Aalst

August 17, 2023 to August 20, 2023

We were supposed to leave today to start the last leg of our journey back to Utrecht, but after the wedding yesterday James wasn't in much shape to do anything, let alone ride his bike. And besides, we had such a special decided to extend our stay until tomorrow.

We arrived at the farm two days before the wedding so we had plenty of time to help with setting up party tents and lighting. The wedding was at graces parents farm so there were also farm things to do like help pick up the hay. Of course lots of their family were here to help out too so it was really cool to feel like part of the family for a few nights. Grace has two nephews of around 10 - Tobias and Robbe - and especially the two Tobias' formed an immediate close friendship. Our Tobias shared all his snacks with big Tobias before he ate any himself (2 year old for "I love you") and the bigger kids spent hours playing with him on the toys and in the bouncy castle or on the bikes. Today when they were all a bit tired from staying up last night I found them snuggled on the couch watching tv together.

The wedding was a whole day affair and really fun. Tobias'highlight was that we got to ride in a "bakfiets bike" in a convoy to the city hall for the ceremony. The city hall ceremony was short and we all rode together back to the farm for a long lunch and a more personal ceremony (thankfully while Tobias napped so I could actually listen to all the really sweet speeches). In the evening a new wave of guests arrived and we enjoyed our last proper Belgian party for a while. We had met many of Lander's friends and family in the past, so we didn't feel too much like outsiders, even though we were definitely in the minority of non Belgians. While I snuck away to bed relatively early, James always has issues at Belgian parties. He loves Belgian beer, but it's very strong and if you drink too much it's not so great the next day. In his defence I did wake up at one point and hear him protesting another beer from Lander because he had to parent the next day, but Lander was more persuasive.

Feeling a bit guilty for the state of James, but also to delay our goodbyes a bit longer, Lander suggested we stay one more night on the farm and then he would drive our luggage so we could bike two days in one. It didn't take much convincing to stay. I took Tobias duty in the morning and had an eery 3 hours on the farm while everyone without 2 year olds slept in and then we had a nice shared breakfast in the marquee before starting the dismantling of the wedding set up. There was still a bit of beer left in the tap so we didn't knock off too late and had takeout for dinner with the whole family. Tobias had a big cuddle for Robbe and Tobias and they promised to see us in 8 years in New Zealand when they can get working holiday visas. Everyone drifted home until it was just Lander, grace, James and I sitting watching the sunset reflecting on a really great week.

Tomorrow we will start off on the last leg of our journey. It is somewhat retracing the route we took back to Utrecht in November 2016 after we first came to stay with Lander in his student flat in Aalst. We will stay tomorrow in the same bed and breakfast as on that trip, though the route will be a bit different since that time James took us fully loaded in the snow on a tour of Flemish classic cobble climbs.

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