Adventures in Europe: Kunststedenroute bike ride to Ghent, Belgium

I was still determined to get my bike ride in before I leave Belgium tomorrow, so last night I stopped in at the bike rental place at the Antwerp train station. The man there was tremendously helpful. Not only did he set me up with a bike, but he walked me through all sorts of route options. Originally I thought I would ride to Brussels along what they call a cycle highway, but he discouraged that for several reasons. One of his alternative suggestions was the Kunststedenroute, or the "Art Cities Route": https://www.vlaanderenmetdefiets.be/en/routes/kunststeden.html. The whole route is 300+ kilometres from the coast to Brussels, but it passes through Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and so on. My bike rental friend told me if I rode to Ghent and took the train back I would have a lovely ride along the Scheldt River and should be able to get in a full metric century (100 kilometres of riding). And, so, that is what I decided to today.

No rain this morning, although it was quite cold as I set out. I would have started earlier, but I wanted it to warm up a little. Even with a late start my fingers were numb as I navigated out of Antwerp. Partly because I needed to add a few kilometres to my route to reach 100, I decided to detour a little past the Guiette house, which is one of a group of buildings designed by the architect Le Corbusier that are UENSCO-listed. I was intrigued that a residential home would have a UNESCO designation and indeed I managed to cycle right by it without realizing! In the end, I did get a picture of the side of the house!

I suppose without scaffolding perhaps it is more impressive? Here is some information about it:

On 17 July, 2016 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to list 17 buildings designed by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier as World Heritage. The Guiette House is one of them. The other buildings are located in Argentina, Germany, France, India, Japan and Switzerland. Together with these countries it took many years and hard work to get these unique sites listed by UNESCO. The Guiette House is the only preserved building of Le Corbusier on Belgian soil. It was built in 1926 as a residence and studio for the Antwerp painter René Guiette.

In the end, I was more impressed with the tunnel I transited under the Scheldt! It required riding an elevator on either side of the river, and then a bike ride through this tunnel. I am sure it was a good kilometre long. A little eerie, in a way. That is a lady on a scooter way ahead of me.

To be honest, getting out of Antwerp had been challenging, and I was still cold as I reached the other side of the river. I was really not confident I was going to make Ghent. I had to return the bike in Antwerp by 19:00, so I had to make it to Ghent in time to catch the train back. I was under the impression that there was an train hourly, but I was confused by the train schedule, and moreover had failed to save it, so was also not confident as to when the trains were running and how long it would take to get from Ghent to Antwerp. All of this was unfortunate, because it meant I was too anxious to stop along the route and enjoy the cafes and restaurants and other spots that might have been nice to stop and relax at.

I had some almonds, but otherwise nothing to eat, so I did stop at a trailside snack spot around noon. It was run by a very friendly Filipino lady who has a cousin in Canada and was eager to chat and even teach me some Dutch (i.e., how to know which bin to put your beer can in vs. which one is garbage). She wished me a nice ride and visit in Belgium as I rode away.

My route crossed the Scheldt a few times--once with the tunnel, of course, and here I was crossing a lock on a canal that came off of the river, presumably to control flooding.

But the best place I crossed was here, where a little boat ferries cyclists back and forth across--so cool!

At many places along the route there were sheep in temporary enclosures, apparently to "mow" the grass.

By the middle of the afternoon, I was confident I would reach Ghent, but still unsure how much time I had to spare, so was keeping on pretty strong, rationing my water and almonds through the afternoon. I passed Wetteren as I approached the outskirts of Ghent-- you can see the impressive church tower high above the town!

Obviously with the position of the sun my photography whilst cycling was less than ideal, but really it was just the angle of the sun, because even my photo off the bike looks like that!

Shortly after 15:00 I reached Ghent!

I went straight to the train station to figure out the train. In fact the schedule told me there were trains every half hour and take less than an hour, and so the 17:27 train seemed just fine. That still gave me over an hour to spend in Ghent. 

In about ten minutes I found the centre of Ghent and the famous squares and belfries. The town was bustling, and all the cafes and restaurant patios were packed. 

I tried to lock up my bike at the enormous bike rack in the Korenmarkt square, but it was so crowded I could not fit in. There were well over a hundred bikes locked up--maybe two hundred! I found a fence I could lock the bike up at and then got some lunch. Burger King appealed, for some reason; strange cravings after riding 100 kilometres . . . After that I walked around a little and bought a postcard and with that my time in Ghent was done, so I rode back to the train station.

It was only after buying my ticket and the bike supplement and reaching the platform that I understood there was a change in the schedule and there was no 17:27 train. As far as I could understand, there is work on the railway between Sint-Niklaas and Antwerp which meant the train was running less frequently. I double-checked and confirmed there was a 17:57 train, which I figured was going to be fine. At 17:57, I boarded the train, found somewhere to stand with my bike, and we were off. Of course, work on the track turned out to mean a detour, south from Sint-Niklaas across the Scheldt River.

Anyway, all that to say that we were running well behind schedule and I was getting quite nervous that we would not reach Antwerp by 19:00. In fact, we did pull in at 18:55, and I managed to wheel out of the station and down the sidewalk on the bike, reaching the bike rental shop at 19:01. Happily, the door was still unlocked and I was able to return the bike without trouble; phew! Tomorrow I am catching the train from Antwerp to AMS to fly home, and I did not want to have to spend the morning dealing with an overdue bike rental!

Adventures in Europe: Antwerp, Belgium

On Thursday I bussed from Fisterra to Santiago, flew from Santiago to Barcelona, from Barcelona to Brussels, and then took the train to Antwerp. It was a long day, and I arrived at my hotel near the central station around 22:00.

