Cycling through the Bulscampveld forest, we spotted a sign for “Urban Café.” As that’s our demo right there, we diverted.

The café is not urban: it’s in the forest. And it’s a “scene” as Lisa says. We arrived five minutes before lunch service ended. We shared an amazing burger, fries, and a salad, and two bottles of Dr. Ginger. An unexpected delight. 

An impromptu “eat before you’re hungry, drink before you’re thirsty” stop at De Koetshoeve resulted in excellent warm apple pie and a solid cup of coffee.

(While we’re riding regular old human-powered bicycles, we’ve been noticing e-bike parking, with plugs for charging, all over the place here in Belgium, including in the garden here.)

We had a quick visit to the S.M.A.K. contemporary art gallery in Ghent, and focused on the Fake Barok exhibition by Narcisse Tordoir, which was quite affecting.

My favourite piece of public art on the trip so far. A former factory on the riverbank in Schellebelle, near the ferry dock. 

After yesterday’s bailout, we were determined to cycled today, weather be damned: we’d seek shelter from thunder, and ride through rain. And that’s exactly what we did.

The weather was, um, mercurial: lovely sun, torrential shoe-filling rain, lovely sun again  

We sought shelter a few times (the second time we were greeted by a man on a horse carrying a dog). But we rode through a lot of rain. We were soggy by Ghent. But we did it. 

Lisa magically ordered up food delivery to our rural B&B here in Dendermonde for supper tonight. We enjoyed tofu bowls, and then shared a wacky delightful over-the-top dessert made from chocolate mousse, pistachio, and fresh strawberries. 

We bailed out of a 61 km cycle from Antwerp to Dendermonde today because the weather forecast called for rain, wind, and thunder. The last thing we wanted to do was to get caught on an exposed polder in a lightning storm.

So, instead, we enjoyed a day in damp Antwerp, and are now en route to Dendermonde via Mechelen (where we stayed two nights ago: we will do in 16 minutes on the train what it took us the better part of 8 hours yesterday!).

Lisa and Peter: twist and swerve.

(The good photos are taken by Lisa!) 

Postscript: on the train from Mechelen the heavens opened up with heavy rain and lightning. We made the right decision. 

We cycled 48 km today, more than either of us have ever done in a day. It was so much cycling, over such varied terrain—from the streets of Brussels waking up, to fields of sheep and cows and deer, to lakes and rivers and canals—that it seems impossible that we cycled through all that since we woke up. But we did.

Tonight we are in Mechelen, and Lisa spotted Mavue, a canal-side restaurant. We had a lovely, substantial meal that will power us through the 44 km we are set to cycle tomorrow.