This was a great hostel. I was backpacking in Europe and I have to say this one was the best hostel and I ended here just by chance. Considering it's a hostel, I think you get really good value for money as a base for viewing the city. De Draecke (meaning Dragon) is a modern and comfortable hostel in an old house near a canal in the center of Ghent. It's located right in the heart of the city, which makes very easy to walk to all the sites, and close to tram stop for the station. Also you can use Ghent as your (affordable) home base for daytrips to Brussels, Brugge or Antwerp. So bad I realized this after I visited those cities... You can come here just to relax before going to a crowdy and touristy city. It was clean all clean, the rooms, common areas and kitchen. The rooms are far more comfortable than any average hostel, they all have private bathroom & shower! Regarding the safety, you have lockers in your room but it's not amazing. Like many other YHostels up to an hour they close the entrance, but here every guest will get the safety code of the door in order to go inside no matter at what hour you are coming back, hehe! The breakfast was great too. Downstairs bar and TV room very cozy. But by far the best of the hostel is their staff. They are super friendly and helpful, so you will feel like home. One of the guys from the front desk was learning Spanish and I became her teacher, haha. To summarize: Very affordable, quiet & comfortable accommodation :)

I like this place a lot. People are friendly and it's a pretty city. Stayed in an old monastery -( http://www.monasterium.be ) Off to Amsterdam next.

There was some kind of music festival on when I was there, which would explain why all the hostels were taken up. Though this turned out to be a good thing, as I discovered the Monasterium hotel. My room sign had the name of the bishop who used to live in it!

Make sure you locate the bar where you are required to hand over a shoe, in exchange for a special beer glass.

Organised by the Royal Society for Agriculture and Botany flower and plant exhibition, it's one of the most beautiful plant exibition in Europe. The next Floralien of Ghent will take place from 16th until 25th of April 2010, The entrance fee cost about 10 euros and you can spend easily a few hours walking around.

Hoooi!

Met nog 51 Belgische nachten voor de boeg, realiseer ik me dat het echt niet lang meer is vooraleer ik aan mijn trip door Zuid-Amerika begin. Het is waarschijnlijk een van de spannendse, boeiendste, gevaarlijkste en ruige dingen die ik in mijn leven zal doen. Hoewel de verschillende culturen in Zuid-Amerika als geen ander tot de verbeelding spreken, besef ik dat ik mezelf gelukkig mag prijzen dat ik in België ben geboren; zeg nu zelf, ik kan gewoon mijn werk 4 maanden laten staan om even een reis te maken en daarna de draad terug oppikken en begodt: ik heb gewoon het geld om die dingen te doen! Ik weet dat ik de komende maanden meer mensen zal ontmoeten die nooit in hun leven zoiets zullen kunnen ondernemen dan mensen die dat wel zullen kunnen.

Viva Belgica, land van melk en honing!

We reden richting Eeklo waar we zouden proberen om een slaapplaats te vinden. Dat lukte vrij aardig en al gauw was het tijd voor de dagelijkse siësta.

Toen we ons weer een beetje fit voelden, nou ja fit, besloten we een eindje, nou ja eindje, te gaan wandelen. Dit werd een fikse wandeling waarna we flink hongerig waren. Thea nam een wafeltje en ik een pannenoek. We bleven nog even wat hangen in ons eigen hotel en zo werd het na tienen voor we naaronze kamer gingen.

We liepen naar de auto en gingen met een noodgang naar Gent over de snelweg. We lieten Brussel links liggen. Eenmaal in Gent was het een puinhoop overal waren straten opengebroken en werden we ik weet niet waar naar toe omgeleid. Uiteindelijk vonden we toch nog een parkeerplaats en gingen we op jacht naar een lunch. Dat werd in dit geval hamburger met frites. We hebben hier de nodige gebouwen bekeken waaronder de St. Baafshoofdkerk die we ook van binnen bezichtigden. Jeetje zeg, wat was die mooi. Vreselijk mooie schilderijen en marmer, en alles nog in prima staat. Ook waren hier in de crypte de restanten van de eerste kerk, en ook dat zag er nog prima uit.

Weer buiten gekomen scheen het zonnetje en dat zag er allemaal heel gezellig uit. De auto hadden we weer gauw gevonden en toen moesten we weer proberen om deze drukke stad uit te komen.

