After a quick (25 minute) train ride we were in Gent. Gent is bigger than Brugge and we had to take a tram from the train station to our hostel. Our hostel was awesome! It was an old barge converted into a hostel, floating on the river in Gent. It is called “Eco-hostel Andromeda” and has a very ecologically conscious bent. The breakfast they serve is organic, free range, and vegetarian. The water in the toilets is grey water collected from rainwater. The beer they server in the hostel bar (remember this is Belgium – every hostel has a bar) was organic. The employee even gave us a map of vegetarian friendly restaurants in the city.
Despite the dreary, rainy day, we decided to venture out to make the most of our day in Gent. We saw all of the historic buildings and sights (the city was just as beautiful as Brugge, but without so many tourists) and then made our way to a vegan buffet that was on the map we got at our hostel. We waited in the pouring rain for twenty minutes for it to open (literally). We got inside and… every single table was reserved. We were told there would be an hour and a half wait for a table; but I think the owner took pity on us, he gave us one of the reserved tables. It was absolutely AWESOME! It was most likely the most delicious buffet that either of us have ever eaten at. We felt like a million bucks after the great dinner and the ability to dry off while eating…
We went home, sent some CS requests and then went to bed… or so we thought. This was our worst night in a shared room hostel so far. People were coming in and leaving at all times of the night, there was snoring, typing, some other repetitive computer noises, coughing, sniffling, and then early in the morning (before 6 am) somebody was rummaging around in a plastic bag for 10 minutes (no hyperbole) and another person was opening velcro sealed objects an unreasonable amount of times. If only we had remembered to put in our ear plugs the night before!
One thing we forgot to mention before is that we did have a chance to try the cuberdon candies that the city is known for. They were great!
