After again waving goodnight, we luckily ran across a late night tram which went quite near our hotel. We also found a McDonalds, to satisfy our Kölsch fuelled hungers. We then wearily trooped back to the hotel and crashed out.

The following morning, we had an early start for our train back into Belgium. Fortunately it was sunny, which is always a welcome bonus, and makes even the most tired of mornings seem that much more bearable. We grabbed a load of food at the station for our journey using the last of our Deutschmarks, and settled down to the long haul back over the route we’d taken the previous day. Sadly, there were some problems with the railways in Belgium, so instead of being a fast service, we ended up calling at every two bob station, which increased our journey by almost an hour. We got off at Gent to change, and grabbed a refreshing beer before our short ride on to Deinze. The ticket salesman and then the guard tried to confuse us but fortunately we got off at the right place. We then had to find the hotel, for which we had directions. Upon enquiring about hotels in Deinze, I was told "there is only one", so the choice was not difficult. As we strolled up the road, we saw the Gainesville troop entering the town, and we were treated to a good natured hand gesture from Ryan, which lead to a number of good natured threats of extreme violence and a quick chat with Theresa from Southampton upon our return to England. Our honour restored, we proceeded out of the town to our hotel whilst the bands made their way to the centre and the venue.

Our hotel was quite a way out. And it was really hot. We were pleased to finally arrive. We then had a strange conversation with the owner. Having (quite reasonably) asked if he could call for a taxi, he laughed at us as if we were insane. Apparently, for a taxi in Deinze (a mid sized town), you have to call for a taxi from Gent (as they don’t have any taxis in Deinze), and the taxi then takes about forty minutes to arrive. You then have to pay the driver for his journey from Gent, your trip in Deinze, and the driver’s journey back to Gent. Roughly thirty five quid. Needless to say we walked, and my estimation of Belgium sank to its lowest point yet.

We then had a nightmare finding the venue. Having tried to follow the directions Bill form Discount had given us, we couldn’t find the place. We then walked all the way through the town centre, and then all the way back again once we’d discovered a local who knew where the venue was. We then bumped into the bands, and between us worked out that Deinze was in fact, closed. The venue ("Brilliant") was in fact where we’d first walked, at the youth centre. The downstairs had a bar and a PA and was pretty neat. It was only a little later that we discovered the gig was to take place upstairs. A few Hoegaardens later, and encouraged by the sight of frites from some of the more intrepid of the Gainesville posse, Chris, Kaleb (from As Friends Rust), Nick, Steve and I went on our quest for deep fried food products. This took us to the outskirts of the town, and a frites caravan of sorts. Upon stuffing ourselves (and Chris saying a sad farewell to his last taste of his beloved samurai sauce), we then took the long walk back. I was getting a little concerned we may have missed Discount, but luckily we had not. Sadly though, we caught our first glimpse of the venue, which was not good. It was basically a soulless white room with windows down one side, a vocal PA, no stage, and white strip lighting. Despite this, it was good to physically be so close to the bands when they played, and the sound was remarkably good. And despite the meagre turnout the bands still gave their all, which I guess should not have been as surprising as I’ve made it sound. I guess it was also a little sad as we knew this was certainly our last gig, and they’d be flying back to Florida the next day whilst we were "back to nowhere"!