Week 64: Meetups in Belgium and on Bikes

[I apologize for the lateness of these last posts. Between our recent move and other activities, it has been very difficult to catch up. After this post, there are two more coming.]

With the cool summer weather holding on for quite a while in the Eifel, we spent yet another weekend outside. On Saturday, we went to a Meetup member's house for Belgian National Day. As previously noted, Belgium has an uneasy truce between its two biggest groups: the Wallonians and the Flemish, but the national day does not so much celebrate this union as the creation of an independent Belgian state that served as a buffer between the major European powers in the early 1800s.

Much like Americans do for our Independence day, the Belgians celebrate with BBQs, fireworks and other summer outdoor activities--though they do end it with a tented and liquored dance party! We enjoyed it all (okay--minus the dance party) with the Meetup group, despite the cool weather and the rather small fireworks display thrown together in the village where we spent the afternoon and evening.

Spotted on the Way to Belgium: a River Full of Recent Rains

Sunday lived up to its name and we joined some other Meetup-ers for a bike ride along *yet another* section of the Mosel. For this ride, we started in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg. For many, the name Schengen may sound familiar due to the Schengen Agreement, which is the reason why it has been so easy for us to travel from one country in Europe to the next without any boarder controls. The agreement was signed in Schengen in 1985 and removed boarder controls between its signatories. There is a small monument to this event next to the river (and across from the bike rental location where we met up with the group).

View Larger Map

Our ride took us from Schengen to Oberbillig, Germany, up the Mosel river and mostly along bike paths that were lined with Dutch and German Wohnwagons (motor-homes). And the wonderful part of Germany in the summer? Festivals! We found a wine fest, stopped and had some Kaffee, Kuechen and other goodies while listening to the local choir and other choice musical performances. We didn't drink enough to be wobbly on our bikes, but we had enough cake to slow us down a bit. The ride was a total of 35 km (22 miles) and ended at a nice cafe with a beer and a chat before Jason and I caught the train back to our car.

An International Group

The Choir...with a Viking Ship?

Later that week, we did some driving through the countryside near our place and found, as there always seems to be around every corner, a playground with some choice equipment. Not only was there an old school steel merry-go-round (in this bone-crunching style), but there was also a great zip line. Jason was kind enough to get a nice blurry shot of me enjoying the ride!

Being Blurry Makes it Even More Fun!