Just next to the Canals in Ghent you can find a great bar, called; Waterhuis aan de Bierkant. It has one of the finest terraces in Ghent and it stretches along the banks of the Leie. Besides its quiet atmosphere and its magnificent view on the old Ghent, one can savour more than 150 kinds of beer, 14 of which on draught! Inside you will experience the atmosphere of an old pub like one finds but seldom nowadays. With nice music in the background - from jazz to blues and the latest releases - you will encounter the most varied crowd from all over the world. When I was looking at was what thought was a very thick menu card, I found out that it was mainly a beer card (!) In this place you can discover the amazingly rich Belgian beer culture. The place has a wide selection of the best high fermentation Belgian beers, and they are served at the ideal temperature on draught or in bottles. In their beer menu I loved the text that followed the very strong beers; Watch out! These beers are very strong. So, before you start drinking, write down the name of your hotel and the room number. If not, you might wake up in a very unknown place... The Waterhuis aan de Bierkant is open every day from 11 am to... the hour at which decent people goes to sleep!

One of the main attractions of the many in Gent is the Castle of the Counts or GRAVENSTEEN in Dutch. The counts of Flanders had castles built in the principal cities of the county. Because they had to maintain law and order, they continuously had to move from one city to the other. Therefore, they disposed of a castle in most cities where they wanted to stay for a few months. The castle of Ghent is the only one which survived the centuries more or less intact. Archeological excavations have proved that three fortified castles constructed in wood must have stood on the site of today's Gravensteen. Already around the year 1000 the first stone castle must have been erected here. Parts of this, such as the chimney and the fireplace, can still be found in the walls of the lower floors of the main tower. The Gravensteen, like we know it today, has been constructed by Fillips of Alsasse who was count of Flanders between 1157 and 1191. He took part in one of the crusades and died during the siege of Akko in the Holy Land. The opening in the form of a cross, right above the main entrance gate, proves that he already had taken part in a crusade when the Castle was built around 1177-1178. The Gravensteen functioned as the centre of the Count's power during the early Middle-Ages. This is somewhat symbolized by the main keep or 'donjon' (tower) from where one can have a panoramic view over the city. Next to the castle lies the Veerleplein (Veerle square), which where the place public executions took place. The Gravensteen has been used in later times for different purposes. After the counts moved to more comfortable mansions in the later centuries, it was used as the Mint and later as the main prison of Gent. In the nineteenth century a cotton plant was installed here. In the inner court little houses were built for the textile workers of the plant. Today, the Gravensteen has been beautifully restored. It is still partially surrounded by the medieval moat. It can be visited all through the year. Inside one of the rooms is a museum about the history of prison life and organization, with a very instructive (!) collection of medieval torture instruments. Tickets: adults: 6.00 euro groups (+ 15 pers.): 3.00 euro senior citizens (+ 55 years): 1.20 euro youths (-25 years): 1.20 euro schools: 1.20 euro children (up to 12 years): free inhabitants of Ghent: free

Gent is to me one of the best cities in Belgium and therefore I keep on coming back.   Ghent (in Dutch: Gent) is the fourth largest city of Belgium with about 250.000 inhabitants. It is not as big as Antwerp but bigger than Bruges. It is also less famous among tourists than the often praised Bruges.

However, for me Ghent is the real diamond of Flanders and Belgium. In a unique way, Ghent has managed to preserve its medieval power while keeping up with the times. The city centre alone is a showcase of medieval Flemish wealth and commercial success. Modern Ghent certainly cannot be overlooked in Belgium. The city has an important harbour, thanks to the canal Ghent-Terneuzen which allows sea-going vessels to bring their products to the city and its industrial hinterland. The Ghent University ( UGent ) continues to grow in importance. The presence of so many young people and students has turned Ghent into an important Flemish cultural centre.

Ghent is also the flower city of Belgium. Flower growers from the region around Ghent sell their beautiful begonia's and azalea's all over the world. Every 5 years the successful 'Gentse Floraliën" (Ghent Flower Show) attracts thousands to the city. As a tourist you will not have eyes enough to admire the awesome architectural wealth, which offers a splendid combination of impressiveness and idyllic charm of the proud and (in former times) often rebellious city of Ghent.

The people of Ghent proudly wear the nickname 'Stropke', which is actually the round part of the rope through which a convict has to stick his head before being hanged. You see this also if you watch football and basketball in the city, all the fans are carrying a rope around their neck in the colour of the home team – I have never seen this before. The citizens of Ghent received the name Stropke because of the punishment inflicted on the city by its most famous citizen, Emperor Charles V.  

