Tuesday April 10, 2007, 129 km (80 miles) – Total so far: 455 km (283 miles)

We had the most amazing meal last night in a Belgian restaurant in Rotterdam, something made from veal and pigs cheeks in an onion and sweet pepper sauce, it was really delicious washed down with a few beers including the famous Kwak.

Today’s ride was long and flat again. We stopped for lunch in a deserted bar where we were served a beef burger in hotdog roll with a white cheesy sauce, strange food these Dutch eat. Then we crossed the border into Belgium through a nature reserve and a pleasant forested housing estate before hitting the outskirts of Antwerpen.

Antwerpen is an enormous city and I think we got lucky finding the youth hostel as easily as we did – with the help of some friendly locals.

Farming in the marshes south of Rotterdam

Boats near Roosendaal

We stopped for lunch in this restaurant

The nature reserve on the Belgian border