It all started on a spontaneous night out on Thursday when we hit the local Volksfest for "a few beers". After several sparkling drinks, something similar to Altschuss and way too many Klopfers the night ended up not only legendary, but with the worst headache ever. But there was no time for complaining, since I was supposed to travel 400 kilometers by car the other day for visiting my travel mate Chris in Belgium. To be more specific: Gent. With round about 5-6 painkillers, tons of coffee and a disgusting Red Bull I finally made it to Gent after 7 hours of driving, including 2,5 hours traffic jam in good old Brussel.
After an exhausting journey and the internal note on my mind "no more alcohol" I got welcomed by Chris, his dog Nina and a big glass of Belgium beer. And just to tell you this: Belgium beer is not = beer beer, it's THE beer. 8,5 % - Duvel beer, also known as "from the devil". Well, Cheers! After this warm welcome and a look around in Chris really nice guest house, we directly hit the road by bike and cycled to the city center. And to tell you this straight away: Gent is not only another destination on my list, it became one of my favourite cities I've ever been to. It just offers everything you're looking for. Little canals like in Amsterdam, a bike-friendly town, lights everywhere at night, bars, live music and a city panorama like on a film set. Many young and nice people, flowers, good food and the list goes on. We spend the night exploring this unique city, listening to live music and having the best burger in town. - Just perfect!
The transportation in Gent is mostly by bike and so we cycled the other days of course as well, taking the scenic routes along the water, big cathedrals and sheep’s who were eating the grass of Gent. Chris also gave me the opportunity to have local food from Belgium and so I tried the "Gentse Waterzooi" which is basically a chicken soup and also the "Stoverij" that is very similar to Gulasch just without Paprika und Wine, but therefore cooked in beer. Oh beer.
For sure we went out for another pub crawl on Saturday again, since Chris had to offer me round about 300 bars and pubs. We finally decided for a jazz bar with various types of Belgium beer. I went for the "Karmeliet", which is voted for the best beer in the world for all time. I won't tell you anything else.
The last stop of our pub crawl ended up in in a very small and unique Schnaps-Bar. Clear stuff. 49 percent. I thought this would be my end. But as a German you have at least to accept the challenge before giving up to a Belgium ;-) 4 Schnaps later I acknowledged Chris as the winner.
On Sunday we cycled one more time to the city center for a stroll at the wonderful markets. Nice music everywhere, good atmosphere, sunny weather and Champagne + Oysters for brunch. What a classic Sunday when you live in a city.
At the end I left Gent with the promise to come back. It's a pity that this wonderful town is not very well known. But on the other hand, it's still a secret spot and not a touristic trap. Hope it stays like that :)
