Day 5 & 6 - Sunday/Monday, May 29/30, 2011 - Brussels

Sunday was a rather quiet day staying in all day just resting up and catching up on old times. We did watch the Monaco Grand Prix which was really great as we were able to get it on BBC1 with uninterupted coverage for the entire race with the announcers Martin Brundle, David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan, etc who really know their stuff and make watching the race all that more interesting. Compared to the Spanish GP, which I watched on TSN before leaving Ottawa, which was covered by SpeedChannel for the first hour or so then BBC for the rest. The Speed guys really don't have a clue about what is going on.
Later on in the evening we went out to a local Chinese restaurant for dinner. Spring rolls (2 each), Special House Noodles (for me), Chicken Chop Suey (for Vivien), a glass of white wine (for Vivien) and a 1/4 l of red wine for me cost 39.50 €.
While at the restaurant I asked the manager/waiter if he knew of a nearby shop where I could get my "Orange" mobile unlocked. He recommended a shop called TPH (The Phone House) Tongres at 20 rue de Tongres an area which Vivien was familiar with and which was within walking distance of her apartment on A.J. Slegers.

Monday I decided I would cycle to the TPH shop and see if I could get my French mobile sorted out. After a short ride of less than 2 kms I arrived at 20 rue de Tongres using back streets there was very little traffic.
I stopped at an Apothek (drug store) on the way to get something for my sore throat which I seem to have gotten from my freezing flight on AirTransat and the subsequent chilly, windy, rainy bike ride from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. I asked the pharmacist for Strepcils and she produced a rather large box from behind the counter. I asked if there were a smaller size and she replied everything comes in a large size in Belgium. While she was ringing up my purchase she started coughing so I offered her one of my Strepcils - at a price of course!!!
Unfortunately TPH was not able to unlock my mobile. I was beginning to think that the Orange phone was not such a good purchase after all. It seems I would have to go to France to get it unlocked. He recommended the Mobistar shop next door who had some sort of connection with Orange France. They might be able to unlock this Albatross.
Once again after fiddling with my mobile for 5-10 minutes I was told I would have to go to France, possibly Lille, to get my phone unlocked. Or I could try calling the Orange Customer Service number and ask for the code that would unlock my phone. I said how can I call them when my mobile is not working thinking that she might volunteer to call them for me. People were starting to line up behind me so that didn't get much of a reaction.
I then asked how much was it going to cost me to get a simple mobile that would work in all of Europe that wasn't locked as I planned to cycle all the way to Turkey. She didn't even bat an eye lash and said she had a Samsung mobile for 15 € plus whatever amount I wanted to put on it. In the end I paid 40 € for my new Belgian unlocked Samsung mobile which I was assured would work anywheres. We'll see about that.
I had specially chosen to wear my Canada jersey and sure enough a gentlemen who was hanging out in the Mobistar shop (I think he had the hots for the salesperson who was pretty hot herself) approached me and asked me if I was from Canada. I said yes. He then told me he was married to a Canadian from Montreal who worked as a locally engaged political officer at the Canadian Embassy. He turned out to be a Greek taxi driver and a bit later when I was standing on the corner trying to figure out which direction to take in order to get to Saint Josse Ten Noode, my old neighbourhood, he was able to point me in the right direction.
It was only a short 3 or 4 km ride to Pl. Saint Josse Ten Noode but nothing seemed familiar expecially along Ch. de Louvain. Once again I thought I had been transported to the Middle East. I wandered around on my bike for about 1/2 an hour until I came to a square that looked liked it could possibly have been where my apartment had been. Sure enough it turned out to be Pl. Armand Steurs. These were the two names I remembered from my past (1965-67) when I lived there.
I rode into the park on my bike, which was totally deserted. Stopped in the middle of the park to take a picture and out of nowhere (he must have been hidding in amongst the bushes) came a park warden who told me I wasn't allowed in the park with my bicycle. I explained that I was from Canada and that I had lived in one of the apartments across from the park in the 60s and that I just wanted to take a couple pictures. He and his partner who came to help said OK and left. After taking a few snaps I went over to a nearby café for lunch and a couple beers. They had Jupiler on tap (I would have preferred Stella Artois) but when your thirsty you have to make do. By this time I had worked up quite a thirst. The temperature was in the high 20s.
After lunch I cycled back to Slegers, had some hot tea with honey to sooth my sore throat and lay down for a nap.
I've mapped out my route for tomorrow from Brussels to Bonn. I've decided to skip Dusseldorf and Cologne having been there several times in the past. I'll probably have to stop around Maastricht as I don't expect I'll be able to cycle it all in one day. On the other hand the weather forecast for tomorrow is not looking very promising. It's dropping down to 14C tonight with thunderstorms and high winds, etc. Vivien has said I can stay as long as I like but I don't want to overstay my welcome.
This Notebook is tuning out to be quite an asset. I'm not sure if I like that or not but it sure is handy for keeping in touch and keeping my blog up to date.
Cheers, Roly

