The mini train ride was pretty cold! Four layers, scarf, gloves and and a hat and that was only just keeping me, well, not cold, but I wouldn't say warm by any means. We were the only two on the train so everyone was looking at us. I decided that the next person to take a photo of the train (with us on it), would then have a photo of them taken by me! But the train was very cute :)
The castle was pretty cool! It had underground tunnels you could go in. Some were a bit small, especially for someone with a bag on, but we went in the larger ones. I don't think I would like to have gone in the small tunnels on hands and knees in pitch black. Some parts of the tunnel had no light at all, and there was a sign outside that said you must take a torch or candle.
There is a hotel built in front of the castle remains
We had a great view of both sides of the hill, St Goar on one side, smaller towns up the valley and a view north on the other.
Justin would also like to make special mention of the bathroom.
A couple more purchases at the gift shop, aside the mandatory postcard, and we were off down the hill again on our private train ride.
There was still a little bit of time before our train so we indulged in some tasty dessert slices. Decided on three; we did have a long train ride ahead of us after all... Forgot to take photos of the masterpieces so your just have to believe us that they were de-li-cious!
Due to the disagreements betweens trains and us, we wrote down the time, train number and platform that we were taking from St Goar to Koln, but as expected, Justin yells 'train' when I am busy looking at something else, so I just jump on. Two out of three wasn't bad; right platform, right direction & time, but a different train number. It will get us where we want to go, but can't guarantee we'll get there in time to catch the train to Brussels and on to Gent in time to meet Ann. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
We arrived in Ghent/Gent only 10 minutes late, but that was actually the train's fault not ours. We were greeted on the station platform by Ann and her boyfriend Andy, who we were staying with for two nights. Though now that we have left (I'm writing this while on the Eurostar to London) we could have stayed much longer.
We were treated to a home-cooked meal with wine and dessert. After tea we headed into the centre of Ghent for a night walking tour. While trying to find a carpark, we ran into a student street party on a Monday of all days (holidays finished the day before) that would put the Dunedin ones to shame. Needless to say, we avoided that.
Ghent is absolutely beautiful by night and as we discovered beautiful by day too. You can see for yourself below. Andy was a fantastic tour guide, as was Ann but Andy was really in his element and Justin was loving it. Ann and I admired how pretty the buildings were without as much deep discussion into the history. There are some interesting stories though.
That's all for Monday. Tomorrow is just as jammed packed.
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