I guess I should ride around more, but I really do prefer to walk around a city to get more of a feel for it. Brussels has SOOOO many little corners filled with funky buildings or funkier shops. I’ve spent a lot of time now just wandering and still find new stuff to check out, new districts, etc..

I got totally lost today and had to ask a bartender for directions.. then his written directions blew away!! Lucky I remembered the correct tram number! Yeah, I was that far lost he laughed when I asked if I could walk back!! I didn’t have a ticket. Apparently ticket inspectors are rare, but the fine is so steep most people don’ risk it. I was quite prepared to launch into a frenzied “begging state” to get out of a fine, but the need didn’t arise.

I wanted to see the Atomium(?) but my feet are falling apart so I wasn’t going to make it and turned around. That’s when I got lost. Waiting for the tram I turned aroung and saw the top of one of the Atom balls! So close, yet so far..

Belgium and probably the rest of Europe doesn’t have buttons on their ped crossings. They simply operate whenever that direction can cross. How much money would that save Oz in installations and button repairs??

Belgian chocolate is NOT the shit everyone reckons it is. At least none of the chocolate I’ve had here tastes as nice as Aussie stuff. Maybe all the preservatives in our chocolate actually improve the taste?? (unlike Aussie beer).

Anyway, I still have some Fscking Expensive(tm) pralines to try. These had BETTER be an improvement over Aussie chocolates or I’m starting a campaign to bring about an end to this “Belgian is the best chocolate” crap!!

As Tam mentioned in hippyontour.. I think I’m coming down with a cold or something. It might have something to do with spending all day and night drunk, wandering around in teeshirt, shorts and thongs (flipflops) whilst the locals are in jeans, jackets and scarves!!!

Last night, owing to the self-destructing feet, I couldn’t be arsed walking back into town so got royally shit-faced at the hostel. Jacques Brel has a cool bartender, Jeff, and a selection of beer, etc. large enough to keep me occupied for the night.

Their prices are also the cheapest I’ve seen, which might exlain the reasonably sized crowd at the bar. I got talking with some Canadian girls (Sean, thank Shona for me, otherwise I would’ve called them Americans!) and a guy from California. He had arrived from Bruges, which was useful to me, as I plan to get there in the next few days. He suggested “Snuffel” hostel which has a bar that “goes off”, apparently.

Hey, I finally found out how to type @ on these stupid keyboards! Press “Alt Gr” and the “?” key. Sheesh! (to get “!”, by the way, you need to press the “=” key, to get “=” you press “-“… and so it goes.. stoopid backwards keyboards!)

Hostel bar opens soon, so I’m gonna hobble back there..

Oh, on the chocolate again, DON’T bother with the choc-coated waffles, the hot plain ones are a zillion times better..

Hammered the 4hr ride from Tournai to Brussels and then spent an hour trying to find out where the fuck I was and where a hostel was. Drivers here are stark contrast to French and Belgium country drivers. These fuckers are impatient pricks, always leaning on the horn and breaking rules… it felt just like Melbourne!

The ‘Sleep Well’ hotel had one bed in a four-bed room, but only for one night. This place sucked basically. Geared up to bring in the dollars. No cool YHA atmos at all. I was sunburnt bad, dehydrated and mad, when I had a shower I thought I’d be glad..

Anyway I was kinda stuffed after hot, hard ride (hehe) averaging over 22kph which is FAST on my tank. I was on the N7 national road which I thought would be bad and I’d have to bail. It had less traffic than Whitehorse Rd!!! It also had bike lanes for most of the way and bike paths nearer to Halle/Brussels. Had the ipod cranked and it was an awesome ride. Even tacked onto the back of some crazy fit lookin roadies and pretended that I wasn’t suffering.. I lost them when they turned off at some town. Heapsa fun!

Stop in a place called “Silly” on the way for photos and vanilla slice and drink.

Um, so I left my entry card (no keys here Chop) in the frickin lift and had to run down the fire escape to get em back. Just got to a guy before he handed them in. Um, so then the fucked up timed, push-button shower sprayed EVERYTHING down because the water spread was FUCKING WIDE! Not happy.. couldnt adjust the temp either!!! Hot shower with sunburn.. Fan-fucking-tastic!

All was saved when a roomie rocked up and he turned out to be from Sydney! Chia was his name. We went out for dinner – I had vego pizza (yes, all of it!) and Grimbergen Blonde. We saw some of those Giraffe 3L, 15euro beer funnel things in action. Pics from Tournai will show what I mean..

