Stop 1: GENT, BELGIUM We left on a train from Brussels early in the morning. When we arrived in Gent, it was raining, the iPhone map wasn't working, we were lost, tired, irritated and hungry. Not the best way to start off a "fun-filled pre-anniversary celebration trip."
Eventually, we went back to the train station and did what all smart tourists do... follow the crowds of people. Usually this works wonders and you see something cool even if you don't know where you're headed.So luckily, it worked! We hopped on a tram and got off when everyone else did - at the Centrum. Once we arrived, we found a McDonald's which saved our lives - FREE WIFI! We were able to re-download our map and were back on track.
Through out the day we ventured around looking at the cool architecture from Medieval times. I even found my own knight in shining armor...AND a beautiful castle we could live in. If only I were a princess back then ;)
We enjoyed a picnic at the city center, explored some fun little shops and eventually found the famous graffiti street. I must say this little street was my very favorite part about Gent. Partly, because spray painting is legal here and everyone does it and partly because it was the perfect occasion to share (and document) our love for each other. How fitting for our pre-anniversary weekend! We found a nearby shop that had unlimited color choices of spray paint - even high and low pressure. Of course I wanted hot pink :) We definitely dominated the walls of this street with lots of messages and artwork. However, I'm sure in a few days someone else will paint over it. That's the cool thing about this street. They say the paint is always wet. After we explored the best of Gent, we hopped back on the train and headed toward our next destination. Stop 2: BRUGGE, BELGIUM
Apparently, this town is known as the "Venice of the North" filled with romance and beauty. We loved it because it was so cute with all of the little canals, houses lining the water, beautiful landscaping and buildings. I'm not really sure how it compares to Venice... but we definitely loved it there!
We walked around most of the day, venturing into little shops and following our Use-It map (the greatest thing EVER if you want to travel Belgium). So we were able to find most of the touristy stuff plus a few not so popular things like a club with a bar that is actually an aquarium (unfortunately closed) and the oldest cafe in Belgium, built in 1515!
Another cool thing was the traitor's skull - screwed to the outside of the city gate. In the Middle Ages (the 14th century) Smedenpoort, was a heavily guarded gate which allowed access into and out of the city, and protected the city's ramparts. Just above the gate is a bronze head, which symbolises the skull of the traitor who opened the door to the French in the 15th century and was hanged at the spot. - A small but interesting landmark. 
I think Christopher's favorite part about Brugge was the "Holy Blood." The people claim that they have a vile of Jesus' actual blood. So we stood in line and he went up and placed his hands on a glass capsule with the vile inside. The lady cleared her throat when Christopher didn't place any money in the donation bowl... I guess you're supposed to pay to touch the Holy Blood? Oops...we didn't know. He said it just looked really dried up and gross. 
Another touristy thing we did was visit the "Madonna with Child." I'm not really sure why this is famous, but I did get in trouble for taking this picture.
We loved our day spent exploring Gent and Brugge and definitely recommend these quaint little cities to anyone traveling Europe. I think that's one lucky thing about us living here for the summer - it gives us a little more time to visit the smaller cities that might not make the cut if we had only a few weeks to travel. One little piece of advice...you should probably invest in the money to rent a bike because walking is exhausting!
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