NLAdmin – Page 2 – Northern Loon Travelogue

From Amsterdam we trained to Brugges. Paid big $$ to ride a bullet train, which returned the favor by steaming by us (and many others) in the station without stopping. No one, including professional help, seemed to know where to board this train. We hopped on the next one, a commuter. Ok ride, but slow, stopped multiple times. Started picking up many people. Pretty soon it was packed, standing room in the aisle. It gets better. Some kerfuffel on a track. The system shut down for about 45 minutes. Out train didn’t move.

What was supposed to be a 2 hour ride turned into 5. But we made it, took a cab to our Airbnb. Turned out we were only 2 miles from the city center, bike paths the whole way (does it even need to be said?) The airbnb offered us two bikes. Mine was an ancient 3-speed. Wait – make that a one speed, stuck in a gear so high I could not start it from a dead stop.

I complained to our non-sociable, hermetic host. He secretly put out another bike for me. His own personal ride! The guy must be 6’4″ tall. I could barely stand over this bike, and better yet, it didn’t have hand brakes! Coaster brakes. I hadn’t used coaster brakes since I was 10. Given that I was sitting high off the ground like a Penny Farthing, I had tough choices. I could either brake to a stop, then tump over, or I could get down off the saddle before I came to a complete stop and deploy the bottom of my shoes as backup. Try it some time in heavy pedestrian traffic.

We did the usual sight seeing on day 1. On day 2 we circumnavigated the entire circle around town, barely made it to our chocolate making class, then had beers with friends we’d make on our river cruise at an obscure Belgian Beer Bar that claimed to be the oldest in town. Their bottled Belgian Beer list went on for pages.

The crowds in the main area were pretty intense, made especially so by multiple tour groups consisting of a good 50 or more bodies.

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Author: NLAdmin

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