Bricks and Mortar
Netherlands & Belgium: Stage 07 – Antwerpen to Ghent 59 Km (Mon 11 July 2022)
Weather: 15⁰C min – 26⁰C max, glorious sunshine
“Riding bicycles will not only benefit the individual doing it but the world at large.” ~ Udo E. Simonis
On a glorious summer day in Belgium there is nothing you would rather be doing than cycling. As you glide along on perfect paths and smooth quiet roads you become totally immersed in the present. You see nothing but beauty all around. Nondescript towns now show themselves to be pristine, clean and tidy. Houses that yesterday seemed drab and colourless are now appreciated for the artisanship of their brickwork. Skillful brick layers knew just how much mortar to leave oozing out from between the bricks and how much to leave smeared over the bricks to add effect.
But first I had to overcome the problem of retrieving my bike from the unattended, automated, underground, secure parking station. The only instructions to open the glass barriers were in a foreign language which I have since determined is Flemish (which answers one of my questions about Belgium). Google Translate came to my rescue, telling me to place the wheel of my bike on the rubber mat before presenting my credit card. Alas my bike is inside! A similar problem occurred last night when I managed to get my bike inside but could find no exit. I ran around like a caged rat looking for a way out and was getting desperate when I decided to press the little “i” button and got to speak to an English speaking human who opened the gate for me.
Feeling relieved, I clipped on my two yellow Ortlieb panniers, switched on my Garmin Edge 1030, and faithfully followed the red line on the map. After a couple of km I was puzzled when Garmin showed me the line crossing over a river, yet there was no bridge or ferry in sight. As I got nearer I saw it was directing me down a ramp into a long bicycle tunnel under the water.
My route then took me on a nice bike path alongside the river until I got out of town, then through lush green countryside and, of course, lots of maize crops to make more of that famous Belgian beer.
Feeling at peace with the world and marvelling at all the beauty around me, I started to notice a few planter boxes of flowers and even a colourful garden full of red poppies and sunflowers (two of my favourite flowers). Who said Belgium was colourless!
Arriving into Ghent I was greeted by a real treat … a coffee and bicycle shop called “Bidon” with a real barista serving the best cappuccino I have had since I left Sydney. It was so pleasant sitting outside in perfect sunshine overlooking the petunia-lined canal that I ordered another cup.
After eventually dragging myself away from coffee heaven I completed the last km of what was a marvellous day of riding. The pretty town of Ghent just blew me away. It certainly couldn’t be called colourless.
I couldn’t help singing to myself the Louis Armstrong song “It’s a Wonderful World”.
Glad to hear you found some poppies – just gorgeous! A lovely reward for making it out of the bike parking garage – sounds like a challenging mental test, that. Delrium Tremens is an interesting name for a beer – not sure if I’d want to imbibe it.
Sophie’s Sweets, on the other hand… sign me up?