Friday, 15 August 2025

Europe - Day Fourteen

An easier ride today.  I'm now in the Low Countries which means FLAT.  My destination was Ghent, Belgium and the route Komoot selected took me along a smooth wide sealed towpath beside a canal.  Most of my non cycling and navigating time was spent recording 360 video.  Little did I realise the error I was making.

Perhaps I was focussed on the error I might have made with my accommodation booking.  It was cheap.  My error was in reading the reviews after making the non refundable booking.  The reviews were 99% bad.   Smelly, dirty, smoke tarnished rooms with thin walls frequented by Bulgarian truck drivers.  Oh well!  You get what you pay for in life.

First signs didn't look good.  I couldn't find the entrance.  The faded lemon coloured building appeared to be in a car scrap yard.

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The entrance.  It led to an industrial estate

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Things started to improve when I spoke with the receptionist.  She had spent some time in Australia five years earlier and kindly gave me a non smoking room.  Another bonus was it was clean.  The walls were thin and even without my hearing aids on I could hear the noises from other occupants.  However I managed to get some sleep and wasn't bitten by bed bugs.

In the morning I rode back into the centre of Ghent.  The city was only just starting to show signs of life.

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The restaurant area was dead.

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Too early for the tourists to want a canal sightseeing trip

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The weekly market in the main square was underway.  Locals - not tourists.

I was rather taken with the decorative work at the top of this three storey building

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Next stop is Antwerp.

2 comments :

Jenny said...

I'm pleased there were no bed bugs to bite you in your accomodation. I hope you are eating there was no mention of any meals.

Tom and Jan said...

Jenny I had a meal last night and have been eating apples and bananas for breakfast and lunch. I'm managing to lose some weight.