I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any. - Mark Twain
Today I will arrive in Antwerp and tomorrow I get my first full rest day. A day off from cycling unless I choose to roll around the city on two wheels which might be fun. Mr Twain was on to something back in the nineteenth century as it is during the sleep and rest periods that the body recovers and gets stronger though you need to have done the exercise first.
An 8am start to avoid some of the heat and the conditions are perfect for trundling through the countryside on well maintained roads and cycleways.
Good roads come with various roadworks and every day requires some navigational judgement to get round them. Cycle along the verge, find an alternative route, wait for the heavy machinery to stop their work. My Komoot route doesn't always match the signposts and I generally follow Komoot and it never takes long before I am back on track.
Normally during a tour of a new country or region I would have said something of the history, culture and customs. I am struggling with Belgium despite there being many questions. Why Dutch speaking Flanders, French speaking Wallonia and legally bilingual Brussels? Why is there a German speaking corner of Belgium? How was Belgium formed? Why did it never acquire a unifying language as happened in a unified Turkey through Atatürk? What of its wars and revolutions? How long has the Belgium we recognise today existed? Why do you still see references to the Congo in restaurant names? It has been a challenge for me not to keep using phrases likening Belgium to somewhere not Belgium.
Today for the first time my body gives in; after 850km that isn't to unreasonable. Legs turn to jelly for no good reason, energy evaporates, and all I can do is rest and refuel hoping that that is enough.
This is of interest as I haven't come across many large houses in a way you would encounter manor houses and stately homes in the UK or Châteaux in France.
I stop in Eulegen for a proper lunch today after 47km of fairly constant pedalling. The typical Belgium menu will include an assortment of sandwiches built on baguette style bread, croque monsieur and its variants, croquettes, various meats usually with a sauce so either a goulash or a meat such as steak or escalope of pork or chicken with an optional sauce; Belgium likes sauces. Chips and salad are the usual accompaniments. Pizza, pasta, kebab, burger style places abound as they do everywhere. With an afternoon off in a small town it was noticeable how many people were out in the bars enjoying a leisurely beer or coffee; bar culture replaces the coffee shop of the UK and with the wide choice and quality of beer in Belgium you can understand why. Coffee comes as a small cup of black coffee in the French style and will have milk, sugar and a small biscuit on the side. Today's coffee also comes with a small condensed milk version of Baileys. For deserts Dame Blanche is everywhere and is ice cream with whipped cream on top and a side helping of chocolate sauce. For music it is reliably in the English language and most of that 1980's British.
Navigating the Antwerp cityscape isn't too demanding at first with pleasant green space.
The city streets soon crowd in though the cycle infrastructure continues.
Cathedral of Our Lady, Catholic.
The Grote Markt is the heart of Antwerp.
