Back to Brussels, and off on our bikes!

Our sadness over leaving Turkey was made much easier by our family's happiness at being welcomed back to Emile Wittman Straat by Kate, Wim, Lyra and Theo. It was a special treat to stay at their house after having moved around so much the previous five weeks. Breakfast around the family table, dinner out on their backyard terrace and trips to the playground for the kids made us feel like we were home, though the incredible lushness of Josaphat park,

the unbelievable frites from the corner friterie, and freshly made waffles from a street stall reminded us we were in Brussels. We had all planned to immediately embark on a four day camping and cycling vacation, but the comfort of Kate and Wim's place, plus the dismal weather forecast (which turned out to be mostly wrong - though the one cold and rainy night experienced from under the cozy warmth of our duvet meant we didn't regret the decision!) made us decide to stay put for a few nights.

We used the time to relax (me) and reassemble and prep our bikes (Paul - creating an ingenious mechanic station out of bungee cords and rope). We were also able to do a couple of cycling day trips,  thanks to our incredible tour guides Kate and Wim (I'd give them a 10 out of 10 on trip advisor). The first was in and around Brussels, to a couple of amazing playgrounds the kids never wanted to leave, then to a forest where we rode through a hushed corridor of ancient beech trees.

While Kate and Wim say Brussels leaves a lot to be desired in the way of bike safety, the trails and routes they lead us on were terrific, with wide, protected and often landscaped paths, so much safer than what we have in Toronto (spoiler alert - descriptions of paradisical bike infrastructure coupled with laments over the dismal status of bicycles at home will pop up repeatedly in the posts to come...).

We also spent one lovely day on the Dutch peninsula. We took our bikes on the train to Knokke then biked from the station to Wim's parents' place in the seaside retreat of Cadzand, easily reached by a beautiful path.

We'd been there twice before and it was so much fun to return there, and also to visit with Lisse and Jan, as well as Wim's brother Jan and his partner Mich. Lisse prepared the thirteen of us a sumptuous mid-day meal of north sea shrimp, tomatoes, green beans, roast chicken and frites. We lingered over red wine and basked in the sun on the back patio, the kids playing happily in the yard below and then the nearby playground, before we all took off for the 20 km ride over fields and along the canal to Brugge.

We had visited the world famous canals and narrow streets on previous visits so just breezed through in time to catch the train back home, my apologies that I forgot to take pictures of this historic and beautiful town...

Back in Brussels we engaged a babysitter for our final night together and went out with Kate and Wim for ribs with Liege syrup, sole au beurre, and lapin with krieke (a tart cherry beer), accompanied by just in season asperagus and an appetizer of the North Sea shrimp. We topped it off with a walk through the just darkening skies - sunset comes late in Belgium in May- 

to the Biere Bibliotheque (sorry I can't figure out how to do accents on this keyboard), which I would summarize by paraphrasing the Eagles - you can check out any beer you like, but you never want to leave.

After five days together we said our farewells, and coasted on our fully loaded bikes downhill to the train station for the short trip into Holland, where our cycling network started. It had taken us awhile to pack our paniers properly and assemble our camping gear (especially since Paul and Wim had to make an emergency trip to the camping store when we discovered the day before leaving that someone (surely not me) had forgotten to pack the tent poles for one of our tents) but the result was worth it and we felt ready to go as we journeyed on the train.

As soon as we arrived in Roosendaal we knew we were in the Holland of our cycling dreams - able to bike straight off the platform and into the streets, with hundreds of bikes parked outside the station, and masses of cyclists converging on the path outside of the town. Our destination that night was Dordrecht, and the route there was a delight, no worries about the kids' safety on the dedicated paths so they could bike with us,

or race ahead.

We had planned to take a short ferry from the marina just before Dordrecht, but it had stopped running for the day. We found the Jacob M. boat instead, 

as well as an alternate route across the dike. Dordrecht itself was lovely, 

and we stayed with a family we met through a highly recommended website called (somewhat unfortunately) warmshowers.org, which hooks up touring cyclists with cycle-friendly hosts who offer free accommodation (Jacob remarked that all they learn in school and at home is to avoid strangers on the Internet, so why were we now going to stay with complete strangers we met online? good point!). Andrei and Klarina and their four sons do yearly cycle touring trips, so appreciated how welcome such hospitality would be for other cylists. We were so grateful for the delicious dinner and cozy beds  - and the fresh baked bread at breakfast! - and the kids had fun bouncing on the trampoline in the garden together.

That day's cycle started in the harbour, 

then took us across busy long spanning bridges,

where, in contrast to much of North America, where cyclists and pedestrians are either in peril or banned from crossing major bridges completely, we always had a dedicated pathway.

We loved the public art that greeted us at our mid-day stop in Rotterdam, 

but the weather turned cold and rainy, so we didn't linger outside, and with our bikes fully loaded we couldn't really lock them up and go into a cafe or to any of the museums (which at any rate were closed since it was a Monday). The kids and I did do some picnic shopping from the amazing indoor food market/condo complex while Paul watched the bikes outside. The building was nice enough from the outside, sitting across the street from the cathedral and with sculptures that doubled as climbing structures on the green out front.

It was spectacular on the inside, with the walls painted in collage from arched ceiling to floor, and the two massive side walls completely made up of windows, 

through which you could see a few of Rotterdam's architectural gems that we cycled past on our way out.

Our day's route finished with a trip through fields lined by small canals where waterfowl and their babies were hidden amongst the reeds. Cows and sheep grazed peacefully, completing the pastoral scene.

The weather turned even more rainy and by the time we reached our campsite we were all cold and wet, especially Tom who got spattered by mud from Paul's bike 

- we subsequently installed a more protective mudguard that we hope will perform better in the next rainstorm. 

In lieu of a tent we opted for a tiny cabin, unheated but cozy, with a table and four bunk beds.

We woke up the next morning and headed straight for Amsterdam, stopping in Gouda long enough for waffles for breakfast in the centre square, where large rounds of the eponymous cheese (or models thereof) hung from wires strung up above, then it was onwards to Amsterdam, the tiny country paths a contrast with the bustling metropolis we were about to experience.