In Antwerp: to Hulst and back

August 14, 2021

Well, this was a much more satisfying way to spend our day. We will certainly remember yesterday when we look back on this tour, but really it was a great improvement to get out on our bikes again.

Today’s ride was an out and back to Hulst, a small town in the Netherlands, just a mile past the border. Partly we’re going to Hulst because the GBO really, really wants to see the Netherlands as long as we are so close. It’s easy enough to grant him this, so why not?

Mostly though, we’re going because Hulst looks so intriguing on the map:

Hulst, The Netherlands. It looks like a sea tortoise.

I mean, a town that looks like that - you just have to go, right?

We get a reasonably early start, wheeling our bikes out of the storage room about nine. It’s a fine day for a ride - the low sixties when we start, with a high in the low seventies by afternoon. Partly sunny, light winds, ideal.

After a few miles biking through the city on well marked bike paths we come to the entrance to the Kennedy Tunnel, one of the two pedestrian/bike tunnels beneath the Scheldt River that connects the two halves of Antwerp. We were very impressed by this tunnel and Belgium’s commitment to bicycle infrastructure, thinking that it existed just for bikes and pedestrians. I see though that it is just one of four components of the Kennedy Tunnel. On either side is a three lane tunnel for motor vehicles; and beneath all of them is a fourth one, for the trains.

Riding through the tunnel is an interesting experience. It is far under the river, and accessed at both ends either by a very long staircase or a slow elevator that carries only three or four bicycles or motor scooters. We were lucky, but at busy times it looks like there could be a substantial wait. On our way back there were about a dozen bikes queued up at the other end.

Leaving Antwerp, with the Nativity of Christ Orthodox Church ahead.

The astonishing Palace of Justice, also known as the Antwerp Law Courts or the Butterfly Palace. The complex contains 32 courtrooms, each with a sail-like structure above it representing the sails of ships passing through on the river Scheldt.

Waiting for the elevator down to the tunnel.

If you’re impatient and have younger knees you could just trot down with your bike over your shoulder, like that guy down there is doing.

The ride to Hulst is similar to our loop ride two days earlier. The entire route is on well marked bike paths. We start by following the F4, the primary route to Ghent. About halfway to Hulst we leave this and for most of the rest of the way follow a very narrow, well traveled bike path - paved for several miles, and then dirt for a few more. It’s narrow enough that it’s slightly uncomfortable biking in traffic - you have to keep your line, stay to the right, and trust to the cycling skills of the very diverse oncoming traffic - speedsters, dotterers, children, folks in organized outings following a map, some using their handheld phone or even an iPad in one instance as their navigation device. Interesting.

Sections of the route are on one lane roads shared with two way traffic and bicycles.

On the road to Hulst, through a classic tunnel of green.. The H is silent, btw.

Video sound track: Summer Song, by Grover Washington, Jr.

And then, Hulst abruptly comes into view. It doesn’t have the same dramatic look that it does from the satellite view, of course. You can imagine but not really see the pattern of the berms that surround it, but it does make for a striking skyline with its cathedral and town hall rising above the trees. It looks great, but the real star attraction is the baby coot plaintively calling for its mother. Rachael really, really wants to wade out and rescue it. Wouldn’t a coot make a terrific pet though?

The Hulst cathedral and town hall rise above the trees.

Baby coots! What could be more irresistable?

Hulst is a small place, but very colorful. We make a loop through town then stop for lunch at a small cafe, sitting beneath the cathedral listening to it chime on the half hour and staring at Erotheek Freya, the sex shop directly across the street tempting us with offers of massages, cinema and private rooms. Enticing, but we make do with snacks and a beer.

In Hulst. This is our lunch stop, this is our server.

The GBO was thrilled when we invited him out for a Dutch treat lunch, until he received his share of the bill.

An interesting establishment to have facing the cathedral.

There’s a wedding ceremony on this afternoon! It began with a procession to town hall led by mounted escorts, followed by a floral coach with the groom and best men from the looks of it, then a white stretch limousine carefully executing the tight corners of the town’s narrow streets.

The ride back to town is as you’d expect, since it was an out and back. Nothing new to report, but a few new things to notice.

Crowded! It’s a good thing I only had one beer.

I’ve never heard of the Belgian manufactured Achielle bicycle, but now I want one! I wonder how many panniers that frame would hold, but we’d need quite a few for a tour group of five.

The day ended oddly when we waited too long to go out for dinner and found Antwerp slammed with tourists and most of its restaurants full. Really a crazy scene. We finally gave up. Rachael settled on a waffle with ice cream to keep her alive until we got back to the hotel and she could dip into her snack stash, and we finished off the day sitting at a table in the hotel lounge talking over the day.

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Ride stats today: 47 miles, 400’; for the tour: 88 miles, 900’

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 88 miles (142 km)

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Suzanne Gibson I was so impressed by those tunnels, too. Hope you get to the Grote Markt, the main square, it is so amazing. And isn't the bicycle traffic something. Especially in Holland I had to be careful to stay on my side of the lane and not weave back and forth while looking at the surroundings, as a tourist does.
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2 years ago

Rachael AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonWe’ve been to Grot Markt twice and really love it but unfortunately we didn’t pick the best restaurant. It’s great to see so many people on bicycles but it can be pretty scary as you can see by my video. You never know when someone is going to pass on your right or cut between you and another bicycle when you’re passing. Fortunately, I’m good at keeping a straight line!
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2 years ago