M: We had big plans today so sadly could not sleep in. Who needs more than four hours of sleep, anyways? The other day a guy in our room said he went to Ghent and that it was awesome so based on our 30 second conversation with him, this was our plan for the day!

We broke our fast with delicious savoury waffles at Peck 47 before packing up our bags and getting on the train to Ghent. It was only about a 25 minute train ride but we both passed out on the way. We arrived, slightly more alert and it was immediately beautiful. The train station itself looks like a castle and there were five playful puppies right inside the station. We locked our stuff up at the station to be picked up at the end of the day for when we continued on to Bruges.

S: Ghent was more beautiful than we could have imagined. We were so shocked that a 30 second conversation led to a place that surpassed most of our previous favourites almost immediately (Budapest is still my number 1!). The whole town was made up of buildings that are anywhere from 500 years old to brand new, but made to fit into that style. There are colourful canals everywhere that you can see far down into, with exposed brick buildings rising on either side and church towers in every direction in the distance.

M: It is the sweetest town. After being there for about half an hour, we both decided we want to move here. But alas this visit was just a day trip, not a real move here yet so we headed back to the train.

S: We hopped on the tram, then the train towards Bruges, hoping it would be as great as Ghent. So far so good! Passing by buildings on the train showed us the promise of another picturesque old town full of interesting places to see.

Our hostel was no exception. Bauhaus hostel is set into this old steep brick building with a bar on the main floor. The bar is all dark wood, and candles melted for so long the piles of wax are bigger than my torso. There’s a floor to ceiling antique clock that only runs backwards and huge mirrors everywhere reflecting people lounging in the dark leather chairs.

M: We inhaled a couple very cheap and tasty bar pizzas while chatting with the guy who runs the beer tasting here. He keeps a notebook with him and whenever he meets people from interesting places he gets their names and suggestions for cool things to see and do. What a great idea! We threw in a few tips for Yukon between mouthfuls. In his thick Tennessee drawl he tried very hard to convince us to join the tasting. Tomorrow night, we promised.

Our eyes were barely open so we made use of our ridiculously comfy beds.

S&M