Day 4 & 5 - Europe 2011

Day 4 & 5 Sunday/Monday May 29/30, 2011 Brussels





Sunday was spent mostly resting catching up on old times. We did watch the Monaco Grand Prix on BBC1 which was uninterupted coverage with Martin Brundle, David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan and company. What a change from the Spanish GP which I watched on TSN before leaving Ottawa. The Spanish GP was covered by SpeedChannel for the 1st hour or so and by BBC after that. Those guys from Speed don't have a clue what's going on!!!





Later on in the evening we went out to a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner. Our meal of spring rolls with chicken (2 each), Special House Noodles (for me), Chicken Chop Suey (for Vivien), a glass of white wine for Vivien and a 1/4 l of red wine for myself cost 39.50

Day 3 - Europe 2011

Day 3 Saturday, May 28, 2011 Breda, NL to Brussels, BEL
Trip 127.62 kms Time 8:29:59 Average 15.28 kph (I think I spent about 20 kms getting lost)

Having had a good night's rest I was up bright and early (6 AM) to get an early start for Brussels. When I went to the breakfast room at 6:30 it was still locked up. I went over to the restaurant next door and the manager told me breakfast wasn't until 7 AM on weekends. I went back to my room and did some packing while waiting. At 7 I again checked the breakfast room and it was still locked up. Then I noticed a sign that said breakfast wasn't served until 8 AM on weekends. I went back over to the restaurant/hotel thinking I would ask for a refund and go somewhere else for b'fast. When I told the manager that b'fast wasn't until 8 AM next door he said I could have b'fast in the restaurant. Wow!!! what a spread. There was juice, bread, buns, baguette, cereals, eggs, bacon, cheeses, cold cuts, fruit, yogurt, etc. Needless to say I had a very good b'fast.

I then went back to my room to finish packing and just as I was loading my panniers on my bike noticed that my handlebar pannier was missing. I had forgotten it in the restaurant in my hurry to leave once I had stuffed my jersey pocket with a hard boiled egg, etc which I would save for lunch later. I quickly went back to the restaurant and my pannier was still sitting on the chair where I had left it. Wew!!! What a relief.

The night before I had gone on Google Maps and checked out the route from Breda to Brussels and had written down all the villages, towns, cities that I would be passing trough on my way. Using the list I had made I set up my GPS for the next village which was Rijsbergen about 16 kms down the N263. I had to negotiate my way through several side streets before reaching the main road but once there I was only able to cycle at around 18 kph due to a head wind which I was to have to put up with for most of the day.

Some of the towns I passed through were Zundert, Gooreind, Merksem, Boom, Meise, and finally Brussels. Progress was quite slow due to that damn head wind, road works (usually in town) and detours. I managed to reach the Dutch/Belgium border at around 10 AM. The road conditions changed quite dramatically. Much rougher and not so well maintained as they were in Holland. I stopped for a break at 10:30 to eat a sausage pastry which I had bought in a bakery in Holland. It had a rich spicy tomato ketchup like sauce baked into the pastry with the sausage which was very tasty.

Eventually I reached the outskirts of Antwerp. This is where the Belgian road works began. When the Belgians tear up a street to do repairs they block it off completely. Well almost. I was still able to get through with my bike but eventually paid the price for ignoring the detour signs. I ended up having to negotiate several stretches of very rough gravel. Getting through Antwerp took about 2 hours. Very complicated GPS directions. Had to reset it several times. It was quite a relief to finally get out of Antwerp. By this time I was getting pretty hungry so decided to stop at a corner gas station to see if I could get a snack. There was a sandwich bar but it was closed on weekends. The attendant very kindly directed me back down the street to a Snack Shack which was just 50 metres away. It was set back from the main road and somehow I had missed it when passing by earlier. I was able to order a very tasty ham, cheese, vegetables, mayo sub on a baguette with a large diet coke for 3.45 E. There were tables and chairs set out on the patio in front of the shop so I was able to sit outside and enjoy a pleasant lunch. It was a very popular place as a steady stream of customers kept coming and going while I sat and enjoyed my meal.

