Hands down, Belgians have been the most helpful and nicest people I have met so far on my trip, and I've seen many very generous cultures. If you're confused and looking at a map on the street, inevitably somebody stops to help you, often in
perfect English. This was how I met my roommate in Gent. After helping point me in the right direction toward the city center and chatting a bit, I soon had an offer to stay with one of best hosts I could've imagined. After a brief tour around the city and a beer at a microbrewery, we met up with some of his friends for dinner and sampling many local beers back at the house. One of the most fun nights I've had since leaving home.
Gent tends to be overshadowed by Bruge and Brussels but definitely holds its own in being a magnificent city.
The old castle in Gent's city center.
Churches, towers and cathedrals along the main canal gave it a fairy tale like quality.
After a night in Gent, I cycled off into the countryside to check out the many famous breweries Belgium has to offer. Unlike home, where breweries offer tours at set times every day and have tasting rooms, getting into a Belgian brewery is typically by appointment only but I figured I'd try my luck anyway.
My first stop was Delirium, which was closed but nonetheless it was cool to see the factory in person. That pink elephant is probably one of the most famous logos in all of beer.
Down the street was a barber shop/bar where I figured I'd drink a Delirium in the spirt of being so close, and came to learn the barbershop was actually it's own brewery!
After a couple beers with the local police chief, I ended up with a haircut and a light buzz for my afternoon ride...
En route to Affligem, the next brewery on my route, I met a local, elderly man cycling the same direction as me, who ended up riding with me to the brewery and explaining my situation to the lone employee, who promptly offered me two free beers but couldn't give a tour. Pretty awesome of both of them!
To get around Belgium's many bike paths, you follow a hub system rather than a route. For example, if you want to get from Gent to Wetteren, you'd cycle from 97 to 12 to 22 to 66 to 34 using the map below.
Signs like the one below point the way. It was a bit confusing at times but for the most part highly efficient.
At one point, the path crossed a river where there was no bridge so this ferry was there to shuttle cyclists the 50 feet across free of charge.
Toward the end of the day, I arrived at Palm Brewery, surely one of Belgium's best known breweries and sampled the fare at their associated restaurant.
Delicious!
I arrived in Antwerp as it was getting dark and, of course, in the rain so I managed to take zero photos before moving on the next next day...
