My friend Pablo is a dedicated bike tour organizer and for many years I have discovered different places with him in the Belgian countryside. Those tours make me appreciate my host country and give access to much needed green and quiet, plus the fun of cycling itself.
Past weekend we went to St Truiden in Flanders, the Flemish side. It is tough luck to go on a biking tour anywhere in Valloonia, the French side, as they close the bike rentals during weekend and enjoy the rest days. In Flanders there is a great system of train ticket + bike rental with no closing hour as you have the key to enter the bike rental and leave your bike there once you have finished. So for some 23 euros you can buy yourself a great getaway. There are so many well marked routes through different landscapes (no cars!) and little, rich and beautiful Belgian villages. There indeed is beautiful countryside in Belgium, even when population density in Belgium is 344 ppl/km2. Whereas in Estonia it is 29 ppl/km2.
15 min out of St Truiden we entered heaven. Miles of fruit orchards on both sides of the track. Apple trees full of apples. Pear trees - I did not know a pear tree can carry so much pear! You can just bike through them, mostly they were not protected by fence or anything. How can they still remain there without people just picking them off even if they are not ripe yet? And then more and more and more. Then some potato fields, corn, some salad looking thing, then cows roaming around, then wheat. Total abundance.
And then we stopped in unison as there were long rows of redcurrant bushes. Each branch with berries some 10cm long. I had never seen anything like this before! Now I read from Wikipedia that large berried cultivars of the redcurrant were first produced in Belgium and northern France in the 17th century. So I guess they have got some practice growing them. Well we definitely practiced eating them. Sooo goood.
And then after passing a lot of already picked cherry trees, we got a spot that they probably just had left for bikers like us. Few cherry trees, but so full. Seriously, you could collect ... or eat ... a kilo in 5 minutes.
Apples and pears will be ripe in September and I most certainly will be ready too.
Past weekend we went to St Truiden in Flanders, the Flemish side. It is tough luck to go on a biking tour anywhere in Valloonia, the French side, as they close the bike rentals during weekend and enjoy the rest days. In Flanders there is a great system of train ticket + bike rental with no closing hour as you have the key to enter the bike rental and leave your bike there once you have finished. So for some 23 euros you can buy yourself a great getaway. There are so many well marked routes through different landscapes (no cars!) and little, rich and beautiful Belgian villages. There indeed is beautiful countryside in Belgium, even when population density in Belgium is 344 ppl/km2. Whereas in Estonia it is 29 ppl/km2.
15 min out of St Truiden we entered heaven. Miles of fruit orchards on both sides of the track. Apple trees full of apples. Pear trees - I did not know a pear tree can carry so much pear! You can just bike through them, mostly they were not protected by fence or anything. How can they still remain there without people just picking them off even if they are not ripe yet? And then more and more and more. Then some potato fields, corn, some salad looking thing, then cows roaming around, then wheat. Total abundance.
And then we stopped in unison as there were long rows of redcurrant bushes. Each branch with berries some 10cm long. I had never seen anything like this before! Now I read from Wikipedia that large berried cultivars of the redcurrant were first produced in Belgium and northern France in the 17th century. So I guess they have got some practice growing them. Well we definitely practiced eating them. Sooo goood.
And then after passing a lot of already picked cherry trees, we got a spot that they probably just had left for bikers like us. Few cherry trees, but so full. Seriously, you could collect ... or eat ... a kilo in 5 minutes.
Apples and pears will be ripe in September and I most certainly will be ready too.
