Day 9

Today was busy, not that any of the other days have been relaxed. We woke up bright and early at 6 am so we could walk 2 miles to the train station. We got on and headed towards Ghent (Gent). Though this city is larger, it still has a somewhat medieval feel to it, similar to Bruges. We got off the train and searched for a luggage locker, and thankfully we found one that was big enough for both our bags! Score. After we loaded our bags and paid the 4 euro we thought we were set. Sadly, we had paid for the locker below ours. So after paying another 4 euros and making sure that the receipt was torn up for the other locker, we were off for a nice 1.6 mile journey to the center of town. We stopped at Pano's on the way there and I had a very delicious cherry and apple turnover. But sadly I ate some of Adam's sandwich which had pesto sauce on it. Pesto sauce = pine nuts. Pine nuts = a very upset stomach for me. We walked to the Gravensteen Castle and spent some time in that area. Similar to Bruges, many parts of the town were under construction. We walked along some of the canals and saw many of the old buildings. My SD card has been acting funny though and even though I should have more available space on it, it seems to be disappearing. I will have to figure that out soon... After we left the canals we went to the Markt square to check out some of the churches and the Belfry tower. Hoping to climb it, we went into the tourist office to ask where we should go. But sadly we were informed that it was some Military defense thing and for security purposes, everything was closed. Well that sucked. After stopping in the local McDonald's and looking up earlier train times, we left the city disappointed, but excited for our next stop. We arrived in Antwerp with beautiful skies and pleasant weather. The train station, which is an incredible building in itself, was right across the street from an ice cream stop. Keep that in mind for later. After we left the station, we walked towards the port and Antwerp's Castle. We stopped by Steen Castle for a few minutes before heading closer to the port. Antwerp has Europe's second largest port, which I'm sure is a very important feature of the city. It was beautiful though and I felt like I could see for miles. After admiring the port, we started walking back towards the Grote Markt (Main Market) and stopped at the Church of our Lady. Disappointed from Ghent, we were unsure if this one would be open. But luckily, it was and we spend a good bit of time inside. The cathedral was massive! And there were so many works of art inside that I might almost call it a museum. After hanging around for a while, we left the cathedral and the city center and started heading back to the station. And what just so happened to be right outside the train station? Ice cream. Pistachio and chocolate ice cream to be exact. And yes, I don't see anything wrong with having it two days in a row. It wasn't quite as good as the ice cream in Bruges, but it certainly wasn't bad. We got back on the train and were on our way to Delft. Delft is the oldest city in the Netherlands and it is also the city that makes that blue and white patterned china (if you know what I'm talking about). After a switch in Rotterdam, we arrived in Delft, but sadly, our skies weren't beautiful and sunny anymore. Instead, it was dim and rainy. Even though it was raining, we pushed on and started exploring the city. We stopped by the Oude and Neuw Kerk (old and new church?) and the markt square. I knew we were in the Netherlands as soon as I saw the cheese stand. There were so many different kinds and in such large quantities. Sadly, I didn't have the time or space to buy any. Maybe in Amsterdam. The rain had stopped towards the end of our visit so we were hopeful for the rest of the night. We were on our way to Utrecht. Once we arrived, we were disappointed to learn that the station didn't have any luggage holds and that we would have to carry our bags to our hostel. At least it wasn't raining. We made it successfully and got all checked in. The neat thing about this hostel is that they provide you with what seems like unlimited food. You just have to cook it! The bad thing is that there is one small kitchen for everyone in the hostel to cook their food in. We finally snuck into the kitchen around 8 and started making dinner. What accompanied the frying pan noises though, was thunder and rain. Even as I'm writing this now, 2 hours later, it is still raining outside. And it doesn't look like it's going to let up according to weather.com. Hopefully 30% won't be too bad for the rest of the weekend. One can only hope. Off to Amsterdam tomorrow!