Belgium

So we headed into Belgium and our first stop was a town called Doel which is a small town just outside Antwerp. This town was identified in the early 70s as an area for the port to expand into and since then there has been an on-going war between the inhabitants and the Government regarding the future of the town. The number of residents has dropped from around 2,000 to 30 and most of the houses lie empty. Currently the residents have saved the town until 2020 but its future after that still seems uncertain. Artists have taken to the area and many of the derelict houses have murals on the outside walls. We walked around the town for a little while stumbling upon many of the murals but it was a ghost town and apart from 2 cyclists who were also mural spotting we didn’t see anyone. We did find a couple of houses that were occupied and a pub but that was all the town had. There were no cars driving on the road and no sound apart from the water in the river and birds singing. All in all it was very spooky. After the wander around the town we headed further south nearer Antwerp to a camper stop in Brasschaat where we planned to spend a couple of nights. The camper stop was in the middle of a large park with a Chateau in the middle and contained a couple of campers including another English one. We were going to have a good chat to them, as they were young unlike most English campers we meet, but they were stood outside the van in keep fit gear and doing random exercises so we decided they weren’t our kind of people and we instead retreated to the van to eat some Belgium chocolate and drink some Belgium beer.

The following morning we were back on the bikes and cycled into Antwerp which was an 14km cycle. The city was larger than we thought and started to explore and soon found many chocolate and beer shops around every corner.  We went to the heart of the old town and saw the town hall, before walking around the old town and the fashion district. We also went into the pedestrian tunnel under the river which still contains the historic escalators.  The number one thing to do in Antwerp, according to Trip advisor, is the Central Train station so we went to see it and it was a lovely building and impressive as the trains enter and leave on three different levels. After lunch we headed out of the centre into a very wealthy area with stunning architecture. The houses along the main street ranged from large Georgian white houses that would be suitable for Hogwarts. After admiring all the houses we headed to a nearby brewery for the De Koninck which brews several beers including Duval. We did a full tour of the brewery which including a couple of different beers to try (which were the bet bit). After the tour and the beers we decided to head back to the van but 1km into the 15km ride Rich got a completely flat tyre and as all the shops were shut and it was dark we didn’t think we could fix it so it was a long and dark walk back to the van.   

  

The following morning we had another admin day as I had a job interview; Rich had to fix the tyre on his bike, which it turned out had 2 punctures and we needed to give the van a clean. We travelled around Belgium a little to try and find a camper stop which had working services and would give us the space to actually fix the bikes. After we managed to get everything done we travelled to Grimbergen which was just outside Brussels and would be perfect for us to explore Brussels from.

The following morning we got up early and cycled the 11km to Brussels, stopping on the way at the Atomium which is a large structure which was built for the World Fair in the 80s and still remains. It was impressive and we managed to see it all lit up on our way back home in the evening. We continued on into the town and soon found the large stock exchange building which was impressive until we saw the Grand Place which is the main square and contains the cathedral and some stunning buildings covered in ornate gold statues. We then went in search of the comic strip murals and the statues of the little boy, girl and dog peeing that are dotted around the streets. We managed to find a couple of the comic strips and even saw one being painted and we managed to find the three statues. The boy statue is the most famous and he is dressed in different outfits depending on events going on in the city. We then cycled out to the royal palace which was a bit of a let-down as it wasn’t as beautiful as the rest of the city. We then travelled out further to the Laws Court which is one of the largest buildings built in 19^th century. When we got to the courts we saw a few news crews and as we explored the cavernous building we spotted more and more news crews. We did a quick bit of googling and realised that the courts were reviewing the extradition order of the Catalonia former prime minister. While we were walking around the judges came out and gave their verdict, that they would be adjourning the case until December. With that excitement over the journalists al left and we continued on with our journey around the city and found the historic shopping arcade and then we went to the Delirium Café for a beer. There were over 2000 to choose from which made it difficult but I ended up having a grapefruit pink beer while Rich had a strong beer called Guillotine and was 8% so he only had a small one. After that we headed back to the van through the city centre which was far more difficult than our early morning cycle as the roads were much busier and we had to fight traffic until we got out of the centre but at least we made it back with all 4 tyres inflated.

The following day we headed to a chocolate factory where we bought some chocolate and got to try as much as we liked. We kind of overdosed on chocolate and by the end we couldn’t face the thought of chocolate (and still cant!). afterwards we continued driving towards our next destination – Ghent. We had to service on the way which was interesting as there is a lack of places in Belgium to do that but we had pre-arranged with a place to do it, but as usual it didn’t come easy. We finally arrived at the stop which was a couple of KMs outside the city and would mean we could get into the city in the morning.

We got up early to explore Ghent which was larger than we thought and contained several historic castles and the cathedral. There was an event at the cathedral for a saint but we couldn’t quite work it all out so we didn’t hang about too long. We cycled of the historic centre to the park where we found that a big cycling event was on but we didn’t have ticket so couldn’t go inside to see what was happening. After a cycle around the park we headed back to the centre for some lunch, a bit more exploring and a pancake before going back to the van and spending the night in the same camper stop.