Category: Europe

Before I left the U.S., I sat at my work desk one day and thought to myself prior to this year of travel, I am probably going to have some really intense stories to tell that will stand out of the ordinary. Some of them crazy, while others just plain silly. I think yesterday qualified as a silly “mildly” crazy adventure. In my head it’s nowhere close to being terrible while others may thing it’s a nightmare.

Dinant is a gorgeous village that sits on two sides of the Meuse River in a valley surrounded by a gorgeous colorful landscape of farms. I stayed in an Airbnb 20 minutes by walk south of the town in a nice room in a house hosted by two of the most incredibly hospitable hosts I’ve ever had. I spend the first full day coming from Namur walking around town and enjoying views of the town from the hill top citadel. The city was also historical from WW1 where Germany destroyed the city and massacred many Belgians. I love history!

The next full day was the day of the insanity. My hosts allowed me to use their bike to ride around the area south with castles. I rode from the train station about 15 minutes into the small village where Castle the Veves is. It was closed as expected but I had a nice sandwich lunch there. From there I went hunting around for the Miranda Castle which seemed to be fenced in around the front. I told myself, I am in Belgium and I just rode uphill for 30 minutes, I am going in dammit. I found a place to hid my bike up a ridge and snuck my way in. I was very paranoid not to be caught but I did indeed find the castle. It was incredibly massive and really creepy. I walked in the front, down into the basement and up each floor, except fo the 4th which has collapsed.

The whole time i was creeped out and being as quiet as I could thinking a watchman is around the house. No, not really, it was just wind flinging around parts of the house such as doors, shutters, and former ceiling lamps. The decor is incredible as well as the interior design. It is such a shame a marvel like this from the 1860s in such terrible shape as it is. The voices I heard in the home was eventually three other urban explorers like myself whom I had the pleasure of speaking with, in English of course.

Everything after leaving that place was when all went down hill. I found my bike and attempted to make my way down that little ridge. I tried to go first and bring my bike down but instead slipped. I managed to catch myself on a stump but scrapped my leg and cut my finger. I wiped my pants clean but later realized I wiped my pants with blood. This is the second time in a week my pants get ruined my own blood. (First time i cut my finger in Namur trying to help prepare dinner for my hosts.) I managed to get my shit together and ride back down the hill towards the other castle. But instead of going back to the train station, I decide I want to take a longer bike route back to Dinant.

I don’t regret doing this as I saw some incredible serene country side on a bike seemingly alone with no one in sight. But the only problem, this was three times more uphill than the first time. Eventually I came at a point where I could go two ways. One way seemed more uphill, which I was trying to avoid. So I went left instead of right. I came at another crossroad, and chose right. This is where things get worse. I road off a road into a rocky downhill road and should have known better. I was listening to music on my phone as it flew off the bike as I was riding down. “Hey? Why’d the music stop?” Thank god for that amazing phone case for $15 right? The road eventually ended into a house. WTF? So I asked a guy in the house if there was a way to ride to Dinant from there. He pointed to where but said to be careful because of stairs and a long skinny path. I went, and yes there was some odd stairs and a long narrow path. I took the path under a national highway bridge and to another path.

But this path led to a gate. WTF? So I became a rebel and went around it, picked up the bike and everything. Further up I follow the instructions of google maps but realized that the way to connect myself and the main road, was literally to jump off the mountain. WTF again? And the road leads to a camp where it ends at the top of the road. Shit. So i go back to the gate, pick up the bike, go around and continue the path on the other side which brings me to a parking lot. (A highway rest stop). I’m thinking, there is probably no bike outlet here. So I ask someone in a car who speaks no English how to get to the other side and tells me to cross the bridge on the national highway. Mind you this really is no pedestrian bridge. This may not be legal…..so I went anyway and found myself in a small gap between a guardrail and bridge wall. I bend over to put my gopro in my backpack so it doesn’t fall and look behind me and I see the Belgian Police sitting on the side of the road with the lights on. Yep, this is totally not legal.

At that moment I could have been shitting bricks, but for one I am a foreigner, two I am lost, and all factors combined really shouldn’t land me in jail, right. Mmm not sure. So I go back to them and speak to them completely respectfully. They inform me that it is not a pedestrian bridge and is only for cars. Yep, I should have known that shit. lol. I apologize and explain to them my reason, hand over my passport. Eventually he explained that someone called them, thinking I was committing suicide, damn that unfortunately makes sense. He said he could charge me 10 Euro for the fine but let me off and told me to go back the way I could.

So they drove off and I walked back under the bridge, back through that shit trail, up the stairs and up that long uphill gravel road. I finally went down the road I should have gone in the first place and made my way down to the road along the river. The last thing that happened, was my phone fell again, this time in the road with traffic behind me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone eject off of a bike and do a 180 dragging it with them as I did. The driver behind me understood and we flagged each other down. I was glad at that point, that I was along the river with dead technology, so I can finally get my silly ass home and laugh it off with my hosts and of course have large bottom of local beer to myself. Travel baby, you gotta love it. 🙂

Belgium is certainly an incredible country, unique at that. As far as language divide goes, it reminds me of Canada, where English is one language of the nations, while French is the second. Same goes for Belgium in its own way. One side, Flanders in the north, speaks Dutch, while the other side, Walloon in the south, speaks French with Brussels the sandwiched capital sits in between the two (It’s mostly speaks french).