I had told Vivien, my friend who lives in Brussels, that I would be arriving around 4 PM. I stopped to take a picture of the "Welcome to Brussels" sign at 10:09 AM which would be 4:09 PM local time. I then set up my GPS to find 397 ave. AJ Slegers which was about another 8.6 kms or so my GPS reckoned. I somehow managed to get way off track and after cycling 5 or 6 kms was still no where near Woluwe St. Lambert the district that Vivien lived in. That gave me the idea to reset the GPS for Woluwe St. Lambert which was still 8.3 kms away. This seemed to be the right way to go as soon I was not far from my destination. But by this time it was getting quite late, going on 6 PM so I stopped at a corner bar and went in to call Vivien to let her know that I had run into some difficulty finding her place and should be there in another half hour or so. With about 3 kms to go my GPS battery started giving me a warning that the battey was about to die. At this point I had covered over 120 kms and so was I about to die!!! I stopped to write down all the directions that were left to do (about a dozen of them) and continued on my way. With about three more turns to go the GPS died. I stopped several people to ask for directions to Slegers since I was so close. The third person I asked was able to help out and I finally arrived at 397 ave. A.J. Slegers at 6:30 PM.

I've tried to upload a couple of pictures that I've taken so far but it was taking forever so had to give up.

Tot Straks, Roly

Day 2 - Europe 2011

Day 2 Friday, May 27, 2011
Rotterdam to Breda - Distance 91 kms Duration 5 hrs Average Speed 17.84 kph

I left the 2 star hotel at 10:00 (can't remember the name of hotel as I paid cash and didn't get a receipt) and cycled around the block to the cellphone shop. The manager wasn't able to unlock my phone even with the access code. He said it had a special SIM card and only "Orange" could re-activate my SIM. He then tried to sell me a cellphone for 20 E with a bunch of minutes for 20 E which he assured me could be used anywhere in Europe. I decided to wait until I found an Orange dealer, possibly in Brussels before buying another cellphone.

I then set off for Brussels at 10:30 after trying to program my GPS to take me as far as Antwerp. The GPS froze up so I again tried to program it for Dordrecht. This seemed to be OK with the GPS which told me Dordrecht was only 16 kms away. I set off in the general direction and while waiting at an intersection for the lights to change I asked a local if I was headed in the right direction for Dordrecht/Breda (which I thought was in Belgium). He said I needed to follow the bike path along the river to the 2nd bridge and cross over to the south side then continue on to Dordrecht. I eventually got to the 2nd bridge but had a little trouble trying to figure out how to cross it. I ran into a couple of Telecom guys who were making a "pit stop" under the bridge. They were able to give me directions on how to cross the bridge.

There were several more bridges to cross before I finally began to see signs for Breda. By this time I had covered about 32 kms and the sign for Breda said it was another 34 kms to go. Never trust a GPS!!! Eventually, after several more stops to ask for directions, I managed to arrive in Breda at 3:15 PM. I decided that was enough cycling for the day which hadn't been to bad. Much better than yesterday with mostly a tail wind and sunshine but still a bit cool. Saw quite a few cyclist on road bikes praticing for the local "Tour de France". Both male and female but none bothered to acknowledge me. The Dutch tend to mind their own business unless you approach them and start the ball rolling.

I eventually was able to get a room at a Premiere Classe Hotel with Breakfast included and w/c and shower in the room for 60 E. I placed my bike and panniers in the room and went over to the restaurant/bar for a beer. A very large beer cost 4.50 E. I was able to log on to the free wi-fi services and check my email. Later I decided to have dinner in the restaurant. A glass of red wine, green salad and Lasagne Bolognaise cost 12.45 E.

The chef noticed I was wearing my Canada jersey and came over to chat with me. He was very curious about my cycling trip, where I was from, etc. He told me that recently a Canadian girl had been working in the kitchen but had recently returned to Canada. He was going on a tour to the USA and Canada in September but was not sure where he would be visiting. Probably NY and Niagara Falls.

Well that's all for today. Must get some rest for tomorrow's ride to Brussels.

