Belgium, here we come!

We are in Belgium, country number three. But who is counting, right?

But before I tell you about our first few days here, I want to share a few insights about the Netherlands with you, things that caught my attention over and over again.

The Dutch do like windows. Very much. They have plenty of them. What they consider a waste of time are curtains. Even if they sit there only in their underwear.
You can drive your scooter on the bike lane - without a helmet!
It’s a “pocket country”, everything is within easy reach.
There are green patches all over the place which look like grass. They are not! It’s water that has some form of plant growing on it, making it look like the perfect golf green! Don’t be fooled!
Speaking of green patches. They do love their gardens and they care for them very much. You can see hobby gardeners at work on every street, any day of the week, any time.
In every city, village and hamlet we have seen old buildings that seem to just wait for a bit of wind to finally fall over. Private houses, church towers, castles. The Tower of Pisa has many an imitator.
Tesla! There are a lot of Teslas on the streets. And I mean a lot.
The Oscar for friendliest Tourist Information Office in the Netherlands goes to Leeuwarden and Rotterdam. It’s a shared trophy in my world. Both offered coffee (real coffee, not instant), information, insight and a real interest. They didn’t just try to sell a guidebook.

So there you go. I’m sure, if you have been to the Netherlands you will agree and probably have some more points to add to the list, let me know!

All right, now let’s dive into Belgium!

From Sas van Gent in the Netherlands we drove to the real Ghent in Belgium, all of 40km. Our parking app recommended a lot at a big shopping center somewhat outside of town. The lot was almost empty and the center closed. We managed to make our first day in the country a national holiday. So the free shuttle bus to town obviously wasn’t running either. Besides, the place was a bit shady. One lane over was a car with three guys sitting in it, eating fast food, looking suspicious.

After a while they left and I assured my human that I would be OK. So her and Carmelo took off on the bike to check out town. I kept my eyes open for any more ominous characters, but it stayed quiet.

Town was rather quiet, due to the public holiday, all the shops were closed. My human bought a Museum Card for the whole of Belgium, which gives you free entry to over 200 museums in the country. Neither of us is much into art, I believe I mentioned that before, but for 59 bucks, you can’t really go wrong.

So first they went to the “Huis van Alijn”. The temporary exhibition was about traveling circuses. OK, not particularly an interest of ours, but not a waste of time either. That changed with the permanent exhibition. I can’t even tell you really what it was about. There were twelve rooms, named after the months of the year. And somehow meant to represent different phases of ones life. I think. A bit weird.

A lot more interesting was the Gravensteen Castle. A large stone fortress, built in 1180 by the Count of Flanders, after he figured that a modest wooden mansion just won’t do him justice anymore. A rather comical audio guide shows you around and explains about the life (and often death) of the former inhabitants and their guests.

When they got back to me in the early evening we decided to relocate after all. Only a few kilometers further on we took up residence at the edge of a nice little nature reserve, in front of yet another sports complex. This was more our style.

The next day them two went to check out more museums, starting with a psychiatry museum. Now that’s interesting. Besides the permanent exhibition, a photographer had made a series about his father who suffers from Alzheimerˋs. Actually quite touching. And then there was art by the patients who are currently in therapy here or have been in the past. What can I say, some of that stuff does more for me than Picasso.

This is actually fascinating history, please read! And have a good laugh!

If this isnˋt creepy, I donˋt know what is. But hey, itˋs the collection of a patient.

These I really like

And just because she had bought that card, she then dragged Carmelo through some actual art galleries and museums. They both got tired of it rather quickly. So after some more walking through the pretty old town we moved on to Antwerp, a good 70km away.

So, this is art. On this huge wall hangs a thimble. In it, the "artist" collected the dust and dirt from the floor in his studio. Thanks for nothing!

And then there was this. Call me ignorant, but does anyone need that?

Carmelo liked it better outside

We were hoping to get one of just two available spots at a private parking space. And Fortuna was with us. When we arrived, both spots were free and the guy who owns the space, Robin, was there by pure chance. He rents one of a few medium sized halls, sitting in a big yard behind a gate. And it has two parking spots in front which he “rents out” to campers.

When I say “rents out”, I mean that he doesn’t actually charge for it. He just takes 2 Euros a day for power and 2 Euros if you want to fill up your water! How amazing is that? And it’s only about 20 minutes by bike to town and 5 minutes from the next tram station. No ten minutes after we arrived, we had a map with lots of squiggles on it, plenty of recommendations for Antwerp and had seen the inside of the hall. Now that’s what I call a man cave, dude!

We stayed here for four nights. First, because the spot was just fantastic, second, we liked Antwerp. Besides the Rubenshuis and a couple of other art museums, there were actually some interesting ones as well. Such as the “Red Star Line Museum". The Red Star Line was founded in 1872 to bring goods from America to Europe and take passengers on the way back.

Even Alber Einstein was a guest on board How about this for a suitcase?

In their record year of 1913, almost 120.000 passengers crossed the ocean on one of their ships. Most of them in 3rd and 4th class, of course. Think of the lower decks you’ve seen in the movie “Titanic”. Just without Leo. But maybe they had their own version of him, who knows?

All those who wished to emigrate to what was then still perceived as “The Land of Milk and Honey” had to undergo a stringent medical examination which could last up to two hours! No wonder, if one part of it was a shower of one hour!

The city museum was quite entertaining, too! On six flours you can find a great variety of exhibitions.

Thanks, but no thanks!

The facade of the city museum This guy has been around some time

View from the top floor

Visit in a sculpture garden. Apparently this is our solar system.

And of course, one has to see the “Rubens Huis”. Why, you ask? Well, ahm, after all, he was one of the most influential painters of his time and has spent most of his life in Antwerp. And the house is actually quite cool.

Detail from the painting above

Anyone hungry? I just happen to have this severed head here....

People used to sleep sitting halfway up, thinking it would be beneficial for the digestion. So their beds were very short.

Saturday night my human was all ready to go and hit the nightlife of Antwerp - when it started to pour down with rain. And it kept pouring, and pouring, and pouring. Well, a movie night it is! Have you seen “The Big Lebowski”? You probably have, it’s old. But if you haven’t, watch it! It’s hilarious!

On Sunday she went for a run along the river Scheldt, which runs alongside the city and then they went for a bike ride around the commercial port of the city. Very interesting, all these huge cranes and containers and ships. I just always marvel at the logistics of such a huge enterprise.

That evening she made it to town in the evening, took herself out for a nice three-course meal and some super fast WIFI to download some new movies. Carmelo and I stayed home and chilled. Tomorrow we will move on to Brussels. We can’t stay here forever!

Here are a few mor pictures Iˋd like to show you, but donˋt know where else to put them.