In 1537 Ghent had refused to pay more taxes for a new war of Charles V against the king of France. To deal with his rebellious birth-city for once and for all, Charles V had the city walls destroyed. He also abolished most of the city's privileges and ordered the most important citizens to appear before him to ask for mercy while carrying a rope around their necks, as a sign that they were ready to be hanged if the Emperor would order it.

The punishment was not new. The people of Ghent had already experienced this under one of their former rulers. The first to do it was Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy in 1458, and this is to what the people of Ghent refer. Duke Philip was punishing the citizens for their uprising of 1448.  He had already defeated the city in the bloody Battle of the Gavere in 1453, where upwards of 10,000 of Ghent's soldiers died, but Philip withheld the city's rights and privileges (a virtual shut-down in trade) until a major ceremony staged in 1458 to garner the Duke's forgiveness.

At the onset of this ceremony, Duke Philip marched the leaders of the city and its guilds outside the city walls, stripped them to their undergarments, had them kneel in the mud wearing nooses around their necks, and pledge to him eternal allegiance.  After this, they led him through Ghent's streets, decorated with banners and torches and dramatized mythological and biblical scenes, including a live-action version of the Van Eycks' Ghent Altarpiece as the centrepiece.

I had the fortune to be invited to football in Gent. It was my second game in Belgium and also this time it was a semi final of the Belgian Cup. The home team Gent was being visited by Standard Liege which is one of the two favourites for the national championship this year. It is apparently between Standard Liege and Anderlecht this year. For Gent this was the only possibility to win something this year. Gent stadium is situated at close to Brusselsesteenweg 2-3 km from the city center. I was amazed by all the police that was controlling all the roads around the stadium. All the neighbouring bars were full with spectators and the mood was in general good and people were smiling anticipating a good game. I had VIP seats which I usually don’t prefer because I like to be among the crowd just to feel the atmosphere. The game was good and surprisingly the home team were the best. Just before halftime Gent made the home crowd happy with a goal. In the second half Standard put Gent under pressure but in the middle of the second half Gent made a contra and scored yet another goal. This changed the match and the home crew then walked on the water and scored yet 2 more goals. All in all a very good game with nice atmosphere and a lot of happy people surrounding the stadium afterwards.

November 16

From Brussels, I hitched and it went alright. I arrived by dusk and went to Katelijne and Bass. We had dinner and played board game most of the evening before going to sleep.

November 17
 Took it calm and walked into Gent having a nice soup once in town with Bass at a local snack. We watched tv in the evening.

November 18

Quiet day, we went to see Michael Clayton in the evening at a local cinema.

November 19

Last day, went to shop a Colruyt to get things for the UK and relaxed by the evening, my bus will leave really early tomorrow from Brussels. Everything is ready.

November 20

Left Gent by dawn, once in Brussels it was chilled, waited for the bus and waited and waited...
Tried to call once the business hour opened to know what it was about... finally the bus arrived with 5h delay!

But then I could make my way to London with the cheap ticket I had.

Llegue a Gantes y parti rumbo al centro de la ciudad. Tuve que tomarme el tranvia ya que estaba un poco lejos. Tras subirme me di cuenta que necesitaba una tarjeta que se compraba afuera, asi que viaje gratis jaja. Por suerte no se subio nadie para controlar. Mas tarde me entere que tambien se podia comprar arriba.

Me hospede en un hostel de 17 euros muy lindo y me fui a recorrer la ciudad.

Nuevamente mis ojos se sorprendieron por lo que veian y por donde me encontraba. Castillos, monumentos y catedrales enormes y bellisimos en el pleno centro. Ingrese a una de ellas para admirar su interior.

Gantes a diferencia de brujas es mas grande y es facil perderse ya que cada cuadra tiene un nombre distinto y super largo, pero la ciudad es muy tranquila y segura, o al menos tuve esa sensacion.

Por la tarde se largo a llover asi que aproveche para meterme en un super mientras miraba mi mapa para ver donde mierda estaba :)

Habia comida preparada por 3 euros. Me compre unos Ribs con papas y me fui para el hostel.

En la habitacion me puse a charlar con 2 hermanos que vivian en Portugal, asi que por suerte podia hablar en espaniol jejej

Luego como a las 20hs seguia lloviendo y abri mi cena. Esos ribs estaban delicioooosoooooooosssssssssss

La verdad es un placer que anochezca como a las 22hs, el dia se aprovecha muchisimo.

