Off to Ghent




We had quite the interesting day!  We didn’t really have anything special scheduled along the way but things just happened!  We left at 9:00 am, all set for our 50 km day. It was sunny but somewhat breezy.  Along the way we had one bike lose a pedal, one cyclist had a close encounter with a post and another cyclist “bite the dust”!  Luckily, there were no serious injuries, just part of a day of cycling.

After about 75 minutes of peddling, we stopped in Deinze for coffee.  At that time we discovered that Shelli’s sore knee was causing enough grief that she needed to get back to the boat. Luckily, Rikko was able to communicate with the boat to make arrangements to meet them to pick her up. That resulted in us having a longer break in the sun, no complaints!  By this time it was noon, so we had some time to make up!  Full speed ahead!

We had a quick photo stop at Ooidonk  Castle, which is still owned by the family.   

As we cycled along the River Leie we admired the beautiful homes/summer homes of the wealthy people from Ghent. We also saw many beautiful boats moored along the river banks.  We stopped for our picnic lunch along the River. 

At 2:30 we filed into the city of Ghent. The city was packed! It was a real challenge for our group of 25 to maneuver our way through the crowds without losing or injuring anyone! We arrived safely, locked up our bikes and went for a brief walking tour with Rikko. 

This lively city has numerous squares and cozy pubs and is an excellent mixture of mediëval edifices, stylist stopping streets, splendid mansions, working-class quarters from the beginning of the 20th century which now often house students, and busy little squares. We had two hours to explore the city on our own. Some of us made sure to check out some of the Belgian beers!

At 5:15 we regrouped to brave cycling back out of the city. More tricky maneuvers as we wound our way through the crowds and traffic to the outskirts of the city, where we found the Quo Vadis docked. 

After dinner we were treated to a beer tasting evening where we got to taste 6  Belgian beers! Another wonderful day!!


























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