Belgium Travel Diary: Ghent

Our itinerary wouldn't have been the same without charismatic Ghent. I absolutely loved it! Smaller than Brussels, this Flemish city is a cocktail of students, (less) tourists, artists and ultracool locals. Cosy cafés, quirky shops, pretty buildings, a medieval heritage that would charm any History buff and plenty of free art and culture for every taste. It was love at first stroll and I would've literally spend an entire day chilling on St Michael's bridge if I could, admiring the surrounding architecture, the serenity of the river, the bright blue trams passing by and even the pathetic posers taking selfies in awkward positions (i.e. jumping, opening their arms so it would look like they were hugging a bell tower, etc.).

After our daily intake of Hoegaarden, we patrolled the streets of this old yet modern pedestrian paradise. It was windy and overcast but not too cold so we experienced Ghent properly, no need to hide indoors. Exploring the old town led us to discover many treasures, and we never thought we could spend so long inside churches and cathedrals (yes, plural). We also went to the weirdest sex shop ever (think Twin Peaks with a hint of Eyes Wide Shut, and also incredibly geriatric and dodgy), and then we got stalked by some pervy creep who ran away from us when we realised we got company. Go figure. Eventually we ended up in the Red Light District - by accident, I swear. I have never seen prostitutes that beautiful, I kid you not. It looked like a Victoria's Secret fashion show! Only the street art was more impressive than such lustful display.

Funny fact: we had to take turns to take a shit every now and then, as all the beer and chocolate intake was playing tricks on our digestive system. So, you can imagine our joy whenever we found a public toilet we didn't have to pay for.

Next stop: Why don't you take a guess?