So About Eco Hostel.
Eco hostel is like no other hostel that we have been to, it is a converted industrial barge, with a reed
bed water purification on top of the roof, you sleep on 100% natural mattresses
in a low energy building that's CO2 neutral... The breakfast is vegetarian,
organic and fair trade; and they have some excellent organic beers, wine,
lemonade and juices. Its loving maintained and owned by the wonderful couple
that is Maarten and Liselot, but
more about them later.
The hostel oozes quality,
from the big showers to the bespoke rooms, individually designed and uniquely
decorated by the owners, it's a labor of love for them and with only 18 beds it
has a lovely homely feeling.
The hostel oozes quality,
from the big showers to the bespoke rooms, individually designed and uniquely
decorated by the owners, it's a labor of love for them and with only 18 beds it
has a lovely homely feeling.
We aim to make
each mural individual to the hostel and right for it's location so it was
important to us that this mural fitted in. We are also incorporating images
from the previous cities we have visited. We were giving free run of the hostel
and told we could do what we liked, where we liked. We chose shades of browns
for this mural so as to blend in with the natural feel of the barge. The wood
was a treat to paint on with the grain and stains coming through the paint and
maintaining it's natural feel. Overall there are around 50 individual stencils
painted in a block of the corridor, a huge mix of subjects and I'm really happy
with the look of the finished piece as well as the reaction of those that have
seen it.
The inspiration
for this mural came from something Maarten said about the upkeep and design of
the barge, that the attention to detail is key.
So About our
Hosts
We felt an immediate
bond with Maarten and Liselot, when you have a list of hostels and names that
we are going to visit they are just that, a faceless list and you never know what to expect. But by the end of the visit we had shared
some lovely meals with them, a delicious homemade vegetarian pie with salad and
then the mother of all cheese boards, check out the photo! all washed down with
some v.strong organic Belgium beer.
We share quite
the same views on the world and had some amazing late night conversations, one
that sticks in my mind, is why is there no mixed sexes strip joints? but seriously
we enjoyed our time with them, they went far out of their way to help us, introducing
us to a whole side of Gent that the tourists won't see, this culminated in us
seeing ROA's playground and selling our wares at the last DOK market.(see lastblog entry) We hope to see you again
and thanks for the opportunity.
Really great
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