Bicycling across Belgium brought us a new terrain – land … above sea level, and hills!  We also discovered that some of the minor roads are paved with cobblestones.  We were only able to average about 11 km/hr on these back roads.  We soon changed our route to stay on the major roads, which all have good bike paths along them.  You’ll also notice in the picture, that this area is very similar to Iowa.  We were surrounded with corn and cows, soaked with humidity and heat, and there were many places that even smelled like Iowa!

When we got to Oudenaarde, looking for a hotel, the medieval-era central square bordered by the old Church and Town Hall, was filled with a traveling carnival with bumper cars, loud music, and cotton candy.  Nevertheless our hotel on the square was well insulated from the noise.  We found another exquisite restaurant and had another fabulous dinner.  But on our way back to the hotel, we discovered that we could have had Hamburgers and Escargot!