We finally had something besides sunny and hot weather.  But it was just misty and foggy in the morning, breaking up to more sunshine in the afternoon.  Still very lovely weather! 

 

Our trip the past two days has been mostly down quiet little lanes where the houses are well kept and the gardens amazing!  Even the smallest yards have wonderful gardens of all types – flowers, formal hedges, boxwood, and even the vegetable gardens are well organized and clean.

 

We crossed into Belgium today.  At least we think so!  There was no border or even a sign we could take our picture next to.  All we noticed was a slight change in the look of road signs and perhaps a few less bicycle paths. 

 

We wanted to avoid Antwerpen and just skim its outskirts, but we had to come to the edge of town in order to find a hotel.  You can see that by today’s routing.  The good news is that we still found very helpful bicycle paths all the way into town.

 

One picture we took today is a commentary on the eating habits around here.  It is a good thing everyone bicycles, as they have a rather high fat diet.  We especially find Frits, or French Fries everywhere.  In this picture – the whole time we were eating lunch the man behind the counter was cooking the huge pile of fries shown.  We also get fries with every dinner – even if it is a rather good restaurant with a gourmet meal.  Then they love to top them with mayonnaise!

And finally, a couple more Birds du Jour. 

 

The first is like a Starling – seen in Amsterdam wandering the streets.  The second acted exactly like our Kites, but had a brown tale and dark grey wings.  It hovers precisely in one place and then swoops for its prey.  This one was seen in Belgium.