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Published: March 14th 2009
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This is my 3rd day of five in Belgium, and so far so good. Today is actually a recovery day, my brother and I were supposed to go to Bruges but we both woke up halfway into the day and very hungover.
We are not really fussed, we spent yesterday in Gent which was amazing and the day and night in general is the highlight of our trip so far. Gent is a very pretty city in the central part of town and, more importantly, has a great vibe about it. There were people everywhere, mainly students (there is a university smack bang in the middle of town) and it made for terrific people watching.
I was happy, I got to soak up the atmosphere (in the sun!) on the edge of the canal while my bro took off and kept himself busy taking many photo's. We didn't bother with the musems or many of the attractions, as far as I'm concerned; you seen one museum, you've seen them all. Plus, they were all charging admission and it seemed a bit rich for me.
We did, however, get to visit Werregarenstraat. This is a 100m stretch of alleyway
which has been allocated to taggers and graffiti artists alike in order to save the heritage listed buildings from those colourful cans of paint. It's pretty cool that they have been given all that space and it was certainly my trip highlight. There is, of course, a lot of crap. But it all looks great; this mish mash of colours and styles really excites and please the eyes. After taking many photo's I had to go in search of a place that sold spray paint so I could make my mark... of course!
When I had found a suitable colour (hot pink...hot stuff!) we returned to leave our signature on the wall. It was great fun, tagging and styling the wall in the middle of the day with people all around and no chance of getting into any mischief! We were there almost an hour...
Of course, Gent has many other attractions and beautiful buildings to gawk at and is well worth going for a day trip to just wander around. We would of liked to stay there the night, but to get a room in a hostel is pretty hard as it's on most belgium backpackers list
of places to do. I would advise booking at least 3-4 weeks prior to arriving.
As most of the people there seem to be students, it's more of an alternative scene then I expected. There are a lot of younger crowds and pretty much anything goes with what to wear and how you wear your hair. It wasn't expected, but we enjoyed the diversity of the alternative young crowd and the old locals. We found a great little pub (there are many) and my bro sunk into a few different types of local bier, I stuck with wine. It was gorgoues and the owner was really sweet and nice. All in all, a fabulous place to visit and I would go back in a heartbeat!
We got back to our hostel in Antwerp with a botlle of wine and some biers. Our hosts, Bridgette and Greg; are lovely and were keen to take us to their local bar across the road. I had no idea there was even one over there, it was quite hidden. It was very small, but the locals were great and they played good music, and, most importantly, the prices were really good! Our
hosts know the staff so we were mixing with them all night, very friendly people and seemed to be up for many a chat and drink. They all left early while I stayed on with the staff for more drinks...it was very late (or early!) by the time I hit the hay; but I had a great time.
If you are planning on staying in Antwerp, I highly recommend Abhostel on Kattenberg. The hostel is really clean and they have big plans for renovations downstairs as it used to be an old Prailine factory. But, the best part had to be our fabulous hosts Bridgette & Greg who welcomed us with open arms and many a drink, introducing us to the locals and giving us some great insider tips on where to go. It also, just happens to be the cheapest hostel in town. While it is on the outskirts of the town, it is only a 12 minute walk from the city centre and you will soon find it is easy to walk the entire city without ever having to get public transport. I haven't once felt unsafe, even in the non-tourist parts of the city; although some may have different experiences to report.
Tonight I am about to do it all over again and am meeting one of the guys from last night at the same bar, he's supposed to be taking me to some party later but, we'll just see how the night pans out. I am supposed to be going to Bruges tomorrow now, so I should try and get back at a fairly decent hour!
One thing every tourist should know when going out in Antwerp ... It is normal for them to start late, quite late; around 10 ish.
I am not used to this, I am quite the opposite and prefer to start early; however, if you wish to fully devulge the local atmosphere, wait until later in the evening to hit the bars!
Alright then, off I go for another night out.... until next time! Adios!
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