June 16, 2018
Day 82: Deule to Antwerp
Our first chore was to cover the 10 km from the little suburban town where we spent the night, into Ghent. We knew that we could navigate along back roads, but we have come to realize that almost all roads in Flanders have a bike way. So we hopped on a larger and more direct road, and sailed down the built in bikeway.
It seemed immediately obvious that Gent is a prosperous city. Our road was lined with large, high end , very tidy looking outlets. The first I really noticed was Tesla. Their cars, from across the street anyway, looked very flashy. But next up was Ferrari - flashier still. Next Porsche, and Mini. I decided a Porsche would be a good compromise if I were buying a car here today, but of course it would have to come with a good bike rack!
The availability of bike lanes kept up all the way in to downtown Ghent. Some say that Flanders is half way between France and Netherlands in its culture, but on bike stuff - it's far closer to Netherlands.
We rolled into the core of Ghent, and were immediately struck by the many towers and fancy buildings. One of the towers, of course, belonged to the cathedral, which is called Saint Bavo's. This church features lots of impressive statuary, and a really elaborate pulpit. A pulpit like that would come in handy for trying to impress anyone with your speech. It's a technology maybe politicians should try.
The cathedral was the type of church that has very many side chapels, and ones around behind the altar. Back there was also a very surprising relic - a whale, or at least a whale skeleton. It made me think they were really pulling out all the stops to impress people, as if their statuary were not enough. In fact it was an unusual nod to science,. The whale had washed up in Ghent harbour and the university had prepared the skeleton. Somehow the church then agreed to hang it. Of course, they are still using it to teach about Jonah and the Whale. That kind of defeats the nod to science, since Jonah was supposedly swallowed by a whale (technically, a "big fish") and survived three days inside before being vomited out to continue his evangelical work at Nineveh.
The cathedral continued its animal themes in a way by featuring the famous painting "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" , from 1432.
As impressive as the cathedral, as least as far as towers go, was the municipal bell tower. Like in Ypres, this stands close by also impressive Cloth Halls. All this recalls what must have been a very prosperous city, from the 14th century onwards.
Without trying hard to figure out which buildings were what, we just absorbed the atmosphere of a very large and well preserved medieval town. Here is some of what we saw:
Ghent has lots of cobblestone walking streets, with cafes and shops. We ran into one with an outdoor cart at which were being sold "Ghent Noses". This is a Belgian candy mad with gum arabic and raspberry flavoured. It is shaped like a cone or nose and has a chewy exterior and gooey interior. This is a legitimate Ghent specialty and dates from the late 19th century. In talking to the man selling from the cart we found he was local, having been born at the maternity home behind the castle.
Castle? We went over to have a look:
Nearby the castle is the 17th century Fish Market. There is a statue of Neptune there, appropriately enough.
Also nearby was at least one lamp standard. An info panel explained that when a baby is born at a maternity home in the city, the lamps are turned on. The square by the castle was once used for executions. The panel extols its new use for the celebration of new life.
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We set off down one of the interesting streets full of shops and fine buildings, but stopped short to find a little boy, about three years old, trying to cross the street on his "bike". Fortunately there was a nearby bicycle police officer. A lot of questioning maybe sorted out where the boy lived. In Ghent, anyway, the policeman is still your friend.
As we headed out of town in earnest, once again we were provided with a great bike lane. We love this city/country! Soon we were able to navigate onto a canal path. It was all so good.
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Again we noticed sort of high end stores on the outskirts of town. I hope "dump" has some other meaning in Flemmish than it does for us!
We had bike lanes all the way to the outskirts of Antwerp. Then we had to choose between a sign that simply indicated the bike way to the city, and the more complicated track we had from home. We went with the sign. Fortunately, just when the signage was failing us, there were two local cyclists nearby. They told us the next three turns. After that, the signs returned, and soon we were at the Scheldt River. Antwerp sits on the east shore. Antwerp is about 85 km along the river and its estuary, from the sea. This is a stretch that the Canadians fought hard to liberate in WWII, and is one much described in the Maple Leaf cycle route book about following the liberating soldiers' path.
To cross the Scheldt, we used the Sint Anna pedestrian/cycle tunnel. This was constructed in 1933, and still has a wooden escalator (plus an added elevator for bikes). You go down in the elevator, then through the tunnel, and back up. The buildings on either end are nondescript and not really marked. Yet this is a super cool feature of the city.
As it happens, our hotel, the Scheldzicht, is right at the tunnel exit and directly by the walking street that leads to the Grand Place. Dodie is just a genius at finding these places. The hotel is old and rickety, but our room is spacious, with large windows from which we see the tunnel building, and a big desk for writing this blog!
As often happens, we wheeled our bikes directly into the hotel lobby,to take off the bags before continuing with the bikes to some nice storage room. This time, as Dodie was removing one rear bag from my bike, the front wheel spun around and the bike, which had been resting on its stand, came crashing to the ground. All was well, except that the stand, which Michel and I had fixed to a brake mounting tab at the rear wheel, was ripped off - with the tab still attached.
We had been in a bike shop today, as I was complaining of a creak in my handlebars. Some lube quickly stopped that. Shown the Michel/Steve temporary stand solution, the mechanic recommended to leave it, since it had worked for many kms already. But now, that solution had been forcefully ripped off the bike. We need another bike shop, and we need a permanent stand solution. The heavy bike and packs are a challenge for any stand, to be sure.
This means we need to schedule ourselves to find and deal with a competent bike shop. We figure we will wait until Amsterdam, and we have our eye on a likely shop. We already tried to book a hotel nearby, but we find Amsterdam is almost totally booked up, at any price under 500 euros. We found somewhere 20 kms out. Oh well, commuting to Amsterdam by bike is still cycling, which is what we like to do.
For now we will just leave the bike without a stand, since all the fooling around we have been doing directly involves the bike frame, at a critical and quite thin point. There will be an answer, we just need time to find it.
Meanwhile, tomorrow, we understand the breakfast has bacon! And then, it's a look at interesting Antwerp before scurrying off and into the Netherlands!
(From my quick preview walk tonight:)
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I think the new stand has a chance of working, though I think it is rather flexy. It is certainly better than looking for places to lean the bike all the time. Of course there is the ultimate solution - switch to a trike!
6 years ago
Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 5,473 km (3,399 miles)
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Keep safe
Tricia
6 years ago
Yes, we are having to send me out to do the walking, and Dodie is increasingly longing for the operation(s) to happen.
We found that Cote d'Or, which is cheap Belgian chocolate, is as good as anything. But a six pack of bars bought two days ago is down to two - what piggies!
6 years ago