Day 3: From Herent to Sint-Katelijne Waver

effe pauze

Today, there is even more of the Art Cities Route on the menu. All day actually. We show the children the signposting that we are going to follow today. It is always a good idea to involve the children in the navigation work. Tracking down the signs and indicating the right direction offers a nice distraction and also an activity for on the road.

Today’s route is flat and follows the water for quite some time. From the moment we cycle past the Dyle, the scenery changes. It is blissful how much peace and greenery can be found less than an hour’s cycling distance from Leuven. Entirely car-free, easy-to-ride meandering gravel paths as far as the eye can see. The only concern you have here as a parent is that your offspring do not fall into the water with their bikes.

Damiaan langs de Dijle

Along the way, we meet the greatest Belgian of all time: Father Damien, albeit in the form of a beautiful wooden statue. The ideal place for an educational quiz and, after a few hints, our children recognised the chirpy man from their religious lessons.

spaghetti!
Opsinjoor

And now on to Mechelen, with some surprises along the way. These experiences make a cycling holiday even better. For instance, just before Mechelen - in Muizen - we stumble across a magnificent little terrace in the bridge house right next to the route. There we have a view of the passers-by and we can see our loaded up bicycles from our table. This offers peace of mind and motivation, as we repeatedly see other holiday cyclists among the passers-by.

The spaghetti is delicious. We continue our journey to Mechelen. This time with the spire of St. Rombout's Cathedral on the horizon. We wind into the city via a beautiful path alongside the water. Mechelen surprises us with its beauty and conviviality. We stop for a moment at the cathedral because a large yellow toy grabs the children’s attention.

Our last stop of the day is the campsite of domain Roosendael. Once again we find that we are not the only ones travelling by bike. For dinner at the brasserie on this Sunday evening, we are apparently just too late. But not to worry. Dad still has some spark in his legs for a trip to the nearest night shop. Tonight we eat noodles à la camping.