This morning it was raining, so I lingered over breakfast, but eventually it did clear up. I had been keen to rent a bike, but the weather dissuaded me. Instead, I began exploring Antwerp on foot in the early afternoon.

The neighbourhood around the train station is the diamond district, and very interesting! The diamond industry is dominated by Antwerp's historic Jewish community, although the newer Indian community is apparently making inroads. This means there are jewelry stores (lots of them!), synagogues, diamond brokerages, Indian restaurants, kosher delis, and Judiaca bookstore all side-by-side-by-side. I was hesitant to photograph around here out of respect for the Haredi Jews that were walking around, but it was all quite fascinating.

Further towards the river is Antwerp's tallest building, and what was once the second tallest building in Europe! It is rather quaint now, but I suppose it speaks to what an a) major economic centre Antwerp once was and b) how relatively insignificant it is today. Still, its diamond district remains the largest in the world and according to Wikipedia 84% of the world's rough diamonds passed through Antwerp!

Past the KBC tower (as the "skyscraper" is now known) is the old town, and Antwerp's iconic Grote Markt.

I stopped nearby for an obligatory Belgian waffle.

Then I went down to the Scheldt River. There is a pedestrian tunnel under the river, but it's under restoration and there is a free replacement ferry, which I took advantage of.

I sat in a park on the other side and read my book with a view across the river. That tower is the cathedral's and is among the fifty-six belfries in Belgium and France that are UNESCO-listed.

Back across the river, I considered visiting another UNESCO site, the Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex.

This was a printing press and publishing house dating from the 16th century.

I went inside and looked around a little, but I was discouraged from paying the entry fee because it was closing soon, so rather I sat outside and had a beer!

Adventures in Europe: Camino to Fisterra, Spain

Diana had to return to Canada on Sunday, but I had enjoyed the Camino Portugues so much that I decided to add on four more days of walking and continue on to Fisterra (or Finisterra), "the end of the world."

I picked up my credentials at the Santiago pilgrim's office on Saturday night.

The camino pre-dates Christianity and before Santiago was the destination it was apparently Fisterra, which was thought to literally be the end of land and where one could watch the sun die each night. While most pilgrims nowadays finish in Santiago, the extension to Fisterra (or Muxia) is still popular.

In the afternoon and evening this street outside of the hotel I stayed at Saturday night is packed, but on Sunday morning as I prepared to leave, it was deserted. 

So was the first kilometre or so of my route as I headed away from the cathedral.

This was my first marker of the Camino Fisterra.

Somehow you leave Santiago in no time, and soon I could look back across fields and forest and see the cathedral spires above the city.

I had twenty kilometres to walk today, and it was a lovely route. 

I passed through Ponte Maceira, which is supposed to be one of Spain's most beautiful spots. 

I reached Negreira around 14:00. I pushed hard the last hour or so because it was getting quite hot and I was hungry!

Monday was my longest day of walking, thirty-two kilometres in all, so I got an early start. I was rewarded with a gorgeous sunrise as I climbed out of Negreira.

Certainly thirty-two kilometres was a lot of walking, and I certainly felt it, but I think Monday was my favourite stretch out of the ten days of walking I did in total from Valenca to Fisterra. The scenery was mostly rural, but varied nonetheless, and the terrain undulating without being especially challenging.

As much as I enjoyed the walk, I was very happy to reach my albergue at the end of the day. I ate a sandwich as soon as I arrived, and then ate an early supper as well before going to bed early.

On Tuesday morning there was some fog as I left Olveira, and it was cold! I stopped after only two kilometres for coffee and a croissant, but mostly to warm up!

Luckily it warmed up quickly. Soon after Olveira there was climb up to a ridge, with a beautiful view.

This lovely facility is at a place called Hospital, but unfortunately it was closed.

After Hospital the way splits, with northwest heading towards Muxia and southwest to Fisterra. The fifteen kilometres from the divide to Cee (where I was spending the night) is the remotest stretch I walked out of all ten days. This meant I was very hungry by the time I reached out Cee, but it was a lovely stretch.

At Cee I was now at the ocean, and walked down to the beach to watch the sunset.

Given my proximity to the sea, I made sure to enjoy some seafood (arròs negre) for dinner. 

Yesterday was my tenth and final and shortest (16 kilometres) day of walking, and it was bittersweet, in a way. It was another lovely walk, but sad that it was the final day.

From Cee as I walked around the bay I was in Corcubion 

From Corcubion the route moves upwards over a peninsula.

On the other side of the peninsula is a place called Sardineiro de Abaixo, with a nice beach, and where I stopped for coffee.

The coffee was lovely as usual, but the generous piece of cake served on the side was to die for! 

Soon I passed this sign . . .

And then had this view. The hill across the water is the "end of the world."

I walked along the beach for awhile.

And then up into the town.

I stopped for lunch here and rested for awhile, but my hotel was not open yet, so I could not check in. I left some of my stuff outside anyway, and then carried on the last few kilometres.

At the cape there is a lighthouse, . . .

. . . a cross, of course, . . .

. . .  a zero kilometre marker . . .

. . .  and a boot!

And besides all of that, an expansive view of the ocean stretching as far as you can see: the end of the world.

The town of Fisterra is on the inland (eastern) side of the peninsula, so at sunset I walked west to the other side where there is a beach and where I could watch the sun "die" as apparently people have for millennia. It was a nice way to end a wonderful pilgrimage.