Blogs from Belgium, Europe

Today was lovely day. We woke up to some delightful Fall weather. After breakfast Ray headed out to pick up our car which was parked on a nearby street. Not sure if I mentioned that the parking on the street was free from Saturday until Monday morning at 9:00 am. While he was gone I struck up a conversation with the concierge regarding the parking situation in Strasbourg. He said that normally the street parking was $35.00 for three hours. You pay for it at one of the stations located all around the city And you input your license plate number. If you should need more time, you must move your car to another location. They purposely make it difficult to encourage people not to drive into the City. He also said that he pays an ... read more

My phone packed in a few days ago so I haven't been able to update for a while. I've got a new phone now so I'm gonna try and do a catch-up over the weekend. Apart from the phone, the trip is going well. I'm learning a lot as I travel. Cycle touring is a great way to get an education. More on that in later posts. I'm in Brussels now. Old school navigation. Paper map, pay attention to road signs and ask directions. I found my way to the Gare Midi. I hoped to find an info office inside. Next best was a car rental place still open. I stupidly went in and left the bike against the glass window fully visible but unlocked. A minute later a man shouted in the door "Monsieur, votre ... read more

The Dan Briel is a fairly new hotel and was a great stopover in Gent. All in all we think Gent to be the best city we've visited so far. Logistics: We want to be in Cologne in 4 days. It's 264kms away, on average, 67kms per day. Antwerp is less than 60kms from Gent so we look for a place to stay on the eastern side of the city. For some reason there aren't many there. In fact we can only find one AirBnB at a distance of 64kms away. It looks fine and is a bargain too. Booked! We left Gent at 8am. Great weather and a tailwind again - I could get used to this. I was using Google Maps to navigate and Jeff was using MapMe. I took the lead. It all ... read more

This morning had a spritely start! I was back in my room for about 10:30pm last night…I think! I had the time to totally reorganise my bag, ready for the homeward journey. Also prepared my clothes and handbag too! I definitely sleep better when organised. If I’m not, it puts me on a mental back foot! Consequently, I slept like a baby!Hence being spritely today!! This morning we are heading for Belgium, so far so good. I’ve been watching a series of Cake Squad on my iPad to amuse myself! It’s a great tip for anyone travelling. Download programmes, series and films to your tablet or iPad before travelling. You can then view at your pleasure with no need for internet. Also, add a hdmi to iPad adapter to enable you to watch it on the ... read more

Monarch Empress spent the morning sailing through inland waterways in the Netherlands. Shortly after we crossed the Belgian border, the Boudewijnsluis lock carried the vessel into the River Schledt just above Antwerp. At Boudewijnsluis, the lock chamber accommodated four vessels at a time. I had not seen such a lock as this. Every other lock I had seen, whether on the Panama Canal, the Douro River, or the C&O Canal, had all been designed to accommodate a single vessel in a lock chamber. The Antwerp petrochemical port is the second largest in the world. The waterway is lined with petrochemical docks on either side. Ocean-going ships share berthing space with tanker barges ready to travel to points along the Rhine. Arriving at Antwerp, Monarch Empress berthed close to the city center. Thus, the afternoon walking tour ... read more