Ok, a blog has to start someday and I feel this is the right day to start it. I had a blast last weekend, so let me tell a little about what I did.

Friday:

I was really excited because I had a CouchSurfer awaiting me in Lille: Amrita from NY (originally from India). She’s travelling through Europe and answered to my invitation to come and visit me in Roeselare. We had some nice contacts in the past and I was sure we would get along very well. After work I drove to Lille, got lost in the city while looking for the train station, but finally got there – in time Amrita was waiting for me in front of the station of Lille Flandres and I picked her up to drive her to Roeselare, the heart of West-Flanders. Right from the start we started talking and it felt good: I knew it the weekend would be great.

We arrived at my place, drank a nice and chilled hoegaarden beer and talked some more before we had dinner (thanks mum & dad!) and finally went to the Irish Pub for some more beers and a meeting with my sister Sarah and her boyfriend Dimitri. She absolutely loved the beer and we had a great time. Back home some more beer drinking and picture watching before we got to sleep – quite late…

Saturday:

After a long sleep, we got up around 10 to prepare for the visit to Brugge and we packed for a stay in Knokke-Heist at the Belgian coast that night. We did some touristy stuff, got to eat real Belgian ‘frietjes met stoofvleessaus en mayonaise’, drank some beer, got lost in cosy little streets, ate a Belgian waffle with chocolate, climbed up the concert building for a scenic view of Brugge, got lost some more, bought chocolates, … You see it, it was a busy day but a very good one. Amrita seemed to enjoy it so much, so I was happy too.
At the concert building, we met Miguel. He let us in for free because I was wearing an ‘Arch Enemy’ T-shirt. He’s also a metal fan, and yes, metal fans help each other. I told him about the gig we were going to that night and he wanted to go there too. It was sold out though… Too bad it seemed. Or not? Nope. He made some calls and managed to get a ticket. I offered him a ride to Torhout where the gig took place, so we went there together: Miguel, Amrita and me. We met with Frederik, a friend of mine and got in for wat turned out to be one of the best concerts I ever saw. It was wicked! The line-up for that night was: Distorted, Spoil Engine, Cataract and Maroon. All 4 very energetic metal band playing mostly metalcore and just plain metal. The band Spoil Engine (B) presented their first album there: Skinnerbox v.07. Wauw! What an album! I won’t let you in with too many details, but this one thing I will remember forever: My first croudsurfing experience! All of a sudden, Miguel and Frederik lifted me up and threw me in the mass. I got carried through the audience, floating above everyone’s head! Horns up!! After quite a soft landing, I could not believe what just happened. Wauw! I must also not forget to mention that Amrita liked the concert too. She told me she was a metal fan now. I’m so glad for that because I was a little worried to be honest. Her profile said she’s mostly into rock, so the brutal metalcore we were hearing that night was nothing compared to standard rock. Brave girl! Really.

After the concert, we had some more Belgian frietjes in Torhout and drove off to Knokke-Heist on the Belgian coast. After a nice walk on the beach and trying to stay ahead of the tide, we moved back to the appartment and had a nice Chimay beer. We talked until 4AM and then decided to go to sleep. What a long day! But it was worth every single minute.

Sunday:

Sunday morning (or almost noon :-s), we got out for a walk on the beach, sat in the sand and watched the Scouts have their funny activities. Right before it started to rain, we decided to go back to the appartment for lunch. It started raining very hard, so we took the car and drove down the coast line to see cities like Blankenberge, De Haan, Oostende, Nieuwpoort, and then drove to Diksmuide, Staden and back to Roeselare. A great tour with nice countryside scenery.

Back home we had real Belgian frietjes (home made!) with stoofvlees. After lunch we started talking about my upcoming trip to Canada and wauw, she helped me so much giving really good information and hints about how to plan my itinery and she showed me some very useful websites. Thanks a lot, Amrita!

This weekend has been a blast! Lots of good talks, good food, good beer, good music and very good company. Again an experience to remember forever! See you soon, Amrita!