AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures
Cycling Europe 2017 Days 16 to 18: Maastricht to Brussels - Cycling In Brussels
United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Netherlands & Germany : Days 16 to 18 - Tuesday to Thursday, 12th to 14th September - Maastricht to Brussels
Day 17 Route of exploring Brussels - to the Palace of Justice:
Cycling Distance - 4.00 km. Level: Easy.
Cycling Time : 11:00am to 4:30pm
Route Recommendations :
1. Traffic Directions!
On the Continental Europe, vehicles are left-hand drive, so cycle on the right. And do remember the traffic directions at road crossing. Also note that often cycling lanes run next to pedestrian lanes at town and city areas, at crossings there are separate lanes for pedestrians and bicycles, so stick to the correct lane.
2. Route & Traffic Conditions
Due to cold weather and strong headwinds we decided to take the train from Maastricht to Brussels. The route around Brussels was fairly flat.
For planning cycling routes in Europe, Cycle Travel which has a very user-friendly cycle travel trip planner, routes using this planner can be saved and also converted to GPX format for use in GPS devices.
3. Weather
12th September 2017
At Maastricht mid-morning temperatures was cold, averaging at 15°C and a low of 13 °C. Wind speed average 19 kph with gust of up to 31 kph.
At Brussels afternoon temperature averaged at 18°C. with a low of 15°C; wind speed averaged at 19 kph with almost continuous gusts up to 31 kph.
13th September 2017
At Brussels day temperature ranged from at 14°C to 19°C. Evening temperature averaged at 15°C with a low of 12°C; wind speed averaged at 19 kph with almost continuous gusts up to 31 kph.
14th September 2017
At Brussels day temperature ranged from at 13°C to 19°C with a low of 10°C. Evening temperature averaged at 14°C with a low of 12°C; wind speed averaged at 19 kph with almost continuous gusts up to 31 kph. Their was a short drizzle around lunch time.
It is always prudent to check the weather for the next day so as to know what to expect and be prepared for it. Useful weather forecast sites are BBC Weather, AccuWeather and Weather Spark.
4. Places of Interest
On Day 16:
- Grand Place (Brussels Town Square) (GPS: 50.84673, 4.35241). Don't miss view this central square of Brussels at night when the buildings are spectacularly lit up.
- De Beurs (Brussels Stock Exchange Building) (GPS: 50.84797, 4.35036). The square in front is full of revelers in the late afternoon and evening.
On Day 17:
On Day 18:
5. Food
On Day 16:
- Dinner: Take-away pastries at apartment.
On Day 17:
On Day 18:
- Breakfast: Take-away pastries at apartment.
6. Accommodations
We stayed three nights at the Smarflat Design Grand Place (GPS: 50.84564, 4.35032) which we had pre-booked online a small flat with two 2-pax family room and a folding bed at the living room at €144.24 per night inclusive of city tax. This was a special introductory rate as the apartments were newly refurbished.
Address: Rue du Lombard 39, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium.
7. Bringing Bikes Onto European Trains
The European local trains allow any bicycles on board, but there may be a fare to be paid for the bicycles. To avoid this, we folded and bagged our bicycles before bringing them into the stations. Details on bringing bikes onto European trains can be obtained from the uk.voyages-sncf.com site.
8. Communicating with Each Other
When travelling in a group it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one got lost.
9. Communicating with Locals
In Belgium, the locals speak Flemish, Dutch and French. Many can speak English fleuntlyly, so communicating with them is not a problem.
When communicating with locals is a problem, this could be partly overcome by using translation apps like Google Translate. Do install this app into your phone and before you leave on your tour do some basic translation as it will be saved onto a list of recent translations.
Look out for the tourist information booths at airports, railway stations or bus stations, the guides manning the booths speak very good English and do give good tips on where to visit, directions, train and bus schedule.
10. Navigation
As Bill had pre-planned the route and had loaded the GPX route file onto his Garmin GPS unit. I was the assistant navigator and had loaded the route maps onto my unit too.
11. Service Your Bicycles & Carry Tools and Spares
Before leaving on your tour, it will be good to service your bike and bring along some spares like tubes, puncture patches, brake pads and the relevant tools.