Coming from Rotterdam, we started with a night stay in Antwerp at another Airbnb whom we met up with around 6pm due to work schedule. For several hours we threw our bags in a locker and explored the city on foot. Antwerp didn’t get too much of a good rep from some people I spoke to, but I think it’s an incredible city. Public transportation sucks asshole there as it is always crammed and never runs on time. Other than that the city is great, the city center is beautiful and the skyline from the other side of the river is incredible. One thing that blew me away was the mile long pedestrian tunnel that lies under the river. It was built in the 1930’s and is in my opinion, one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced, thanks to my travel companion. 🙂

Next stop was Bruges but before I get into that, I find it ridiculous how much a train ticket costs between age 26-55. A train ticket at 27 vs. 25 is fucking drastic. I payed $25 for a one way to Bruges from Antwerp after the ticket agent explained the age thing and after I said my girlfriend is 25 years old, she only paid $6. What in the actual fuck? Anyways we arrived in Bruges, took the bus to our next Airbnb where our host awaited our arrival and took us into his home. While we really were anxious about Bruges, we were turned off at how expensive it was due to the heavy flow of mass tourism. I personally hate places that get ruined like that, and can say Ashley agreed. I wasn’t too proud of buying a large bowl of Friets for 4 Euro just to avoid an overly expensive 10 Euro pizze that barely fed me. But aside from that the city is gorgeous and you can get away with really cheap 2-4 Euro beers in some of the local pubs (Priests ass, trappist bar, and Beert’j)

Next stop was possibly one of my favorite cities so far, and that is Ghent. Ghent in my eyes is a mashup of a big city with village charm. A pinch of tourism on a plate of local vibe. I love it. But our Airbnb and host was a huge contribution to this incredible 2 night stay. Originally, I had though of a day after realizing how gorgeous it was. Then I convinced both of us to go for two nights and don’t regret it. Unlike Bruges where we were slightly dissapointed, we unexpecetly had an incredible expectation of Ghent where we had a great view of the skyline and beyond. Our host allowed us to use his kitchen for breakfast to help with the budget and local pasta was 4-5 Euros per plate of delicious spagetti. The canal system and old town center is great for slow walks.

The last city in Belgium for my little companion was the bi-lingual capital city of Brussels. People who expect a city like Paris and Rome really don’t appreciate Brussels. And a lot of people don’t appreciate Brussels as a city to spend time in. But for me, I loved Brussels, and staying in an apartment in Brussels for 5 days really made me feel like I lived there. I live in a small town where I can appreciate a small town vibe. But I forever remain a city guy at heart and Brussels is great. What I really do like about Brussels is the different eras there are in the city. The city centre 13th century, some buildings 1800’s, and most places the golden age of the 50’s while still giving off that European charm most cities have.

Ashley left for the U.S. on a Saturday morning and the goodbyes were incredibly hard knowing the long term seperation and the incredible time we had. After I headed back to th aprtment the realization hit that I was on my own as was tough. Hence why I stayed in all day to prepare for the solo journey ahead of me. Next morning I set off for an hour trip to Abbaye Villers-la-Ville, a former abbey from the 13th century now in ruins, but still stands tall and beautiful. It is MASSIVE and is a must see in Walloon. My evening ended in the not so pretty former industrial city of Charleroi. There is no tourism and the city reminded me of Newark, New Jersey. Some locals I spoke with are not too proud of the bad reputation of the city and I saw why. But Charleroi is the perfect place for urban exploration and too see some abandoned places. The one place I saw was the IM power plant tower, a lonesome tower that you can walk into that is incredibly surreal and made Charleroi perfect for a night stay.

Next city was Namur where I Couchsurfed for the first time during this trip. I had the pleasure of walking around the city, river, and up the citadel that overlooks the split of the rivers, city and beyond. One thing that is incredible about this city is that it is a city, but farmlands exist so close in the horizon. It was gorgoeus. Most of the trip I had a beer or two in different places to try beer. But I hadn’t actually really DRANK heavy since my bon voyage party a week before departure. With my hosts, we went to a local college bar and downed plenty of brews, had good chats, played foozball, and had a great time. Don’t ask about my hangover the next day.

4 hours of sleep without a shower and a migraine later, I set off for Dinant where my next hosts a Belgian travel couple picked me up and drove me to their beautiful home on the Meuse river next to a church. Every BNB should have a host that loves what they do and care for their guests. This place really defined that, as they were possibly the nicest people I’ve ever met. I loved them! The rest of the day I walked around Dinant and both sides of the bank and up the citadel to get nice pan ams of the city. The city was also destroyed and attacked by Germany during WW1, a part of history that fascinates me incredibly. On top of that, i am ther 102 years since that war. Next day was a rough day for me but I saw a castle, an abandoned home/castle and bike around some gorgeous countryside.

Throughout the 2 weeks spent in this country, I’ve met some amazing people, tasted some incredible brews, ate delicious Belgian waffles (Which I understood are mostly from Liege), learned some important French words, understood the concept of kissing on the cheek with other men, and enjoyed some Belgian chocolate. Best of, I am happy to have spent half of the country with someone. Onto Luxembourg… to be continued. 🙂