Last night’s supper…it was a perfect finish for our cycling day. I imagine it’s what athletes in the Liège Bastogne Liège race fuel themselves with.

I have scarcely seen a more beautiful vista as today, en route to Maldegem, Belgium, on our bikes. We were kind of lost. It was windy and threatening rain. But if we were not a little bit lost, we’d have missed these. 

I love this trip. For so many reasons. Time with Peter. The cycling challenge. Movement while having a brain that feels more still. Beauty. Dark, thunderous skies followed quickly by sunshine. French. Dutch. Poppies everywhere. Finding an Antwerp printing museum that felt like it was custom made for us (starting in the 1500s…a long game). Red poppies growing everywhere! 

And I just had a cocktail called The Jane Birkin in a bar in Ghent. I feel happy. 

 

Today our route is from Mechelen north to Antwerp. We’re about 19 km into a 44 km route and feeling good after a nice lunch. 

We were daunted this morning by the rain but it stopped. And we started. And we’re 12 km in. Peter navigated us through the busy streets of Brussels during rush hour. Cars, bikes, scooters, buses, trams, pedestrians. And us. On our rental bikes. 


 

We managed to wind our way through the busy streets and get a brief snapshot of various parts of the city, including The Atomium and a robot that makes coffee. It was tasty!