Time to blog again, and you find me in he best of moods after a beautiful days cycling tfhrough Belgium, and a lovely hot shower to mark the end of a good day.
As promised by Charles, on sunday he showed us around Brussels, it was a bonus to have our own tour guide and we managed to squeeze in the entire city into a few hours. Walking around Brussels you can't escape the breathtaking architecture and the history it represents. We visited too many places to name, however, Grand Place was pretty special. My only critisism arrived the next morning when we had to cycle out of Brussels - a task not for the faint hearted! It was a nightmare. Literaly thought on at least 3 occasions that it was the end for ol' Joe Atkins. Anyway, death scares aside we managed to get back into the countryside by late morning, we wont be heading back to the cities in a hurry.
We put in a big shift and made up a lot of ground once out of the city. the weather and terrain were kind to us and we eventually pitched up on a campsite near Braives. I could write extensively about this campsite but to summarise in 3 words: Gypsies, dogs and mud. It was awful. Sam hit boiling point when he found out a full jar of mayonaise had spilt over most of his clothes and the rant was priceless, shame I didn't film it.
So ater a god awful night at pikey haven we got out of there as early as we could. Today has been the best day of the trip so far. Sunshine all day instantly lifted our spirits and cycling through the rolling hills has been a lot of fun. We're pitched up right next to a river and the site has hot showers, fresh water and clean toilets - all we ask of! Such a contrast to last night.
My opinion of Belgium has changed so much in the last few hours, as before today (Brussels aside), in all honesty, I thought it was a bit of a shithole.
As promised by Charles, on sunday he showed us around Brussels, it was a bonus to have our own tour guide and we managed to squeeze in the entire city into a few hours. Walking around Brussels you can't escape the breathtaking architecture and the history it represents. We visited too many places to name, however, Grand Place was pretty special. My only critisism arrived the next morning when we had to cycle out of Brussels - a task not for the faint hearted! It was a nightmare. Literaly thought on at least 3 occasions that it was the end for ol' Joe Atkins. Anyway, death scares aside we managed to get back into the countryside by late morning, we wont be heading back to the cities in a hurry.
We put in a big shift and made up a lot of ground once out of the city. the weather and terrain were kind to us and we eventually pitched up on a campsite near Braives. I could write extensively about this campsite but to summarise in 3 words: Gypsies, dogs and mud. It was awful. Sam hit boiling point when he found out a full jar of mayonaise had spilt over most of his clothes and the rant was priceless, shame I didn't film it.
So ater a god awful night at pikey haven we got out of there as early as we could. Today has been the best day of the trip so far. Sunshine all day instantly lifted our spirits and cycling through the rolling hills has been a lot of fun. We're pitched up right next to a river and the site has hot showers, fresh water and clean toilets - all we ask of! Such a contrast to last night.
My opinion of Belgium has changed so much in the last few hours, as before today (Brussels aside), in all honesty, I thought it was a bit of a shithole.
