I'M BACK, BITCHEZ Sorry I basically didn't respond to all the nice comments on my laser post from last week - haven't been on Hubski much since I posted that. I appreciate all the nice responses! (mk, you forgot to send me an address) Ghent was a fun trip. If I had to characterize the city, I'd put it solidly in 'chaotic good'. Not as picturesque as Bruges or Antwerp, but it has its own character. Like how one of the towers in the historic center has a dragon as its crown, put there in 1377. We did a multi-step geocache to really get to know the city. We also played snooker for the first time, it was a lot of fun even though/because most of the points were scored when someone didn't hit the correct ball. Lisbon exceeded my expectations! It's a lovely city with more than enough to discover and see. I posted more pictures on my Flickr for the interested. Our hostel/hotel was way better than the price ever warranted. Because we're in the off-season, there were little to no lines but the weather was a comfy 17 degrees C. The food was amazing. Found a local fish restaurant tucked away in the maze that is Alfama, a one-room place that two people ran on their own. I had duck for the first time. Pasteis de Bélem are THE BEST PASTRIES IN THE WORLD. At risk of using Trumpisms...they are amazing. The best. Ginjaha is...interesting, quite a good cherry liquor. If I had cabin luggage I might've gotten myself a bottle. In the short time that we had we even managed a half day tour to Sintra where we visited a royal / religious garden with cool as fuck secret caves, watchtowers and underground tunnels that led to a well not unlike The Pit from Batman: The Darn Knight Rises. Sadly we didn't have time to visit the other palaces and gardens, supposedly they're amazing too. The only downside was that travel was a bitch. Both our flights had delays, which meant that I had to sprint to catch the last train on newly-formed blisters...only for that last train to also be delayed. But it didn't matter much in the light of such a nice trip.