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Belgium never was a set destination. Didn't seem like they offered any must see sights or anything even out of the ordinary. Only ended up on my itinerary due to overloaded trains headed for Germany. Couldn't figure out why these trains were so full for two straight days, in retrospect I think it was on account of the love parade(where 19 people ended up dead this year). After my close encounters with petty theft and overpriced hostel I was ready to leave Paris so I decided right then and there in the train station that I would go to Brussels. As always, in the end everything fell right into place like a suave tetris game. Had some company from a nice Canadian girl on the train and we stopped in some nice town for a thin, pizza like lunch. She tried to walk with me to my hostel but we ended up a tad lost in a shady neighborhood. Finally found it and she was happy she wasn't staying when we found out how eerie the place was. About sixty beds in super spacious rooms but not a single person to be found! We laughed about it over a nice Belgian beer before she headed for her connection. Luckily two people later arrived. One 28 year old masters student from Oregon and a 26 year old psychologist from Argentina. Both interesting people whom I spent both days in Brussels with. We saw the sights, (most beautiful city square I've seen in Europe) ate lots of local foods, (French fries are actually Belgian and eaten with huuuge portions of mayo) and of course tasted the local pride product of beer in the evenings. First night got a little interesting when an older(50 or so) employee came back with a slightly drunk female with frazzled hair. They proceeded to carry out boisterous acts which shook the entire building and only reminded me of a particular scene from fightclub. Debora, the argentenian, was convinced she would be murdered in the creepy hostel and on top of that was set to endure these obnoxious rabbits next door. Since my room had about nine empty beds and was a good distance from the sexing I felt obliged to offer one of them out. Hilariously, next day she got scolded for staying in the boys dorm. Apparently the hostel has had problems with people performing carnal acts before. Who knew!!! Somewhere in the midst of all this my friend from Ghent offered up a place in his student house. Decided to head there but make a stop in Bruges with Debora first. We met an American on the train who had drunkenly broke his toe the night before and was STILL determined to see this place. Knew I was in for a treat. We rented one tandem bike and one normal to see the city. Place contained precisely everything that comes to mind when pondering typical Europe. Curving canals with stone acrching bridges, bustling coffee shops, and of course the towering cathedrals. Whole place smelled like chocolate and pastries, maybe a little bit of piss by the river just so we stay realistic here. The filled chocolates were a no competition Belgian masterpiece. Pralines, almonds, and hazelnuts were my favorites. Ok gotta speed this up a bit. Ghent was great to relax. Traveling had really caught up with me but my buddy Laurens and his sister were great hosts. We did go to a city wide party and ended up out till four. Thing stretched through the while city and had some pretty ingenious pee stations out in public. After tasting many monk-brewed ales and and filling my belly with traditional Belgian goulash, fries with mayo, and chocolate, I was ready to leave for max reibstein's house in Germany.
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