Day 4 Hechtel, BE to Gent, BE

Many churches. Chips. Icelandic Cats. Rabbit. Turkish shops. Holiday. Charlotte. Nice new house. Great cellar. Great cheap wine. Great cooking. Great cookies. Just great.

Lovely Belgium trees

We got up at about 11 and the guys were cleaning the house, it was in a right state. We packed the car, said goodbye to the guys and got on the road. Gent is only and hour and a half away from Hechtel, so we thought we'd take the time to have a look around the city. The drive was pleasant, Belgium is a really nice country to drive through in the autumn with all the leaves changing colour.

We arrived in Gent in good time and parked the car, the town was really busy as it was a Sunday so we had a bit of tousle finding a space. Gent is a beautiful city, with loads of churches and majestic architecture; I can see why a lot of tourists come here. We took a walk around the city, bought some frites (chips) and had a nice sit down. Even though there was a lot of people milling around it seemed really quiet, I think that this is just Belgium in general. We came back to the car and decided to make our way to the house where we were playing. The show was being organised by a girl called Charlotte who we met last time we were in Gent, she had just returned from a few months in Iceland, moved into a new house and wanted us to play in her cellar. Charlotte greeted us with a beaming smile and welcomed us into her new home. She made us coffee and ate home-made cookies while we relaxed in her kitchen, I don't think we realised how tired we were until we sat down.

Charlotte had rescued four kittens while in Iceland, the person who owned the farm where she was working wanted to kill them, but she managed to bring them all the way back to Gent, giving her sister two and keeping two. Charlotte's were two of the cutest cats of all time, we spent ages playing with them. (They have been given Icelandic names and we have no chance in remembering them - they sounded lovely names though!) We went shopping with Charlotte to get some food for the evening, she lives in the Turkish area of the city so there are loads of good shops to get food and most of them stay open on a Sunday, unlike the rest of France. Charlotte then cooked us a really nice dinner of roast chicken, roasted vegetables and boiled potatoes… a really great meal.

We unloaded our gear and put everything in the empty, bare cellar, with a low the ceiling so it was clear that we wouldn't be able to play as loud as we would normally. Charlotte's friends started to arrive and everyone was really friendly, we sat around, drank and played with the amazing cats. They really liked to go up on your shoulder and sit there like a parrot.

We played at about ten, Charlotte made the room look nice with coloured paper and fairy lights, considering it was a cellar it was quite cosy! We played softer than usual because of the shape and size of the room, but I think it was still okay. After we finished playing we sat up and listened to records with everyone in the lounge and played with the kittens some more, so addictive. One of Charlotte's friends gave us a really cheap, but really nice, bottle of wine to take away with us, good lad. Another great evening.