May 14, 2024 Brussels to Bruges

It was another sunny day with just a very thin high cloud. The temperature at 8 a.m. was 17°C and a southeast wind at 17 km/hr. There were more people at the breakfast buffet at 8:30 a.m. than yesterday at 6:30 a.m. After breakfast we walked over to the 17th century buildings of the Grand Place Brussels to take some pictures. These are mostly elaborate buildings with gold leaf accents. The oldest building, the Town Hall was built in the 1400s, but destroyed by fire except the walls and tower by Louis XIV army’s bombardment in 1695. It was rebuilt. The King’s House was completed in 1536, remodelled in 1873 and is now a museum. The Guild Houses include Fox House 1690, Boatman’s Guild and Baker’s Guild both from 1697. Victor Hugo stayed in a house in the square for a few years. The Maison des Ducs de Brabant was built in the early 1700s. We returned to the hotel to gather our luggage and checkout.

We walked to the train station and bought tickets for the 10:45 a.m. train to Bruges. Even dragging our suitcases, the walk took less than 15 minutes. The tickets were just €17 each. The final obstacles were taking the 40 pound suitcases down 22 steps to the platform then over the gap onto the three steps to get on the train and the same three steps and gap alighting in Bruges.

The journey was about 70 minutes passing through Ghent and Aalter, where third cousins live. We arrived a little before noon in Bruges. Then the adventure of finding the boat began. Consulting Google Maps, we began the walk, only to be sidetracked when two paths were close, one way at street level and the other way was under a roadway. Once on the other side of the tunnel, we realized that we had to retrace our steps. Once on the Goggle route we passed the other side of the train station. If we had known about that entrance we would have saved 15 minutes of walking. The new sidewalk route ended but there was still a path under a bridge and a park on the other side then a footpath which seemed to agree with the route. Following Google Maps, we saw a marina and were at Bargewed, less than one kilometre from the train station. However, we could not see the boat. After walking 500 meters along a bicycle path we noticed another person dragging a suitcase and followed her until she started coming back toward us. She was one of the crew, Janneke from Romania, returning from time off. She had just messaged the captain and the boat was moored in a different place than usual, so she led us. We were greeted by the cycling guides Peter and Mieke and we left our suitcases on board, but we were too early for checkin at 1 p.m. It looked like at least 10 others were early judging from the suitcases. We returned at 1 p.m. and found over a dozen other people had arrived and more were trickling in. Peter and Mieke reintroduced themselves to those people present, then called names and guided people to their cabins. We were assigned a cabin right next to the staircase. Easy to remember. Each cabin has a key but it is only recommended if you are going to be out in the evening and not returning until after 10 p.m. You can lock the doors when you are in the cabin. The cabin is compact, about ten feet by eight feet, with two single beds and a porthole. The compact bathroom is about eight feet by 2.5 feet. The sink is in front of the door and to the left is the toilet and right is the shower. You can stand in front of the sink and stretch your arms sideways touch the toilet wall and the shower doors. The waterproof panniers and helmets were is the small three quarter height closet.

Once everyone had found their cabins, we assembled on the sun deck for a safety orientation and welcome from the captain, Richard, and an introduction of the crew. The chef is Michel (Michael), the two hostesses/maids are Janneka and Madi and the sailor is Julius. When it is time to gather a bell will ring as the signal. The cycling guides we had already met. We next went off the boat to where the bicycles were parked and found our assigned bikes. Although the passengers look like they can cycle, 19 of the 31 bikes were ebikes. The largest elevation we will encounter will be bridges. We just have cruiser bicycles. The group then went for a five kilometre ride. Unfortunately, Deidra from Winnipeg, collided with a post on the bike path and scraped her arm and shin. She got first aid treatment when we returned to the boat and was feeling a bit battered at dinner. Upon returning, the bar was open. After unpacking a bit, since there is very little storage ( thank goodness for cube packing) we took the computers upstairs to chat a bit with our fellow cyclists and complete yesterday’s blog.

Dinner was at 6 p.m. with wine included with dinner on the first night. The three course dinner began with Mushroom and Truffle soup; followed by white fish with asparagus, green beans and tiny boiled potatoes; then for dessert a brownie with raspberry sorbet and a small churro.

Breakfast is scheduled daily for 8 a.m. and cycling starts at 9 a.m., but there is an option to stay on the boat. Seating for meals is random but there is a group of ten from Quebec, 6 Americans, a couple from Ireland and the rest, 10 or 12, are Canadian.

That was followed by the nightly meeting to explain the next day's route.There is a strong possibility of rain for tomorrow, so everyone was advised to take rain gear in the supplied waterproof panniers. Then about half of the group accompanied our cycling guide, Peter, on a one hour walking tour of old Bruges, which is just a ten minute walk from where the boat is moored. The boat is moored every night.

Total steps 18,620