Um, spent the rest of the night in a bar we’d spotted while wandering – “2 for 1” it claimed.. what this means was not at all what it said. It meant whatever you order you get a double portion and only on draught beer and basic spirits. Lucky they had Hoegaarden on tap! I had 3 of the biguns to Chia’s one haha and then I think he got me another, but I was a little drunk by then. Dehydration finally abated I needed to break the seal – 3 times – each time I had to pay a chick in the dunnies 20c to piss!!!!

Note to self: take advantage of ANY free dunnies/trees/alleys you see!!

Anyway this chick from Amsterdam is hittin on me all fucking night even though she keeps claiming she’s not.. “My intentions are honourable, tell me about yourself”

So, I’d start, then she’d get weird and tell me that what I was saying wasn’t what she meant.. and “You’re a really nice guy, I want to get to know you..” and then “but I’m not hitting on you..”

Fuck.. by the end of the night I was too confused to know what the hell she was talking about. Declined her offer of hitting Club You or Club U?? Said “goodbye” and got some well needed rest at the hostel.

4-5 hours sleep then up for brekkie.. sad affair.. dudes handing out Nutella, butter, etc..

I want my HELP YOURSELF brekky!! Met a chick from Brissie (not Tam 🙁 ) and her Canadian lad..

Started exploring Brussels, oh, that was after moving to a cheaper and MUCH cooler hostel up the road that had two nights free.. Looking good so far. They have ‘out the back’ bike parking, unlike Sleep Well, where I was WELL SUSS about leaving my loaded bike in the main entrance! All seems intact.. hostel dudes might look dodgy.. could they be honest? 🙂

Waffles kick arse!

https://thehippy.net/gallery/index.php?cat=13

Finally.. some proof that I’m really bike touring..

Back in Internaute net cafe.. sampling another strange brew – “Kriek” (pron. creek). I had this earlier today in the form of ice-cream. Yes, BEER ICE CREAM! I shit you not!! Belgium IS heaven on earth..

Anyway, it looks like red wine with a “head”. It’s fruit beer. Made from cherries I guess. It’s nice, but I’m scared the locals might know it as a chick drink hehehe I’m a fscking tourist, I have no cred here anyway hehehe

Here is the Kriek page above, translated to english with babelfish.

From the same cool site, bierebel.com, here’s the Chimay Rouge (Red) I tried the other night.

Decided to stay in Tournai for another day. The weather is still great and I want to make the most of the outdoor seating, belgium beers and chilled out town atmosphere..

Not much to report other than getting drunk on super beers, eating way too much yummy food and dealing with hostel taps and getting locked out, missing showers, etc.. It’s all good now though – I’ve finally washed me and some clothes. They’ll be dry in under an hour hanging on the bike in the YHA backyard..

I can highly recommend the Bush Blonde 10.5% for sunny days such as today. It doesn’t rot your brain like their 12% Brune either!!

Um, so if anyone knows how I can get a job as a postie in this town (they have cool bikes!), I’d like to move in, asap, if that’s alright? ;P (I bet it’s really shitty during winter or something, right?)

drinking Leffe-something (not the Blonde, it’s something else..), eating chippies in a funky ‘net cafe in Tournai (Doornik). 3 euro an hour is nice, but I’m gonna get out of here and into the fucking awesome sun as soon as possible!! It rocks here!! LPG showed me where YHA AND cafe was, so no more expensive BnBs or shitty hotels (or seeing the camp ground 5 kays outside town as I leave..)

The hostel here does’t open until 5pm so I’m killing time here, until I can ditch the bike. Did I mention it’s fucking heavy?

I’ve got a few pics but really, I’m not so much into holiday snaps now.. just funny stuff or the odd thing to help jog my memory of a place later on.

Yesterday ended in a place I like to call ‘hell’ but I cant be fscked going into detail. The morning and day/s before that were pretty cool though. I can understand why so many people cycle-tour France now. The people are usually pretty cool, except for that one guy I had to pummel… nah, joking! 🙂 They were cool and so was the cycling. French drivers get my vote as best I’ve encountered. Really nice BnB in Aire. Met some cool Swedes in a pub there too. More dudes buying me beers. I like it!! Tried some of their chewing tobacco too (you dont chew it, you stick it under your lip, but I dont know what else to call it).

