Day 46
On the move 12.30 way too much old naked flesh in the sauna areas.... The autoban is closed so a massive detour through villages. A 1 hour journey turns into 2 and a half!Decided to pull off the road and wild camp in a forest. A man came over about 7.30 just as it was getting dusky
and reminded us to be careful with the fire...nice enough chap and wasnt bothered about us being there. It got very dark very quickly and the only light was the small camp fire and me flicking the torch on and off every 5 mins asking 'what was that!' Lots of rustling and scurrying noises.. you just know there are hundreds of tiny eyes watching your every move. Diablo Chili cooked on the fire 225km
Day 47
Woke up to a lovely sunny morning and went for a wander, left Jaz sleeping. Took some pics of a cormorant drying his wings, had to stand shock still
for 20 mins to get the shot. Back to Bessie for breakfast while Jaz is getting his fishing gear ready for another attempt. I tagged along with my camera just in case he catches something...no luck tho, its a good job we don't have to rely on Jaz's hunting skills to feed us.
16.30 on the road to Weilmunster (said vilemunster)great name! Just stopping to empty the loo and fill up with water. Another night in the forest with more spooky rustlings....these got closer than before so we decided to go in before it got pitch black Pansies! Cooked stuffed
mushrooms, pork chops and bratwurst on the BBQ.
Day 48
10 hours sleep! Hardly anyone in these woods except the rustling noises of the critters right next to you, makes you jump too...lol I think they are mice and they move fast too! 12.30 onto Trabau Tarabach. Plenty of sights to see along the way, some are awesome some not so great.
The not so great are the many prostitutes along the road or as we call them 'the ladies of the white chairs" Jaz has now started waving and beeping at them I think the cars behind think he is a regular. It is obvious that sex sells as there are so many of them, it is sad to see so many of them are barely out of their teens(if they are) and are barely dressed. Some of the girls are wearing next to nothing so you don't have to pay to see them naked, they almost are!
Trabau Tarabach is along the moselle river and a pretty spot too with a pretty pice tag! walked into town and ended up in a bar called Dubble Dutch (yes I have spelt it right) Owned and run by a lovely couple Boelo and Greetje. It has a great atmosphere and you are made to feel
very welcome by Boelo and the regulars in the pub too. They also have a great Jukebox and a singsong happens quite regularly. Stayed late drank too much Bitburger and wobbled back to Bessie.
Day 49
Chatted to Stu on skype with hangovers all round (and Stu) then on the road to Luxembourg. Campstop at Port De Plaisance Schwebsange 12.50E per night
inc hook up and showers. 103km Shower and catch up with Mum and Gerry on skype. Back to Bessie for chicken korma wraps and an early night.
Day 50
Not an early night, decided to walk into Schwebsange (about 1k) and have a look around the village. There are some very unusual houses here and no 2 are the same. It is like everyone gets to design their own house and there are several little quirks on each house so it stands out.
So far this morning it is a miserable day but no rain so not so bad....lets hope the sun makes another appearance today.
12.00 on the road after showers towards Belgium. Fuel 37E arrive at Euphen @ 16.00 forest carpark next to a dam. Nothing to do here unless you like dam's, no town or houses just a dam, a carpark, a forest and a whole load of boy racers! Decided at 19.00 there is only so much boy racers you can take in one night without laughing your head off and getting beaten up...lol so we move onto Blegny Mine. Total KM today 241km. Tried to buy a token for electricity but it has run out a very nice Dutch man tried to help but no good...oh well, I guess we will just have to talk to
eachother.....The mine looks very cool lit up in the dark....little spooky too which is cool.
