Fighting the Cobbles - My trip to Belgium in 2018, Part 27 - Arrival in Wavre

This blog continues the previous Part 26,
https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/10/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in_8.html

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

   

'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes,

but in having new eyes'

Marcel Proust

   After nearly one day walking from Duisburg (Belgium, not Germany) I arrived in the province of Wavre, named after its capital. As the mother tongue is French, the citizens are called 'Wavriens' and 'Wavriennes'.

   Following some smooth hills i finally arrived at the first houses of the city of Wavre, with over 34,000 citizens some of the larger urban areas I would passed on my trekking part during my trip in Belgium. 

Reaching Wavre City Limits...

   Historically a Roman villa has been found in an area close to the city but it was first officially mentioned as a dependency of the County of Leuven in 1050. Located conveniently on the crossroads of Brussel-Namur and Nivelles-Leuven a town grew in this place which have been granted its city charter by the Duke Henry I. of Brabant, "The Courageous" (1165-1235) in 1222. 

   Between the 16th and 18th century the city suffered from many disasters like retaliations, wars and two major fires. Wavre had its share of the 'Battle of Waterloo' (June 18, 1815) during which the French General and self-proclaimed Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the British-led Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The outcome of this battle ended the reign of Napoleon in Europe and changed the political situation in the old continent.

   I did neither come to invade nor start a war but rather came in the peaceful mission of a tourist looking around, breathing its air and try to learn something about this town. After walking from 9:30 in the morning to the late afternoon (5:30 pm) my first priority was to look for a hotel. I did not want to sleep in my tent which is not very convenient in a city. My friend Rene told me about a church in which I could stay but checking out the map beside the Town Hall it seemed too far for me to handle today.

Town Hall of Wavre 

   I walked thru the sometimes narrow streets and found a hotel and asked for the price. Before deciding I found a chain hotel a little outside beside a freeway which was priced higher and already fully booked. I left but discovered an industrial area with a large supermarket across the street. I went inside, bought my dinner and something for the road tomorrow. I returned to the first hotel and checked in, the price included a breakfast. The hotel had a distinctive Middle Eastern flavor, a surprise for me and a sign of the international openness of Belgium.

My cozy Bed for the Night 

   The first I did is to plug in my phone and camera to charge the batteries. Then I washed my clothes, underwear and socks which would be dry the next morning. I took my first extensive shower within two days. After all was done I made myself comfortable on the bed to have my dinner while I was watching TV, a time I enjoyed tremendously.

   The bed was great and, needless to say, together with the room, much more spacious than my one-man tent. I was glad that I decided to take off some time of my 'adventure' part of the journey... At around 10:00 I went to bed and, after some minutes, I longed for the fresh Belgium air. I closed the air condition and opened the window wide; afterwards I felt much better and had indeed a good night's sleep. 

(to be continued@
https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/10/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in_17.html)

Disclaimer: I traveled Belgium by myself, I am not sponsored by anyone. Interested subscribers and/or followers in traveling an in this small but beautiful country are more than welcome! 
If not convenient to subscribe on Blogger.com, I've started my own homepage @ https://gerhardwanninger.wixsite.com/travel

Fighting the Cobbles - My trip to Belgium in 2018, Part 26 - Towards and in Ottenburg

This blog continues the previous Part 25,
https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/10/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in.html

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

    I took my luggage and pulled it along two horses standing under a tree; the whole body covered with a cloth and a net over their eyes. I’ve never seen such strange masquerades before and would not believe they were Zorro's horses. After I've discovered the many insects bothering these animals I suppose the flies and their relatives could be the reason for the outfit…

Zorro’s Horse?

   Following another lonely road I reached the outskirts of Ottenburg, still a part of Huldenberg. On both sides of the road there were several fields and I was happy that the  way led me to a dense forest with trees giving me some shadows and relief from the burning sun. After leaving the refreshing forest I came to a small house with a Mary statue carrying Jesus on her arms protecting and blessing the fields around her. There were small benches around it and I took some rest in the shadows.

'Take 5'

   While I was taking my obligatory selfie on a tripod I noticed a young woman passing the scene. After I put the camera with the tripod in my bags I've decided to followed her direction. Not as a stalker but as she was dressed up I thought that she might go into the city and would lead me to the right path. She was walking well in front of me as we passed a field with grazing and resting cows. On a blue banner I've noticed the Dutch words for 'I keep it clean here. Do you too?' Living in Taiwan I know how great it is not only make hygienic standards but also to watch keep them and encourage people to follow. Especially in the wake of the infamous 'Mad Cow Disease' or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) the European Union changed some rules keeping domestic animals.

'I keep it clean here. Do you too?'