I stopped taking photos of the large, impressive churches in small towns, coz I quickly realised there was a large, impressive church in EVERY small town!

Um.. got other stuff to do now.. like drink myself stupid and eat waffles.. so tata! (that was for Russ)

This keyboqrd hqs q fez keys szqpped qround; so this is gonnq look very funny 😛

Cant type all my stuff out so just give you a brief rundown..

Finally left Grant, Sheila, Leo and Mei-Ling in peace (pieces?). Thanks heaps guys – you ROCK!!

Up until 3:30 am packing and woke at 6am! Was gonna be one of those days!

Never ridden my bike setup for loaded touring and now I gotta ride through London peak haha! I did avoid central London by using A205 until it got to the A2. Lost for first 20min. The bike handles like a boat!! Seriously dodgy!!

It stqrted raining 5min after I left haha

I got lost q lot.. Lucky I took A-Z with me. I got lost and ended up on the M2 – thqts the dodgy Motorway – no bikes allowed. Riding along and rreew rreew cops pull me over!!!! “You’re gonna get killed!”. I explain that im a stupid, lost aussie (not hard to convince people of that!) and after a failed attempt to go through bush and over fence, two cops end up pushing my bike up steep concrete bridge embankment while I scramble up grassy bit in SPDs. I didn’t mention that i’d been on the M2 for over 30 kays. They explain how to get back onto the safer A2 and i’m back on my way. I also stopped at Bean for pub meal, beer and water. I kept running out of food and water. I have deadline to hostel and I’m shattered.. but stupid enough to continue. Instead of 90k, it takes 140ish, 8.5hrs riding, 11.5hrs total time. 16kph average while loaded – not quite the roadie-like 30kph Im used to.. I was a dribbling mess at the end.. then saw the sign warning of hills.. kill me.. kill me now..

I fucking made it tho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk qbout biting off more than even this fat bastard can chew!!!

I explored Canterbury very slowly next day – trashed, overuse injury of right knee. Just another event in a long line of idiotic decisions by me hahaha Canterbury was cool cept nothing much open at night when I NEEDED food and drink. Cathedral impressive. Dom in Cologne perhaps moreso?

Easier 2hr ride to Dover that day, booking Dover YHA ahead from Canterbury YHA. Got lost just as much, but the cycle trails were pretty good, so I ignored the map I WAS using. Guys had turned sign around to move a digger – very funny moment me looking more confused than normal having to go back the way I came… until they righted the sign hahaha Lovely green countryside. Wish I could upload pics.

Ended up staying in Dover for qnother night coz of crazy thunderstorm and getting hammered in pub with some funny locals buying me drinks, wondering why the hell I wanted to stay in Dover haha

Big thanks to Elisha and Sara from the hostel – you guys were very cool putting up with my extended ravings.. at least I wasn’t 20 Polish guys right? hehe

Finally left Dover after checking out the cqstle. The secret war tunnels and the awesome view being most impressive things. Dover to Calais ferry cost 10 squid one way. Rocking made me sleepy.

Youth hostel in Calais, chicken, frittes (fries) and Leffe Blonde for dinner followed by wicked pancake with choc sauce and whipped cream. Found a techno club/pub and sunk more foreign brews with some local tech heads. Menthe tastes like mouthwash – fail to see the attraction!!

Slept in past checkout so mad rush to leave, no shower, got changed into cycling gear in public toilet for 20 euro cents. Riding along canal path, Saw cool street market with everything from clothes to bikes to oscilloscopes!!

Called Tam from nearby village. Rode on to St. Omer, getting lost some more along the way..

No camp grounds I could find so stayed in 44euro BnB. Must say though… frickin awesome!! Lovely people, speaking english, REAL towels, funky room. She even gave me juice and cake on arrival!

Into town for explore and dinner of burger and more frittes.. then into pub for more foreign brews. Met some very friendly Swedes who spoke as much French as me = none. They bought me beers and I even tried some Swedish chewing tobacco = you stick it under gum, no actual chewing. They were instqlling some box making machine in town. Have installed for Visy-board in Oz too. Very friendly guys, and dudes, your english really was fine!!! 🙂

Brekkie in BnB was ace = breads and cakes n coffee n juice n homemade jams etc.. brill!!!!

In net cafe in St Omer now.. dont think Ill make it to Lille today, especially if I look at Le Couple?? V2 rocket bunkers = if i can find them…

Better check mail now..

Bike tour Europe – it rocks!!!!!!