I almost got stuck in Belgium.

Bonjour à tous!

So this time, I purposefully went to Ghent, Belgium BUT I almost got stuck and had to stay there overnight. Here are the details.

It all began on Saturday, October 19th and I was sitting in a coffee shop in Lille. I met up with my friends Kaitlyn and Mario to get some lesson planning done, write another blog etc. and Kaitlyn mentioned out of the blue that she just bought a bus ticket to Ghent for Monday October 21st. As any teaching assistant who is living off baguettes and spreadable cheese (I eat this a bit too often to save on $$) I asked, how much did you buy the tickets for? She replies "12 euros" as I simultaneously open up my app to buy bus tickets and I book the 12 euro bus ticket to Ghent for Monday. This time, I won't accidentally end up in Belgium. I would just be there for only a mere 7 hours. Did I mention that Ghent is only a 1 hour bus ride from Lille? It may rain here nearly everyday but damn does Lille have a good location.

Monday arrives, I have my passport in hand and I take the red line metro to "Gare Lille Europe" which is the train station right by the bus stop. I am texting Kaitlyn and I meet up with her and some new friends Brandon and Keith. Brandon is from Virginia and Keith is from Ireland and they are both english teaching assistants in the academy of Lille with me (this is my region).

First moment of panic, Kaitlyn tells me she forgot her passport. I figured it would probably be fine but you never know. I once took a bus from France to Barcelona and they stopped the bus and had border control come on the bus and check all the passports. I was not sure how "strict" it was crossing from France to Belgium considering I had accidentally ended up in Belgium once before. We figured it would be fine and we hopped on the bus.

Bus ride went smoothly and easy and we arrive at a parking lot just outside the "cool looking" part of Ghent. We were the only ones to get off at this stop because the terminal stop would be Brussels which is about another 1/2 hour away. We walked along the streets and it became more and more "old" european an then we stopped to take it in and of course get a beer.

Next we visited an old castle that was right in the middle of the town. It's called "The Castle of Counts" and in dutch it's called "The Gravensteen". So the region I am in is the Flanders region which basically used to be it's own region ruled by counts and lords since that's how the system of hierarchy used to be constructed back in the Middle Ages. Back in the year 1100 ish I think the castle was the home of the Count of Flanders. Basically what I am trying to say is that this castle is old, historical and overall pretty badass.

Inside the Castle of Counts

Castle and me <3

To be honest can't remember if this was before or after we visited the castle but we of course had to make a stop for some Belgian Waffles. I ordered strawberry and whipped cream waffle that I still dream about to this day.

She is beauty she is grace... she is a belgian waffle.

We explored the city more, walked around stopped by the river.

My travel partners! Kaitlyn, Brandon and Keith.

We snapped photos and walked around this medieval looking city that clearly has seen it's fair share of wars and triumphs. The rivers and canals reminded me of Amsterdam but the architecture reminded me of Prague.

Moody Ghent

As we grabbed one last beer, we said goodbye to this enchanting city and then made our way to the bus stop. Here is where the panic sets in. I didn't realize that the bus stop was 20 minutes away. We left the bar at 6:40ish and the bus leaves at 7:10. Sounds like enough time right? Well, it wasn't. We realized that by the time we actually paid and left it was about 6:51. This means we would arrive about 3 minutes late (it was a 22 minute walk) because we didn't realize how far we were into the city. About every 30 seconds, we would full out sprint in order to cut time off. Because let me tell you, the bus does not wait for you, even if you are a minute late. Especially since this was an "in between" stop between Lille and Brussels. And let me remind you, we were the only ones at the stop that got off earlier and the driver even told us that he would be arriving at 6:55 and waiting about 15 minutes when we come back. So, he sure as heck was not going to wait an extra minute or 2 after telling us that. So we start running. Then slow down for a fast walk. Then run some more. We started shaving off one minute. Then it was 2 minutes. But this still meant that we were going to arrive late, so we had to shave off another 2 minutes to ensure our ride. We all start slowing down and Brandon starts to look up hostels on his phone. I'm thinking in my head, nope that is not even an option. I'm getting on that bus back to Lille tonight! So we encourage each other to pick up the pace and then another minute is shaved off. Keith and I were talking that even if one of us makes it to the bus with a minute or 2 to spare that they could inform the driver to wait 2 minutes. Brandon has to use the bathroom. In fact, we all have to use the bathroom after the last beer. Also, we had 2 different addresses for where the bus meets and that was not helping the situation. With our bladders full, sweat beading down our faces and legs cramping... we saw the bus! We had 2 minutes to spare. The bus driver was waiting outside the bus and he recognized us so we hopped on and sat in relief. We were wheezing, coughing and panting and I have never seen such relief. About 5 minutes later we were all passed out on the bus, snoozing away.

So yeah. That was the time I almost got stuck in Belgium. S/O to Kaitlyn, Brandon and Keith for running (what seemed like) a marathon with me so we didn't have to sleep on the streets of Ghent :)

À bientôt,

Kristin