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PRELUDE
The previous two days we had cycled from Düsseldorf to Maastricht. It was a fairly long route of 113 km., that and strong headwinds zapped us but we were glad we did it as it was an accomplishment and there were nice sites along the way. We stayed in Maastricht. for two nights and had a whole day to explore the old UNESCO Heritage town.
We left the quaint old town and prepared for the next leg of our cycling tour, we will be looping back to Belgium. Ten days earlier we had zoomed pass Belgium on our way from Dunkirk (France) to Middelburg (Nettherlands), it was a long route that did not give us any time to enjoy the country. But we will make up for that and spend three "get-to-know Belgium nights" in Brussels.
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| 10:00am - Riding out to the station on a cold, misty Maastricht morning. |
We woke up to a cold, cold, misty morning in Maastricht. It may feel normal to the locals but to our tropical bodies it felt freezing cold. Also with strong head winds and rain forecasted. we decided not to brave the inclement weather and forgo cycling the 120 km. to Brussels and instead take the train.
We took the 10:49 train from the Maastricht Railway Station, it's a modern station but the old railway building with its dark brown Flemish architecture had been retained.
At Liège-Guillemins Railway Station there was a short forty minutes stop to change trains and we took the opportunity to admire the architecture of the smooth sweeping arches of the station, it's modern column free steel-glass structure contrasting but somehow blending in with the nearby old houses. Here we met and made friends with a Dutch man, and he was most happy to pose with the girls.... lucky fella!
12:58pm - We arrived at Brussels Central Station, it was too early to check in to our hotel, so why waste time... might as well take a short cycling tour of Brussels old town district, starting with the Manneken Pis. Although it was a weekday, this iconic site was busy with tourist and we patiently wait our turns to pose in front of the statue.
It depicted a naked little boy urinating into a fountain's basin and was designed by Hiëronymus Duquesnoy the Elder and put in place in 1618 or 1619. The current statue is a copy which dates from 1965. The original is kept in the Museum of the City of Brussels. This statue of a little boy is the best-known symbol of the people of Brussels. It also embodies their sense of humor (called zwanze in the Brussels' dialect) and their independence of mind.
No tour of Brussels is complete without a visit to the Grand Place, the central square of Brussels. It is a large square surrounded by opulent guildhalls and two larger edifices, the city's Town Hall, and the King's House or Breadhouse which holds the Museum of the City of Brussels. It's a beautiful place which is even more beautiful at night when the old towering buildings are lit up.
We checked into the Smarflat Design Grand Place, a lovely apartment located very nearby, it will be our home for the next three night. Right at the entrance was this poster of a lady making a shushing sign with her forefinger to her lips, a gentle reminder to keep quiet as a respect to other guests. This brought back memories of our South Korea cycling tour where we stayed in Korean love motels which often had a poster of a smartly dressed concierge shushing .... but that man was shushing for a different reason; his was to lovers using the love motels for the secret liasons and meant, "You don't tell, I won't tell". Haha!
It was out again, this time to savor Brussels famous mussels at Chez Leon. Oddly most of the mussels are not Belgium as many would have thought, they are imported from Holland. We ordered three buckets (each holding about sixty mussels) of different flavours - their house-favorite with herbs, one with white wine and a last one with cream.
Judging by the empty shells and buckets, although we had more than thirty mussels each, it was not enough... fortunately the mussels set came with shrimp cocktail, the renown Belgian Fries (frites) and glasses of good white house wine. Still we will be back for more gooooood mussels on later days.
(.... read more about Chez Leon)
There are several art murals around the narrow streets of the old town, the girls loved this one of early 20th Century peasant ladies and "sat" with them for a while. This mural was done by (R)estart Reality, an app that traces street art in some European cities.
Our final tour destination for the day was the De Beurs (Brussels Stock Exchange Building). At the front are steps leading up to the stately building, tourist will often sit here (just like the Spanish Steps in Rome) and watch street performances. While we were captivated by some talented young taking part in the street dances, Bil was walking around the place, oddly with his right hand upright all the while.... what was he up to, trying to get some sweet Belgian lady's attention? Actually he was trying out his 3-D camcorder!
We returned to our apartment, which had two 2-pax bedrooms and a fold-out sofa bed in the living hall for the five of us ... and guess who got to sleep in the living room - me the super loud snorer...
Good night....
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
shhhhhhhh.....
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