Bike and Barge

My second summer holiday was planned by Tim and a friend from America - a "Bike and Barge" trip from Amsterdam to Brussels.

The fearsome foursome in 's Hertogenbosch

Our friends arrived in Brussels on July 4th from North America after 10 days in London and Wimbledon. After a quick stop in Leuven (Belgium) we welcomed them to our new-to-us home in Venlo. We enjoyed a few fun-filled, yet relaxing days visiting the Floriade and Nuenen (the "Van Gogh Village") before setting off for Amsterdam.

Our hotel for the week

The trip was a great way to reconnect with old friends and make new ones! The daily cycling distance was about 25 miles (40 km), so the trip was not strenuous. We had time and energy for a guided city walk nearly every evening after dinner on the boat. Because I was "in training" for a big walking event, I did a little extra walking each evening, usually to a geocache to two (by the end of our trip, everyone knew what a geocache was, and one of the other passengers was hooked). Sometimes there was a special treat, such as a carillon concert in Mechelen.

Mechelen, Belgium by night

Staying on the boat was an option for those who needed a rest day or just wanted to avoid the rain. But because the wind is always blowing in the Netherlands, the rain tends to come in showers. So when it wasn't raining, the skyscapes were lovely.

Willemstad, Noord-Brabant (the Netherlands)

Despite less-than-perfect weather, the trip was a blast. The boat was crewed by the owners, including their two sons, about 6 and 9 years old. From sailing the boat to serving dinner, everything was done with a smile, making us feel like welcomed family guests. The other passengers came from Australia, Italy, South Africa and the US and were excellent company, which made the close quarters cozy and congenial even though we spent a lot of time indoors.

The passengers on our cruise
saying "tot ziens" at Brussels Station

Even though we had met only a week before, it was hard to say goodbye to our tour companions, our guide Ingrid, and the boat's crew. Our rainy week was brightened by the warmth of the people around us!

Town Mouse and Country Mouse

A fun town and country adventure in Belgium today. We started with perhaps the largest fair in Belgium, the annual winter market in Sint-Lievens-Houten. In addition to the usual fruits, vegetables, cheeses and sausages, and imported items of every kind (clothing, toys, household furnishings, to name just a few) there were plenty of cows, horses and tractors.

We saw John Deere and Lamborghini tractors, among others

The fair has been designated by UNESCO as part of the "intangible cultural heritage of mankind". Food plays a major role. I was tickled by the menu offerings at the many snack carts:

On the menu: hamburgers, hot dogs and escargots (snails in garlic sauce)

We skipped the escargots and instead enjoyed a grilled sausage slathered with mustard and grilled onions. Our snack was washed down with champagne since the fair's pavilion featured products of that region. The fair was fun, and different from our town's own Saturday market mostly in scale and language. In Sint-Lievens-Houtem we heard both Dutch and French spoken. In Venlo, it's Dutch and German (mostly the latter).

On the way home we stopped at Mechelen, a university town near Antwerp. I read recently that Belgium became a country in 1830 - as a political entity, it's younger than the United States. Mechelen has a much older feeling - we visited the 13th century Gothic cathedral, climbed the 15th century tower, and watched and heard the restored 18th century clockwork chime the hour. As the light began to fade we searched for chocolate pralines (an obligatory stop when in Belgium) and enjoyed an early dinner on the Grote Markt (main square).

Cafes on Mechelen's Grote Markt

I must be a town mouse*. I'm already planning our next visit to Mechelen, sometime in the late spring or summer. I'd love to hear the double carillon played (Mechelen is also home to a world-renowned carillon school) while sitting on the Grote Markt enjoying a Gouden Carolus beer.


*The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse is one of the Aesop's better-known Fables, and maybe my favorite. Unfortunately the Town Mouse doesn't come off so well, at least in the version I am familiar with. But I'm pretty certain that farm life isn't the life for me.