Belgium - a long way to go just for coffee

Maasbracht to Maastricht to Thorn

Day 70 - Sunday - August 21
Better get packed up as it looks like rain......again.

Thank goodness for very large walnut trees with lots of leaves.

Oregon isn't the only place that has logging competitions.

The mailbox is well disguised as a birdhouse.

One of the places on the map that had a coffee cup symbol. There were already about 10 cyclists there when we arrived. The special was applebakke and koffie. 

Never could find a name on this church. Doug figured we would never make it to Amsterdam if we stopped at every old church we saw so Donna only stopped at every 3rd one.

Still a lot of roadside crosses in this area but the styles are more varied.

The village of Itteren was our lunch spot at a roadside picnic table.

We had been seeing these posts for miles and finally came across this sign that explained their purpose as removable flood wall holders.

We ended our day in Maastricht. We had a wonderful evening of fellowship and fine food with our bike touring friends from the Biel, Switzerland campground, Joos and Reinke. They had just returned a couple of days earlier after completing their bike trip to Venice, Italy. Thank you, Joos and Reinke for your wonderful hospitality!

Day 71 - Monday - August 22
Maastricht is one of the oldest towns in The Netherlands and still has much of its old wall.

This is a church that Joos recommended we look at because it really looks more like a castle and is very unusual. It was built in the 15th century.

Chapel of Mary, The Star of the Sea.

Yes....another old church.

And another one!

The Maastricht town square and city hall.

Doug says the tour isn't over until she sings.

Our route back north on the west side of the Maas River has taken us into Belgium.

Doug particularly liked Belgium because, not only did they tell you where to find coffee, but they even tell you how far it is. Belgium originated the bike nodepoint system that The Netherlands adopted.

Party boat........says so right on the sign.

Translating on the fly.......we think all is well but we are never totally sure.

This memorial was beside the bike path.

It commemorates the crash of this German plane at the beginning of World War II.

Mazenhoven, Belgium and pavers with cracks so large that they were harder to ride than real cobblestones and the rain just made it even trickier.

Good thing they have this little chapel to watch over cyclists....  

.......or provide refuge from rainshowers.

This bike-friendly cafe showed up just in the nick of time right next to the bike path.

Qualifies as the most beautiful sandwich of our trip. The name was "Healthy Sandwich" (Broodjte Gezound)

Doug doesn't drink beer but he found this one tempting.

Another drenching rainshower started just as we were preparing to leave....our timing is soooooo good.

You know water is a big deal when there is a water depth gauge in the middle of the pasture.

A typical fruit orchard. They are almost all trained into hedges in this area.

Real cobblestones, river rock. Where is my suspension seatpost when I need it?

After spending all day in Belgium, the village of Thorn, just back across the border in The Netherlands, is our home for the evening.

It is home of this Abbey.

These 2 girls were making their own movie and we ran into them several places being funny as only pre-teen girls can be.

These bridges were built in the 1700's when this was the front of the houses along the waterway.

This is one of the Immunity Gates. The Abbess could judge any infraction short of murder, if the person came inside the Abbey's wall.

On the way back to the hotel this shutter keeper caught our eye.  We had dinner at a restaurant that offered 230 different kinds of pancakes. We only tried two but would have done more if we could have.