The Js are Silent

By Rory

To kick off summer, we chose to spend two weeks in Belgium, a country I had been to twice before for only a few days, and Krista only breezed through on the Eurostar once. We had heard good things about Belgium, among them what a great cycling country it is. So we booked ourselves one of the many self-guided cycling tours Europe has to offer, our fourth one. It was about a week on the bike, and then we spent an extra week traveling without bikes. We spent most of the time in the Flanders region, which is roughly the northern third of Belgium. Dutch is widely spoken.

Ghent

We started the trip in what turned out to be our favorite place in Belgium, the City of Ghent, a city that is built around several canals, giving it a lot of waterfront scenes to see. According to Lonely Planet, Ghent is “…the perfect introduction to how the continent’s cities work.” Its layout is pedestrian and bike-friendly, comfortable, and spectacularly scenic. In our one full day in Ghent, we visited the Ghent Belfry as well as the Sint-Niklaaskerk, two of the three main towers that make up the central Ghent skyline. We also went on a boat tour through Ghent’s canals.

The dragon in the Ghent belfry. Like Ljubljana, Ghent has a dragon for a city mascot.

Crazy sculptures in Sint-Niklaaskerk

The view from the top of the Belfry.

Shoes and handbags made of chocolate.

Crazy sculptures on top. Fast food on the bottom.

Canal scene.

On the Bikes!

Belgium’s elaborate, well-signed bicycle highway.

Our bikes were waiting for us at our Ghent hotel–heavy hybrid bikes, but as the route was mostly flat they were OK. They also supplied us with detailed maps for each day of the ride. And, of course (the best part) they picked up our luggage and moved it to the next hotel throughout the 6 day excursion.

We had heard Belgium had excellent bicycle infrastructure, and it didn’t disappoint. It was comparable to the Netherlands, where we had done one of these supported rides once before. There is an extensive network of numbered “highways” that cover the country. Most of the routes are along canals, on dedicated bike paths, or along rural roads with very little traffic. They also went through some beautiful wooded parks. Some photos from the ride….

Not-so-subtle sign indicating that bikes have priority over cars.

Brugge

When you read listicles about over-tourism in Europe these days, usually this charming little town is on the list. It has a perfectly preserved medieval central district, and is laced throughout with canals. The action-comedy film “In Bruges” is something of a joke on Brugge–a spy thriller in a cute little tourist town. Thankfully, our itinerary had us staying there on weekday nights, so the crowds weren’t too bad. It’s great to spend time in Brugge, but like Venice it’s a town that’s doubled down on its tourism. But we had a great time there, ate the best meal of the trip (really well done mussels, frites, and beer), and went to a great art museum, the Groeninge Museum.

One of our favorite beer spots, Cafe Le Trappiste.

Perfect message for our times from 1605. Titled “Mars, Surrounded by the Arts and Sciences, Conquers Ignorance.” Artist is Antonius Claeissens.

Antwerp

Our bike tour led us back to where it started in Ghent, and from there we caught a train for the short ride to Antwerp. By population, this is the biggest city in Belgium, and it feels like it. It had all of the intensity and cosmopolitan feel of other big cities, but also had loads of interesting things and charming neighborhoods. We spent 5 days in Antwerp, and for 2 of them we were joined by Jessica, Nick, and Cecil (our niece, nephew-in-law, and great niece) all of whom live in Amsterdam. While in Antwerp, we went to the Chocolate Museum, the amazing KMSKA (art museum), and the Plantin-Moretus museum (which is all about one of the world’s first publishers from the 15th century). We also walked around quite a bit, and did a bit of shopping with the relatives as Antwerp has a ton of locally-owned boutiques. And we saw the highly acclaimed Chicago band Horsegirl.

Where we arrived in Antwerp–the amazing train station.

This statue depict the city’s founder, Silvius Brabo throwing the severed hand of the giant Druon Antigoon into the river Scheldt. The entymology of the word “Antwerp” is a composition of the Dutch words “(h)ant” (hand) and “werpen” (throw or launch), according to the statue’s Wikipedia page.

Lunch with the Amsterdam crew!

KMSKA – Antwerp’s main art museum. The hand rotates at intervals.

From “Chocolate Nation,” the chocolate museum. A castle made of….guess what?

Centuries old printing presses at Plantin-Moretus museum. Also had an excellent gift shop with old prints, cards and post cards.

Tongeren

The last stop on our tour of Belgium was to the small, eastern city of Tongeren. We always like to make sure we get a little off-the-beaten path when we travel, and unlike the other cities we visited, Tongeren is not a huge tourist destination. It is a charming little town sitting in a region of the same name, dotted with small towns and villages, connected by forests and farmland between them. Tongeren has the excellent Gallo-Roman museum, which presents a really well done archeological history of the region. It also has a cathedral with a belltower you can climb to the top of, which we did. The towns of Tongeren region has a number of scenic towns as well as public art, which we toured by renting a car one day, and bikes on another day. Photos below.

Most Belgian cities have a “Grote Markt,” which is the central square which is lined with cafes and restaurants, and where the city comes to just hang out. Tongeren is no exception.

Sinte-Truiden Grote Markt.

Public art near Tongeren–a dissolving chapel.

Krista with mini-horses on the side of the bike route.

About the Beer….

And finally, for those that made it this far, a special photo display dedicated to Belgium’s beer. It’s probably not news to anyone that Belgium is a big beer country, with hundreds of breweries producing all sorts of delicious brews. Trappist ales, fruit beers, dubbels, trippels, IPAs, steam beer–all of these can be found in Belgium. So below, a tribute to the beer we drank along the way and the cool beer glasses. Beer snacks that typically come with a round range from cheese cubes and mustard to chips to peanuts. Heaven!