Day 51
On the road for 10.30 just as 6 coach loads of school kids turned up for a trip down the mine. Cold wet and foggy day Fuel 33E. Arrived in Neerpelt 1.30 stop is free parking and free electricity, we have a river view and sunshine!Went off to find a supermarket and shopped in a Delhaize for the first time. very cheap and lots of choice....found cathedral city and cheap steak. Jaz is off fishing in the river and I am prepping dinner while listening to Joe FM with loads of cool 80's music and drinking a German beer called Schloss- I think if i drink too many I will have the schloss of a few
brain cells to worry about!93km
Day 52
Lovely sunny day in Neerpelt Spoke to our new Belgium friends (Annelise,Luc,Mia and Tom) so we are going to make a detour to Antwerp to visit them. Helped a few people sort out the electric when they arrived and the parking ticket-feel like a pro at this camping game although I dont REALLY know what I'm doing...lol 12.30 on the road to Antwerp and stopped in a place called Lier for lunch. Jaz got chatting to man who told him story's about Turkish prisons and torture....lovely. Onto Antwerp and parked up on a very busy dual carriageway. Trains to the right and the equivalent of the M25 on the left plus we are in the flight path....going to be a noisy night....
Spent a wonderful evening with our friends and their gorgeous children. They made us feel very welcome and they have an awesome house right in the city I even got to shower which is always great for me...Looking forward to seeing Antwerp with them tomorrow.
Day 53
Managed to get some sleep the rocking motion of the trucks zooming past was quite restful....Met up with Luc at 10am and had coffee and Moroccan breakfast rolls. Then he showed us a street where every house was designed by a famous designer many years ago and every house is architecturally beautiful. We met Mia from school and after getting Tom we all went on a tour of Antwerp. It was grat to have our own personal guids. First stop was an Italian sandwich shop to buy lunch and then onto Rubens house for a picnic in the gardens.Rubens house and paintings museum is a lovely place to visit and free on the last Wednesday of the month. break for coffee and then onto a printing museum. Annelies had to leave to prepare dinner and Luc took us to the Cathedral,river and a Belgium chocolate shop. There is also a British shop in Antwerp so Jaz brought a few bottles of English beer and cider for everyone to try. At dinner we met Annelies' brother Jan and his fiance Lien (Lin) who are getting married next month. We ate cous cous
and beef it was lovely and Annelies worked very hard. We spent the evening chatting about beer and found out the Belgium's don't like ours very much altho Luc enjoyed trying a snake bite and after a couple he started calling it steak bike.....on the way back to Bessie on the bikes I had to
contend with Jaz and Luc singing Abba songs....Bessie is parked up in Graffiti street where a competition was held to cover the whole street in art, its an fab sight and a lot quieter too.
Day 54
Maybe our last day in Antwerp and it will be very sad to say goodbye to Annelies, Luc and family. They have been so welcoming and generous to us over the last couple of days and I hope we can return the favour when they visit England. It's not very often you meet such lovely people who treat you like your part of the family.Spent the afternoon with our friends and Jaz and Luc were in the studio, playing guitar and Piano and singing. Then we tried Belgium chips. No vinegar and Annelies thinks it is very weird that we should want to put vinegar on our chips....They have a
gravy /stew type thing that tated gorgeous, bit like steak and ale pie gravy.Spent the evening chatting about famous people listening to music and helping them plan their UK trip.
Day 55
Not our last day-Had May day breakfast with our friends then sat and chatted. jaz and Luc were in the studio and I had some girly time with Annelies and Mia.
They invited us on a camping trip with their friends to a Meadow.Unfourtunatly the trip didnt happen as the tunnels out of Antwerp were under repair and the city was gridlocked. We took the kids to the park and stayed late at theirs laughing at the boys playing drinking games.... boys will be boys!
Day 56
Jaz is suffering this morning with a hangover, maybe he should have left the Duval alone (8.5%) once his headache cleared up we were invited round to
Annelies and Luc's for home made tikka masala...it was gorgeous! Us girls settled infront of a chick flick while the boys did their thing downstairs.
Day 57
Not much to report today-feeling crap and spent the whole day and night in bed......
Day 58
Did some clothes shopping in Antwerp today and had lunch, was nice to spend some time chatting about clothes instead of engines...lol Annelies made a traditional Belgium dinner and it again was gorgeous...just the things I love....Creamy mash with cheese,ham and chickory...
Then we followed the boys into the studio and Annelies sang...she rocked their little socks off!!
Day 58
Taken over the Antwerp abode for the day and cooking for the family tonight...Lasagne and Garlic bread I hope it turns out ok... we lost in the argument
about who has the best beer so lets hope my cooking doesnt let us down too much.... ha ha