Emotions on pedals - day 5

The next one to approach us was an old lady who found us lost the following morning, as we were trying to find our way in the direction of the seaside. The way was wonderful, along a nice canal again, this time bordered by wind turbines (modern windmills for 21st century Don Quixotes..). We were however digging our own grave, as we soon found out we had ended up in a “cul de sac”. The seaside could not be reached, due to the presence of a unsurmountable water basin in front and all around us! Using the limited information of my Google Maps we managed to circumnavigate the waters, but found ourselves having to climb a massive dyke in order to reach the next road. Climbing with loaded bikes a 30m high heap of earth was an adventure. The ground was so steep and slippery that Teo fell on his bum all the way down the other side, as he was confidently making plans on how to take the bike down. It took me 5 minutes to recover from laughing, I then held the bike up and slided down the whole hill on my ass, in a sort of controlled way. Not the most elegant of methods, but it worked! Pants wet, and we soon find out the road we are on is in construction. We still had to cross a high speed railway and a highway, before we could get to a road pointing in the right direction. But, alas, it turned out to be a busy junction leading to the important port of Zebrugge…trafficated by trucks and all sort of heavy vehicles, whizzling past dangerously close. The nightmare was not over until we finished our journey in the middle of the containers of the port. Sighing with relief we then headed to the prettier town of Knokke. The North sea is a powerful in-hospitable space in front of us, as we were walking on a long open beach, and then on a rocky cliff peering out into the water. It was a memorable lunch break at the Western limits of the Old Continent. In the afternoon, we decided to cycle north to the border with the Netherlands, which represented for us the symbol of an escape from the limit. We spent some time tinkering with the idea of a crazy march all the way to Rotterdam, dreaming the roads we were seeing on the map, connecting islands and wetlands.. Then the sense of reality prevailed, and we were not brave or crazy enough to continue with 2 hours of sunlight till the end of the day. Sad story. But we went to the Zweig national park, the largest and probably the only one in Belgium. A hilly swamp along the sea. At some point we found ourselves surrounded by wild horses that started to scavenge into our bags in search for food or clothes to chew. As I was out in the fields trying to capture some snapshots of some hairy cows, I heard Matteo calling for help and see him trying to fend off a whole pack of hungry horses! Again, that threw me on the floor laughing, and it took me some time before running to rescue my “Donquixotesque” travel companion..

So, this is how it ended.. After another adventurous day spent outside, we got our first and only train.. Back to Brussels ready for a Thursday night. Energy levels, are high, inexhaustible…