Cuando el sol se oculto y se hizo de noche sali a dar una vuelta.

Si la ciudad antes me habia gustado, ahora me termino de fascinar. Las casitas y altas catedrales iluminadas, atravesadas por un canal y puentes me dejaron sin palabras.

Creo que estuve como 20 minutos sentado contemplando eso y sacando fotos…….sisiissi soy un enfermito de las fotos y ya lo termine de comprobar jajajajaj

Luego regrese al hostel a eso de las 12 y me fui a dormir ya que el tren a paris salia a las 8.57.

6.30 AM me desperte y me fui a desayunar con los hermanos de Portugal, luego tranvia hacia la estacion de tren.

La verdad dia a dia me asombro por como funcionan las cosas en europa. Trenes y tranvias con total exactitud, escaleras mecanicas que para ahorrar energia se activan cuando uno esta por subir, etc etc.

Venimos de un pais donde no estamos acostumbrados a esto, nada funciona como debe.

Encontrarme con todo esto es un placer, y es admirable, es otro mundo.

En este momento estoy en el tren rumbo a Lille donde debo hacer la cmbinacion a paris, sinceramente me gustaria poder tener mas tiempo para escribir un poco mejor y detallado, pero la verdad no lo tengo, asi que voy cerrando….. la gran ciudad de Paris me espera…..

Cya

I've heard Gent, Belgium is very nice, so am scheduling two nights here.  We'll potentially do a quick day trip to Brussels before flying home from there.

In Gent, we stayed with friends of my family.  Luc and Mi were very gracious in accepting us into their home.  Both there daughters spoke English, although at times they were shy to do so.  Gent was a beautiful city that I hope to return to one day, and again I was extremely fond of the people I met.

why did I go to Gent? first I was thinking about going to Antwerp, but then I changed my mind. I was supposed to visit Gent during the day and then take the train and visit Antwerp and sleep there. But I met a nice guy there and he recommended me staying in Gent. It was Saturday night! The city is very nice and is alive at night too. ;)

Ok, I arrived to Gent. My idea was spending the day here, so I left my bag at the station. I loved, there were lockers in almost every station!

I was thinking it might have been a small city like Brugge and I wouldn’t have needed to take a tram to go downtown, but I was wrong :P

So, I took the tram. I approached to a guy and asked some directions. He looked at me and asked me where I was from. I said Peru and he started to speak in Spanish – maybe his Spanish wasn’t perfect, but was pretty good with a cute accent. He has been living in Holland since he was a little boy, but was born in Ecuador. Another South American cool!

I was in my way to the Graslei and to check the Cathedral. He didn’t know in the city anymore, but knew it as if it was hometown. He advised me what to visit and how to do it. Where to go first, etc.  He was really helpful. I said: Thanks! And he told me that famous sentence: “all the travelers are supposed to help to each other.” So he’s the responsible of my travel-love ;)

I started walking through Gent lovely streets. As most of the cities around here; it has sweet canals. I arrived to the Graslei – beautiful views! Then went to the Cathedral – Baafskathedraal, not only outside, but also inside. I also climbed to the Belfort and got a great view of the city. Then I visited St. Niklaasskerk church. I went inside too.

Took a look at the Stadhuis – City Hall and decided to go to the Castle: Gravensteen.

I visited the castle and I was in my way back to the station in order to go – either to Oostende or to Antwerp – when I heard my name. It was Cris. He asked me if I’d stay in Gent for the night. I told him about my idea of going to Antwerp. He told me there was gonna be a party night at the city and I’d like it. Mmm. Ok, I said: “If I’m able to find a place to stay, I will” He knew a great hostel. We went there and there was availability, so… We agreed to meet around 9pm.

I checked in and went to the station in order to pick up my bag. I arrived to the hostel and went out for a walk in this lovely city.

I met Cris later. We went to the Graslerei. A lot of young people were there. The atmosphere was cool. Then we started our bar’s tour, hahaha. He used to live here, so he was the perfect guide. We were going from one pub to another the whole night, hahaha. We were sort of alike. I mean, he spoke to everyone and smiled the whole time, hahaha.

I let him know I’d go to Amsterdam for the end of my travel. So, he gave me his number just to be in touch, ‘cause he lives there. Yeah! I got a local friend in Gent and in Amsterdam :)

I really enjoyed visiting this fun city!