   Passing other clean and happy cows I followed the young girl until she lead me to the main road, she turned right and sat down at a bus stop. When I arrived at the same intersection I looked left and turned to the town of Ottenburg. The road was lined with farm houses between private houses. I've discovered a supermarket and went inside not only for the air condition but also also for some food and drinks. I was the only customer and therefore tried to understand how a supermarket can survive in this location...

   Leaving the supermarket I continued into the town center but there was, as expected, not much to discover in the countryside. I ran into a worker and asked him about the direction to Wavre, my final destination of the day. He suggested me that I should return and follow the same road from which I just came. I listen to his advice and on the way I took a photo from the supermarket I have visited only a few minutes ago.  

'Temperature showing 27 degrees Celsius

   Looking at the photo people will realized that the town of Ottenburg is very clean and tidy with safe walkways on both sides of the road. But people will also discover that the temperature reached 27 degrees (!) in the afternoon, a very high temperature for June. Later I will learn that the summer of 2018 will be one of hottest in the whole modern history of Europe!

(to be continued@

https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/10/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in.html)

Disclaimer: I traveled Belgium by myself, I am not sponsored by anyone. Interested subscribers and/or followers in traveling an in this small but beautiful country are more than welcome! 
If not convenient to subscribe on Blogger.com, I've started my own homepage @ https://gerhardwanninger.wixsite.com/travel

Fighting the Cobbles - My trip to Belgium in 2018, Part 23 - Leaving Tervuren

This blog continues the previous Part 22,
https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/09/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in_12.html

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

     

   Enjoying the companionship with Rene felt like being with an old friend sharing the good things in life and having a good time. He did not hold back to share his experiences, gave me a lot of advice and I felt that he wanted to help this foreigner as much as he could even we knew only for a few minutes. 

My friend Rene in his Wineyard

   At around 9:00 his wife, a late riser as Rene joked, joined us. I have to admit that her English was much better than Rene's... She helped him to find their hiking maps and Rene was surprised that I did not have any on me. So he opened several maps on the breakfast table and showed me a nice trekking trail to the city of Wavre, the next big city on my way. I took some picture but mainly noted the names of the towns and the numbers of the trekking routes in my small red notebook (no, not Mao's Bible!).

   As I had to leave Rene and his lovely wife made me some sandwiches and crashed some walnuts which he put in a beautiful real waxed paper bag for 'the road'! These few hours were a great experience and restored my faith in the human nature. But I also felt a little uncomfortable because I mostly received but could not give a lot in return.

   Finally I hugged both of them, thanked again and went with my messenger bag, the sports bag on rolls and with a heavy heart on my way...

   As mentioned before Belgium has a nice system of road numbers marking each trail with a number which is clearly shown on the right side of the road. When you know the number you surely find the 'right' way to your destination.

Route Numbers for Cyclists and Pedestrians

    After leaving Rene I headed for the linden tree which gave me shelter during the last night. After greeting my 'old friend' the tree for the last time I followed country roads crossing some hilly terrain with fields as far as my eyes could see. I am not a country boy and therefore can only imagine how much work and effort goes into these fields insuring ample food supplies not only for Belgium but also for the whole European Union and their products are even exported into the world. 

   It felt great walking after meeting great people, sharing a good breakfast and travel with a ton of advice through this landscape crossing smooth hills. There were no cars and only occasionally few bikers. Pulling my bag I sensed a kind of freedom and was very curious what would happen after the next corner.

   After a while I've decided to put on my sun glasses because the sun burned on me and the fields around. I was glad that I wore a long sleeved shirt; I always trek in long pants. For my neck I had a round cloth which could also function as a headpiece, on my head I wore a bright yellow cap for others to see. All this equipment has on this day only one function: to protect me from the sun! Nothing would be more painful than a sunburn during holidays.

Biker passing my Sports Bag on Wheels with the Messenger Bag attached on its Handle

   Sometimes the design of the country road separates the motorways from the bikers and pedestrians. For me this shows how much blood, sweat and tears the various Belgian governments invest into their country for the people to enjoy...

   Belgium is not a big country, on one side you feel a sense of freedom but on the other side you are never too far away from the next town. Following a path downhill I finally left the countryside and came to the main road; turning left will lead me to the city of Huldenberg.

   Not far away from this intersection I noticed a statue of several colored race bikers beside the road. Belgium is a country not only famous for but even more crazy for cycling and this is clearly shown here.

Racing Bike Statue near Huldenberg

   The reason why these riders are here because the town of Huldenberg (berg = mountain) is part of many Belgian bike races. There is a steep mountain climb in this predominant flat country.

(to be continued@

https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/09/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in_25.html)

Disclaimer: I traveled Belgium by myself, I am not sponsored by anyone. Interested subscribers and/or followers in traveling an in this small but beautiful country are more than welcome! 
If not convenient to subscribe on Blogger.com, I've started my own homepage @ https://gerhardwanninger.wixsite.com/travel