The Belgium experience is chance to change style of beers for a brief period before we hit the wines of France. We decided to go for the Belgium big four food experience; moules(mussels), beer, frites(they claim they invented these) and chocolate. Mark enjoyed the mussels(or should I say pipis as they were tiny- see the spoon above with four mussels on) but tasty, frites were average, chocolate was lovely but no better than NZ makers but the beer continues to delight as I enjoyed a Leffe Blond with my dinner. Mark ruined our desire for a pure Belge experience by ordering a Danish (Tuborg) beer and a pizza for lunch.

Because our rail ticket was for a whole day we were able to stop at Antwerp on our way through to Brussels. We stashed our bags in a locker at the station and went exploring. Antwerp was well worth the stop. After Amsterdam it was a delightfully clean and well organized city. A stunningly designed rail station with square light towers that spanned several floors and easy to use elevators suggested we were arriving at a well organized and cared for city, And that is what we did find. We strolled down the Meir (a walking precinct that ran the length of the central area )and enjoyed the lovely shops with a definite fashion theme. But as with Amsterdam, any thoughts that we had beaten the tourist rush in Europe were dispelled as bus loads of tourists continued to appear from everywhere.

The old architecture in Antwerp is charming with buildings of character filling the skyline views with ornate towers and frontages with incredible masonary work. It was a pity that the city had let tower blocks spring up in the old area but we did enjoy the clever architecture we did see.

Onwards to Brussels where an old bedraggled Central Station was a let down after Antwerp. From the train we were able to view the windows of the red light district as we arrived. Same set up as Amsterdam – is prostitution legalized here as well? What awaited us was a modern city however the modern architecture was much more constrained than Antwerp with a predominance of rectangular buildings made of a faded brown brick. The Grote Markt did house some amazing old buildings and interestingly, around the scaffolding of one of these large old building that was under repair were shrouds that depicted what the finished building would like when renovations were complete. We had also seen this in Utrecht. And yet again busloads of tourists walked across out paths in the Grote Markt and surrounds. But it would appear that Brussels is used to far more tourists than this as the number of eating places that were open were far from full and restaurant maitre d’s were out front aggressively seeking business. I CANT WAIT TO LEAVE THE CITIES AND TOURISTS BEHIND (oh that’s right we are tourists too).

Well we left the cities far behind. A train towards Luxembourg from Brussels dropped us ( an hour and a half later ) in the middle of no-where at a place called Marloie (still in Belgium). From Marloie we needed to catch a bus that was still 35 minutes away. So we wandered the streets of this village till we found the Taverna. Here we had a coffee whilst we watched the old men in the village supping their beers and playing a version of Euchre amidst a cloud of smoke. It reminded me of what it was like when my poppa on the Swiss side had his mates over to play cards many years back now.

The purpose of this diversion was to go to the outdoor area of Belgium, where there are hills and forests and mountain biking tracks. Our bus wound its way down this picture postcard valley to a small town that had similarities to Queenstown 50 years ago called La Roche en Ardenne. It was laid out alongside a river with tree clad hills climbing away from either side. It had been a while since we had seen real hills and we were now going to tackle them on a bike.

We found a little B & B in and old renovated terraced house and proceeded to get to know the lovely but unusual couple that run the place. Still getting used to this smoking thing as people still smoke indoors and in eateries. Also the numbers that smoke are huge. And yes our hostess smokes like a train with the smokers cough to go with it. But I don’t think we will die of second hand smoke in the short time we are away. But any prospective travelers – be warned. These European countries are not nanny states that control all aspects of people’s lives. If they want to kill themselves so be it. And still no helmets on bikes or scooters on the road.

We spent the next morning exploring the mountain bike tracks and the area on two very comfortable bikes given they were hired. We saw forests, farms working and explored tiny villages along the way. But first we needed to get to the top of a 200m climb straight up – so that got the heart rate up – but after that it was very gentle terrain being some off road and some on roads. All this exercise was necessary because I had been coveting a cake shop and needed an excuse to indulge in the most divine pear cake and coffee for lunch. The Boulangeries and Patisseries are just so enticing with their offerings laid out sumptuously in the shop windows. The croissants that I had for breakfast were the best ever, the butter nearly dripping out of the crisp flakey crust. Forget dying from lung cancer from second hand smoke, I will die from a cholesterol related heart attack.

We have fallen in love with the Belgium Blond beers – the Leffe and Ciney being our choice for lunch today. These guys really know how to make a beer. The local shop has a board with heaps of various beer bottles imbedded in and with a sign saying 300+ varieties. And the ALCOHOL content is nearly double that in NZ. Alcohol and cholesterol!!!!