty. I think the city was still asleep, after a really good New Year's Eve party (evident by the many bottles seen on the sidewalk along the way), and not much in the way of lunch options open today. So once we had a sufficient walk-about & were pretty soaked from the heavy rain, we baorded our next train to Ghent.

Fancy Digs

Ghent looks like it will be a great central spot for spending a few days in Belgium. We've read good things about Ghent itself, and there are short train trips from here to Brussels, Ypres, Bruges, and Roeselare. We checked into our hotel, which seems like it is a great spot. It's a small hotel in a gorgeous old building, and feels more like an inn than a hotel. The reception we were greeted with was fantastic - complimentary beverage followed by a personal overview of places to see in the city and restaurant recommendations, and a free upgrade to boot...I think we'll like this place :)

After a short nap, we set out to find some food...hoping something will be open. After wandering around for about an hour in the rain, we were about to concede that our only option would be McDonalds when we found a Irish pub that was open & serving food - an Irish pub in Belgium on New Year...we'll take it! Turns out they were also serving Belgian beers so we were happy. First up was a Hoegaarden Wit that was oh so refreshing. I was happy I ordered the small though because when Rob's 0.5 L arrived it was like a bucket...almost as big as his head...I'm including a picture so you can see for yourselves :) Once we satisfied our hunger & warmed up, we made one more stop on the way back to the B&B at a place we found open called 't Galgen Huisje, which happened to be the smallest beer bar I've been in, but was a good find!

New Beers for the day: Hoegaarden Wit, Leffe Blond, Rodenbach (not Grand Cru), Orval, Karmeliet, Rocheford 6, Gentse Tripel, Gulden Draak (Golden Dragon), Tongerlo Prior, Westmalle Tripel