Cheers, Roly

Day 1 & 2 - Europe 2011

Day 1/2 Wednesday/Thursday, May 25/26, 2011
Ottawa to Toronto to Amsterdam to Rotterdam
Cycling: Trip 73.79 kms Time 5:40:07 Average 13.01 kph

I have a bit of time to spare before setting off for Brussels today, Friday, May 27, 2011, so I thought I would take the opportunity to start off my first report of how my trip is going so far.
My daughter dropped me off at Ottawa International Airport at 6:30 Wednesday, May 25. When I checked in at WestJet for my flight to Toronto, Jennifer, the WestJet agent, asked me how many bags I was checking. I said "3 bags and my bicycle". She then told me that the first bag was free and she would have to charge me $20 for the 2nd bag and $50 for the 3rd bag. She wasn't sure how much to charge for the bike. I mentioned AirTransat allowed 23kg for baggage and charged $30 for the bike. She then agreed to charge me $50 for the whole lot. Since I had only paid $79 plus taxes for my flight to TO I decided not to argue with her and paid the $50.
My bike and bags were waiting for me to be picked up when I deplaned in TO. I then had to wait 3.5 hours before I could check in at AirTransat for my flight to Amsterdam which departed at 18:20. Fortunately I was able to put my panniers and bike on a trolley which only cost $2.00 to rent.
Eventually when AirTransat ticket agents arrived I was 3rd in line waiting to check in. As expected I was charged $30 for shipping my bike from TO to Amsterdam. I then had to take my bike and panniers over to "oversize baggage" which was right next to the AirTransat checkin counter and put them on the oversize belt so they could be put through the x-ray machine for scanning. The security agent was a petite Philipinno lady and she asked me to do all the heavy lifting including having to go around the back of the x-ray machine to fetch one of my panniers as it hadn't properly registered on the machine.
There were a few empty seats on the Airbus A-300 and since I had pre-booked my seat at the rear of the plane where there were only two seats together I ended up sitting by myself. This allowed me to get a bit of sleep/rest before arriving in Amsterdam at 7:45 AM Thursday as I intended to cycled from Amsterdam to Rotterdam on arrival. The flight arrived 30 minutes early. After retrieving my panniers and bicycle, which all arrived in good shape, I cleared customs but not before being stopped by a customs officer who wanted to know where my bike came from. After telling him it came from Ottawa/Toronto he waved me on through.
It took me almost and hour to unwrap my bike, put the pedals back on and reset the handlebars and pump up the tires. I then changed into my cycling gear in a nearby washroom, programmed the GPS for Rotterdam (it took forever to calculate the route) and by 9:00 AM local time I was ready to set off.
Temperature was around 14 C but with the windchill factor it felt like 5 C. Man was it ever windy. Especially on one strectch of the route where I had to circle around a lake. I was almost blown off my bike several times. At times the head wind was so strong I could only pedal at about 12 kph. I had to stop several times to rest my legs which were becoming quite sore from the extra effort of having to constantly pedal against such a strong head wind. Add to that the fact that it would start raining for 10-15 minutes then clear up again. This happened several times. I eventually arrived in Rotterdam at 4 PM after a very strenuous cycling trip. Thank goodness it was all flat with well paved bicycle paths and quiet rural roads all the way. I must say though, that going through intersections and round-abouts was quite an ordeal, especially when making a left hand turn.
I cycled to a B&B which George Steeves had recommended but unfortunately it was fully booked. I then tried to find the local Youth Hostel but for some strange reason it was not to be found. GPS problem I think? On the way I had spotted a couple hotels so decided to go back and check them out. The first, The Bernier, was a 3 star hotel and they wanted 95 Euros for a single room with breakfast. I was able to negotiate the price down to 70 Euros without breakfast but still felt that was a bit to pricey. I then cycled to the next hotel which was a 2 star and only charged 50 Euros with breakfast for a single room. I decided that this was acceptable and checked in. The single room turned out to be up on the 4th floor with the elevator only going up to the 3rd floor. Negotiating the steep rather narrow stairs with all my baggage was to be my next challenge. I did managed to drag my sorry ass and my panniers up my room which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It was so small you couldn't even swing a cat around in it. Even a monk's cell was larger than this sorry excuse for a single room. By this time I was so exhausted from the cycling and the stair climbing that I decided it would have to do and after all it was only for one night.
Well I'll have to sign off for now as I want to go back to the shop I found last night while I was out looking for a place to eat. I have to go back and see if I can get my European cellphone re-activated before setting off for Brussels.
I must apologize for any spelling errors, etc. I am using my daughter's NetBook which she has so kindly agreed to loan me for my trip, and it is proving to be quite a challenge. It keeps skipping back to a previous spot for some unexplicable reason. There it just did it again!!!!
Bye for now.