It had never been high up on my list of countries to visit, but after two years of Covid-related travel issues, Belgium seemed like a good option. Close to home, accessible by the Eurostar and somewhere I hadn’t been before.
Having now reached the half way point of my visit - cycling from Bruges to Brussels - apart from a sore backside, I have no regrets. Bruges and Ghent are two of the most attractive towns I have had the pleasure of visiting. Both lying on waterways with beautiful medieval architecture that I could have spent days, if not weeks, photographing. What has also been a real eye-opener is the residents’ attitude to cycling and cyclists. There are cycling lanes everywhere which I haven’t once seen blocked by vehicles, car drivers happily wave you across roads at junctions and so many of the indigenous folk use bikes themselves from children through to the older generation.
I feel we could learn a lot from the Belgians in our own town planning and push for greater physical/mental well-being.
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