In addition to my country bicycle rides, I have been trying to get out and see some the sites I didn't manage to see when I was here. Of course I have not kept up in posting as I have done these things so here are some miny snippets! (Waterloo, Ghent, and Namur)
Adventure to Waterloo (a.k.a. experiencing the back of a postman's mail car)
On Monday, I decided to go to Waterloo to visit the Butte du Lion, where the Battle of Waterloo took place and where Napoleon was defeated. It was something that I drove by many times while living here but never managed to visit. So I woke up that morning with a resolve to go! The bus line 365a is the line that runs between Charleroi and Brussels and was the bus that I got to know well when I was here. The stop is at the edge of town, so I got up early to make the half hour walk to the stop. But when I got there I saw the posting that the stop had been suspended until Thursday due to construction on the road. It then gave the names of a couple other stops that could be options. Knowing the direction the bus ran on the N5 (the highway) I started walking on a road right next to the highway, hoping that it would lead me to the next stop. So probably walking maybe 600 meters down the road, I was feeling good, accepting I'd have to catch a later bus, but ready for the adventure anyway!
View from the top of the mound overlooking
the site of the Battle of Waterloo
But then to my dismay, I say that this road connected with the N5 just before the next little village, with little shoulder and LOTS of cars. I didn't think I should walk on it, so i just accepted the fact that maybe today was not the day to go to Waterloo and turned around. Oh well, adventure thwarted, or so I thought! As I was walking back the mail man came driving up and stopped at the house next to where I was walking, so I went up to him and asked if he knew where the next stop for the 365a was. It was, as I had thought correctly, just down the road. I thanked him and was going to just go home as I didn't think I could walk along the highway, but then as an afterthought, I asked, "Can I walk on the road there?" He replied, "Sure!" and then almost as an afterthought said, "Would you like me to drive you?" I accepted (enthusiastically), but was then informed I would have to ride in the back with all the mail! Not a problem for me. Just another thing I can check off my things to do in life! So there I was sitting in the back of a post man truck with all the mail rolling along a Belgian road. Not what I expected to happen that day, but an adventure nonetheless.the site of the Battle of Waterloo
Riding in the back of a mailman's car!
He dropped me off at the stop, and voila! I made it to Waterloo and enjoyed hiking the steep steps up to the lion, overlooking the countryside, thinking about all the history that had happened just in this little spot. Then I descended, headed to the bus stop, and hopped on just as it started to full on rain. So I then had to run home in the downpour, arriving to find my just purchased (and expensive!) raincoat sitting on my bed. (Many of you all know that I managed to live in Bellingham for 6 years without ever owning a real raincoat, but I broke down and bought one for this trip, thinking it could be useful in Italy for working outside in the rainy season!)
Ghent (language party!)
Tuesday I went to Ghent, a town in northern Belgium that at one point in Europe's history, was quite the force. Read about the history of Ghent HERE. Ghent is in the north, so when we arrived very disoriented as to how to get to the center of town, it was amusing to try to communicate. Antoine, with his minimal knowledge of Dutch from school, me with my English, and some French thrown in. A lanuage melange! But most everyone spoke English, it was just fun to watch Antoine initiate conversation in Dutch, then try to communicate in French, and then me take over and talk in English.
Picturesque old-town Ghent(look close and you will see the canal)
*side language note: That night, after getting back to the house, I went with the family to a Rotary dinner, where Adele was giving a presentation on her past year as an exchange student to Australia. There were other students there - one from Australia, one from Brazil, and two other Beligans who just got back from Peru and Argentina. We all sat at the same table together, and it was such an exciting melange between English, French, and even Spanish. So fun to see how the brain can just kind of just weave in and out of these different languages. Communication is fun!
So BACK TO GHENT:
I just love visiting old churches (the two biggest being Saint Nicholas and Saint Michael) . There is something about theme that is so calming and full of wonder. Ghent has several of these whose history dates back almost 1000 years. Walking around, looking at all the intricacies of the architecture and carvings, its really a wonder how much care and detail were put into these worship spots. I just think about all the centuries of people who have visited these halls, all the different changes that has happened around these walls and yet here they are still standing. (I'm sure you are going to hear plenty about this after all my visits in Italy!)
The day wasn't the best day to do a tourist tromp around a town, as it kept raining on and off all day long (hey, I remembered my raincoat!), but regardless, Ghent's old-town is just beautiful. We also visited the Granvensteen Castle, which was first constructed in 1180 , and as of recent decades been restored. aaaaah! Oh I just remembered, I had a wonderful flashback to 6th grade in Mrs. Bradshaw's class when we studied about medieval times and the one thing I remember was talking about 'toilets' in castels (basically a big, long shoot down to the bottom). Well I saw one! hehe... Does anyone else remember dressing up and making food for the medieval banquet we had?!
Churches, churches, churches!
Okay, so somehow I managed to take a picture that
makes the castle look like a toy lego model,
but I swear it was actually quite large!
(with steep, lengthy staircases!)
Ah, that is a little better.
An example of a slight cultural difference between the north and the south:
As soon as we entered Flanders, at every train stop there would be lots like this -
hundreds of bicycles parked every which way. More people bicycle in Flanders
and according to Antoine, tend to be a bit more environmentally conscious.
Looking out from top of the citadel overold-town Namur
I hopped in the car with Paul, Camille, and Gaspard to do a quick tour of Namur - Gaspard was getting dropped off at his school (where he spends the night during the week) and Camille was going to a friend's house. Paul took me up to the citadel of Namur, which was constructed by Louis XIV (yes, the one associated with Versailles). Wow, what an amazing thing. This citadel is built into the hill which sits right up against Namur and the two rivers that flow in the valley. A perfect position to watch and guard 360 degrees around the valley. Up and up and up you drive to the top, And then descend down, down down. There are hallways and underground passages and little spots for archers to shoot their arrows, and I'm sure many other fascinating things that I didn't see due to the fact that it was evening so the entrances were closed. How is it that these things were built?!
well you can kind see how it sits in the hill...
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