Ghent

All Ghent postcards are of this "three towers" view. Taken from just below the St. Michael's bridge.

Ghent Noses:  An odd jelly candy, sort of like a jelly bean, all natural, flavored with  cherry, raspberry and others. Only available in Ghent. No, they're not good enough for us to send them to you.

Named for the largest bell in the belfry, 11 percent by volume. The bar limits you to 3.

Many in Belgium joke about every beer having its own unique glass. Then many joke that that couldn't be possible,  and even so, would be wholly unecessary. During these jokes Jim and I hide and snicker in the corner. You know how we are about glassware.

Surprise! There's a castle around the corner from your hostel.

Alas.....

Only available in Ghent, mustard so spicy it will melt your face, but it is delicious. They jar it fresh from the barrel for you.

Dragon! So this dragon was originally owned by Bruges, who got it off a Viking ship in the way back. Bruges gave it to Ghent to stay friends. Hence the dragon benches in Bruges, and this guy here in the bell tower of Ghent. His newer replica is on the top spire.

Remember what we said about climbing towers? This is the view from the top of the belltower, looking down on St. Nicklaus church. 256 steps.

Some of which were on a tiny one way straight away. I hope you're not claustrophobic. 

Waiting for the bus that would never come....

As far as travel snafus,  this one is pretty mild, but maybe worth sharing. Jim and I booked a Megabus from Ghent back to Rotterdam to save a little money. Like in the states, Megabus does not pick up at the central terminal, so we needed to catch a  city bus to an out of the way locale. The bus never came, but we left time for our contingency plan, a tram and 45  min walk to our destination, full packs I tow. While not the most pleasant walk (industrial zone, barbed wire, major highways to cross) , we safely made it to the Megabus pickup site, Hotel Campenile,  to find 5 Megabus drivers enjoying pints at the bar,  because our bus was going to be 3 hours late. While disheartening, the hotel had a restaurant and free wifi, which we made the most of until the bus did indeed arrive, 3 hrs late.