Hugo Jonker

Today I joined Dmitri on a beer bike tour (photos, trip + pics on google maps)(yes, I drank more beer today than I have in a long long while). We took a train to Libramont and mounted our iron steeds. It took us a bit to get used to biking in the Ardennes (kind of weird to be biking on roads with a speed limit of 70 km/hrs, but more on that later). We arrived safely in St. Hubert and visited the Cathedral. Lonely Planet was right, the inside is much better than the outside would lead you to believe.

We continued over an all but deserted road towards Fourneau St-Michel. The first part involved some climbing — it’s not really that mountainous, but still, uphill is uphill. Of course, there is always a sunny side, and today the sunny side was everywhere! Especially after we reached the top. You know how you can become accustomed to situations you would’ve considered outrageous, if you are confronted with them often enough? Well, I started to consider 50 a relaxing speed for my bike…

Best part was when we hit the 14% downward slope. That was after a lengthy descent. Yes, this is begging for it. I had to break, since I prefer not to race over a crossing at that speed and I couldn’t see it clearly enough. And then I could. Turns out there wasn’t any crossing. Cool, brakes loose and go, go, GO, GO, GOOOOO!!

And I went. Oh my God did I go. I BROKE THE SPEED LIMIT. Which was 70 km/h. On my bike. Without peddling.

Admitted, that last part is not so impressive :) But I am still impressed with the rest. 72.6 km/h. Oh wow. Best tried if there is no crossing of any kind whatsoever, and if there the road continues uphill afterwards to help you slow down again.

Still: is that cool or what?? :) :)

We continued to Ambly, where there is a very small brewery: St. Monon. We enjoyed a beer there, bought a souvenir (more beer) and continued onwards towards our goals: Han-sur-lesse and Rochefort. We wanted to check out the famous caves near Han, and buy some Rochefort in Rochefort :)

However, we arrived late in Han (partially due to enjoying getting our feet relaxed by a mountain river), so first thing (after buying sunscreen – quite overdue, but better late than never) was going to the caves. You are taken there by a train, and before departure photo’s are made of most people with a stupid bird. I did not feel like that, but before I could object the damn bird was on my shoulder. Grr. Next thing, the stupid animal grabbed my necklace (brand new) and did not let go until it broke.

CURSE WORDS! I had bought the necklace 2 days earlier!! At a jeweller — meaning that (as far as I know & payed for), it’s from genuine gold. A.k.a. not cheap shit. GRRRRRRRRR!

Well, last thing isn’t said on that, but anyway, the caves turned out to be pretty cool (and not just literally), but by the time we returned to sunlight again, it was close to closing time for shops. So we (Dmitri) sneakily bought Rochefort in Han-sur-Lesse, after which we biked via Rochefort (closed shops by the time we passed through) to Jemelle, where we took the train back. All in all, a very nice way to enjoy one of the first free summer days of the year :)
(except for grrrrrr part)
Dinner: boerenkool again, dessert: monastery cheese and russian fish

Would you believe this? Monday I traveled from Barca to Eindhoven, flying from Girona airport. Yesterday (Tuesday), I traveled from Eindhoven to Amsterdam (CWI), and then to my Sis’s birthday in Nijmegen. Guess which one took longer…

It’s incredible, but the NS really manages to take more time transporting me from Ehv to A’dam than RyanAir takes to transport me from Girona Airport to Ehv Airport. Heck, I could even include the bustime to get home and be there faster. How’s that for sad?? And, to top it all off, of course I ran into more delays on the way to Nijmegen.

Speaking of Barca: I will in another post :)

PS: Happy birthday Ileana!
Now GBAing: Wario Ware: Microgame$

Pheweeh! That took forever!! Well, partially my fault – I had decided to take a train that you’ll have to wait for a bit longer, and it arrives 9 minutes later. Upside from that is that it’s direct from Liege to Luxembourg – which saves you 15 minutes of doing nothing, waiting for a train in Namur.

I found new and interesting ways to bore yourself to death for 6 hours. Zelda Minish Cap is a life-saver here, spent quite a bit of time on it. Reading papers for work has benefits, but becomes harder and harder with the steady rhythm of the train, the darkness outside… indeed. Sleeping would’ve been nice, but somehow I never manage – even when the two people talking across from me have left.

Well, that’s basically how I spent my Valentine’s day – traveling. Funny to see lots of people with big bouquets of flowers, or a single rose. It incredibly shouts “valentine!” :)
(I cheat a bit here. Valentine to me has always felt like a hype, pushed by shops to sell stuff. Plus I’ve rarely been in love on Valentine’s day, which facilitates ignoring the whole concept.)

So any tips if you’re coming to visit me? Of course:

• eurolines.nl has the cheap buses, if you book in advance enough. Travel duration from Eindhoven is not that bad compared to the train, but they almost never go (mon 11:15, fri 11:15; return: mon, wed, fri, roughly same hours I believe). You can get as low as 12 euros for the return ticket, but it’ll cost you two whole working days…
• By car is by far the best option. A three hour smooth drive, and you’re here. Parking is payed, everywhere in the city. I don’t know if they have transferia are somesuch.
  Melanie had a tip: there are probably people looking for carpoolers, this happens quite frequently. I don’t know, but it’s definitely worth checking out (if you don’t have your own car)!
• Train: if you have the discount card, get the railplus card too! Only 15 euro’s, and first return ticket you buy will be 20 euro’s cheaper!
• No matter how you go, take some food and drink. If by public transportation: plenty of food / drink! :)
• Reading has its limits, it doesn’t work that well if you are tired. Still, bring something to keep you occupied. A good book is of course a prime choice, but a DS or a GBA also works :)

I’ll be in Lux this weekend, so if any of you feel like dropping by, drop me a note!

PS: Forgot to mention this earlier, but they checked my passport (with the somewhat older picture), saw I came from the Netherlands and then wanted to see all my bags and my coat :)
Hilarious! At first I was kind of worried about the alcohol I had brought (I was moving a large part of my stash to .lu, it could be to much, I dunno…). But of course they were not interested in that! It took me a while before I figured they were looking for drugs :)