Days on the road: 7
Mileage covered: 656 miles
Number of countries driven in: 4 (UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands)
Number of rainy days: 6.5
After setting off, our first stop was indeed Antwerp, as we promised the British border officer. We had good experiences in Belgium on all our previous trips, so why not try another Belgium town. Antwerp has lots of canals including one between our camp site and the city centre. Our side had a little beach nearby but since it was pouring it down, the beach was certainly not the place to be. Instead we tried to dry ourselves a little bit in a cheap bar. Our main way of cooking is BBQ, but there was no chance we would be able to start a BBQ in this weather. So instead we found a cheap take-away place. We had only little idea what we ordered but turns out that the Bitterballn we got are something typically Dutch / Flemish. It essentially tastes like a deep fried ball with mushrooms inside. (I’m sure any chef would not be impressed with that description.)
The next day it was still raining but since it wasn’t quite so bad, so we went into Antwerp. It was a 30min walk from the campsite which included crossing the canal via a long tunnel with some retro escalators. We walked around the centre, main, square, cathedral and some shops when the rain picked up again. The guys at the camp site recommended going to the MAS, not necessarily to look at the exhibition (we didn’t go in, so we can’t comment it) but because you can go to the top floor and have a great view on the city. So we went there – via the red light district (accidental). It was indeed a stunning view from the top on the city centre and we could also see our camp site (although couldn’t see Baloo).
From MAS we went to the central station. It was a bit of a way but again something which the guys at the camp site mentioned. And since we had plenty of time and plenty of energy (after a stop at a student bar) we headed to the other end of town. The station is indeed pretty impressive. Nothing that Kings Cross, Euston, Paddington, … can keep up with. Both the exterior and interior are very pretty. Certainly a nice way to welcome inter-railers.
The rest of the week we planned on spending in the Netherlands. We had little idea what places to go and see but Daan helped out and mentioned Kinderdijk, The Hague, Schevingen and Utrecht. (We’d been to Amsterdam before, so no need for that again.) After checking out where they are on a map and looking a bit more at what there is, our route through the Netherlands was indeed Kinderdijk, The Hague, Schevingen, Utrecht and then Beuningen, to visit Daan and Marleen. Thanks, Daan!
Kinderdijk is a pretty place with lots of old windmills. We turned up and saw a big ticket office. After studying the board with the prices we asked whether it’s possible to walk around for free (and miss out going into the wind mills and watching the video). The guy says “Yes, walking is free. Swimming is also free.” – This turned out to be Martin’s favourite quote. So we walked around, past wind mills and along canals, enjoyed some ice cream before heading back – via the gift shop. In the shop we saw a book called “The Undutchables”. It gave some advice on the dutch. We particularly liked the camping section. (Maybe because we had lots of camping ahead of us.) Apparently dutch like the idea of camping. They drive somewhere, setup the tent of 1.5h during the day. They enjoy 45min of sitting in the chairs outside the tent, before deciding to pack it all away and stay somewhere more comfortable for the night.
When we were in The Hague the weather forecast for the day was: thunderstorms, thunderstorms, heavy rain, showers, thunderstorms, heavy thunderstorms. Pretty impressive given that we had thunderstorms all night already and lots of rain. You would have thought that eventually it can’t rain and thunder anymore. Hmm, so we had started to think of plan B of doing a bit of admin. But then the weather took pity on us and in fact if anything it then got far too warm for Martin. The walk into town was quite long. So by the time we got to the centre Martin had to cool down a little bit and went to the Escher museum and Andi walked around town a little bit. It was a really nice town and in particular she liked the Peace Palace which had a flame of peace outside. (The flame was burning, even if it doesn’t look like it on the picture.) 197 countries and regions donated stones to put around the flame. The British and German stone are right next to each other. Andi preferred the German stone because it was more colourful. Martin preferred the British stone because the German one apparently looks moldy. Hmm, suppose there won’t be any arguments here.
Schevingen is right next to The Hague. It’s at the beach and has loads of beach bars which all look very trendy and exciting. There are also interesting sculptures. They don’t look particularly happy / optimistic, which given that it was the day after the British EU referendum was probably quite fitting. Overall Schevingen is a lovely place for a beach holiday, has more to offer than Cornwall, although the weather can’t compete with Italy (or any other southern country).
Our next stop was Utrecht. It was once more a very rainy stop and rained all day. However, we still enjoyed walking around the centre, along the canals (spotted a theme yet?), and probably broke our record for spending time at McDonalds (free wifi and a dry place to sit right next to a window near a canal was pretty good).
Our final stop in the Netherlands was visiting Daan and Marleen in Beuningen. Daan gave us a great tour of the Waal and Mas region, including a drive on the dike, a cruise on the Mas and a scoop of ice cream. It’s very pretty country side and was a lovely day out.
In the evening we went to Nijmegen – or Iron Maiden, as Martin called it. On our last night in the Netherlands we had a lovely dinner with Daan and Marleen, wandered along the river with its boats and around the town (and the red light district). A great way to finish off the first week on the road. Puck (Daan and Marleen’s cat) thought so too and gave Andi a high-5 (which Daan had patiently trained Puck to be able to do and Andi just bribed the cat with sweets).
Road Monkeys 