ghent, then brussels.

i spent a few hours in ghent which is right smack in the middle between bruges and brussels and you pretty much stop there anyways so i got off and decided to have a look around. i'm not a fan. maybe b/c i was cold... maybe b/c i got super lost and ended up wasting hours of time. ok maybe not hours, but what should have been easy - getting on a tram to the city center... which i did double check i was getting on the right one and some stupid passenger must have just said yes to say yes (probably b/c they didn't understand me and yes sounded good!) and i found myself way way far from the city center. luckily the tram driver could point me to the bus stop that would take me in to the center. so then i had to wait about 45 mins for the bus to come which sucked. in the cold, ridiculous wind... had a cab come by, i would have gladly jumped on board, but it didn't... so i took the bus... which took me another 30ish mins to get to the old town where i was supposed to be. phew... i made it! but it wasn't a good start to my afternoon in ghent and it made me feel super dumb and unhappy about my map/directional skills (gps! i need gps!!!).

but once i got to the old town square, i found a beautiful church... which i did not go in... instead, i decided i was starving (hadn't meant for a 2.5 hr detour) and ate lunch at a place on the square. not delicious, not terrible... i ate inside bc of the insane wind!

not sure why it seems so dark... it didn't rain! but there's the old bell tower. every good town in brussels must have one!

this bell tower was totally worth the cost. i can't remember what it was at this point, but prob 5e-ish. and for that you got a map/explanation of what you were seeing and it was much bigger and squarer than bruge's bell tower. this is one of the dragon's that was atop the tower at one point in time. he's had to be replaced a few times over the years.

there were several levels to stop and check out the various things inside: hear are some of the gears, another level featured the above dragons, another featured a variety of bells, etc. pretty nifty!

self portrait... i was trying to show how narrow this particular stairway was - i practically had to walk sideways to fit!

here's a view of the church from the tower. it's quite a lovely view!

see?! i can be artistic!

and by the time i saw the square, i was feeling a little anxious about finding my way back to the train station and also finding my hotel once i got to brussels... sure i had directions, but seriously folks my track record had been terrible up to this point!! so, i started to figure out how the heck to get back to the train station... and... it's not on there. awesome, they tell you how to get in to town, but what about getting back?!?! ummm... well, i saw on my map a spot for cabs... so i tried walking there. and found it! but there were no cabs there. and so i walked around... i called it exploring. and you know those people that stop you on the street to try and get you to donate to them or sign a petition? they are all over the street where i live... highly annoying... but hey, they have a job ... i digress. anyways, after a few of them stopping me there in ghent and me saying so sorry, 'je parle anglais' or probably 'i speak english'... i got the bright idea to ask one of them how to get back to the train station! brilliant. this one girl was thrilled to help me... well, maybe not thrilled but super nice and she directed me to a spot that i actually found and the tram actually came and i got on the right one and before i knew it, i was back at the station! thank you greenpeace for having campaigners there in ghent! you may be asking why i didn't just ask someone randomly... ummm, b/c it was really intimidating trying to figure out who spoke english and i was by myself and scared - i admit it! i didn't wanna ask!!