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Taking The Long WayTaking The Long Way
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Taking The Long Way

October - November 2023
This is our journey across Eastern Europe as we try to tick off more countries in one trip than we’ve ever done before. Read more
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  • 63footprints
  • 10countries
  • 54days
  • 524photos
  • 1videos
  • 4.1kmiles
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  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 1

    First stop Gravelines, France

    October 3, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We finally left home 30 minutes later than we wanted because we had to do a quick shopping run to Stalham to get a small fold up step from the factory shop so it would be easier to reattach the bike cover when we have been cycling. All set, we departed at 10am and much to our surprise the run to Folkestone from Norfolk was plain sailing, although rather tedious.
    We finally got to Folkestone at 1.45pm and were given the option of boarding early which we took and drove straight through customs and joined the queue for the train.
    It was another 35mins before the barrier lifted and we were allowed to board, and once we were on I set the handbrake, opened the windows, put it in first gear and turned the engine off. Then we both went straight to the back seats to lay down.
    Within 10 minutes we were moving and I dropped straight off to sleep for 20 minutes with the gentle bouncing of Wanda’s suspension as the train rushed us to France.
    Just before we came out of the tunnel I woke up, put my shoes back on and returned to the drivers seat just as we came out of darkness and into the sunlight.
    We had arrived in France, and we were 2 hours earlier than we had thought.
    Once the doors of the train opened we followed a ream of other cars out of the port and onto the A16. We had just a 16 miles until our first stop.
    After 13 miles of 90kph we left the A16 and drove 3 miles along tight, windy roads following the coastline towards Dunkirk, crossing over various canals and water filled ditches until we came to a large sports park in the small town of Gravelines and Parking lot 6 is dedicated to motor homes and it’s free.
    When we arrived there were 5 other motor homes already here and we chose a spot at the very end of the aire. Nobody can park next to our passenger side and we have a Motorhome already on our drivers side. We had only been here 5 minutes before their dog, a black and white spaniel, started barking at me. He’s quiet aslong as we stay out of his eyesight. It was now 4:30pm and we were set up and comfortable.
    Ellie put the kettle on straight away whilst I checked my biking app for local rides and after we had both had a cup of tea I got changed into my biking gear and as I put my shorts on I heard a loud buzzing. I figured out it was coming from my shorts I had just put on and promptly whipped them back off and as I did the biggest hornet we had ever seen climbed out of the left pocket. We had brought a stowaway with us from England and quickly flicked him off the shorts out of the door hoping that he could speak french, then I took my bike off and set off down the road into a hideous head wind.
    I had only chosen a 16km ride as I wasn’t sure how much tarmac and roads I would be on and as it was now rush hour I didn’t want to get on any major roads. Unbeknown to me Gravelines is the home of the French Olympic rowing team and this sports park has a huge 1600 meter straight lake for them to train on and it is surrounded by a huge tarmac track for road cycling and that is surrounded by a huge gravel track for mountain bikers.
    Except for the 30mph wind I was in my element as I headed off from our parking spot, down a gravel track before picking up the beautiful flat tarmac running down the side of Olympic rowers training grounds. Then I was onto more gravel before leaving the grounds of the sports park and picking up some quiet country lanes and through 2 small villages. Just 40 mins later I was back onto gravel and heading back to Wanda. It was a lovely first ride.
    Back at Wanda, Ellie was making dinner of Southern Fried Chicken steak burgers. Not very French but we didn’t think we would get a chance to go shopping and brought dinner for a few nights with us. Then at 7:30pm we settled in for the night ready for our first full day tomorrow.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 2

    Gravelines to Chem Du Fort

    October 4, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    This morning we were up relatively early at 7:30am. There didn’t seem to be much point in rushing around as our first stop of the day didn’t open until 10am, so we just chilled in Wanda watching the Herons fly by and landing in the trees. Herons just don’t look like they belong in trees.
    At 9:45am, we set the sat nav and it was just a short 15 mile drive up the coast to our first real stop in France. Passing Dunkirk on the motorway the traffic was really heavy with lots of lorries. Dunkirk is nothing like the movies and now it has a huge port for container ships. It’s comparable to Harwich back in England.
    It took us just 30 minutes to drive to Chem du Fort, a former world war 2 fort built into the sand dunes which is now a museum.
    It was originally built in the early 1800’s and gradually over the years it has been built up and modified until the 1940’s where it was occupied by the Germans until the allied forces seized it back during operation dynamo.
    Ellie and I chose the guided audio tour for €7 each and it was a fascinating incite into the history of the place, aswell as the harrowing stories of resistance fighters during world war 2.
    There was also a large section of the museum dedicated to private exhibitions and the current exhibition was a display of push bikes and jerseys from French bike races including the Tour de France. I was in my element looking at the old bikes and photos of legends in the yellow and polka dot jerseys.
    The whole fort took about 90 minutes to get around and it was like a maze.
    After the tour we decided to follow the beach path down to towards the sea to see the remains of the old battlements. It was a proper slog, trudging over the sand dunes and although we could see the remains they didn’t seem to be getting closer very quickly.
    30 minutes later we arrived at the concrete remains, most of which are covered in graffiti and what hasn’t been claimed by artists, has been claimed by the sea.
    After having a good look around we headed back to Wanda. It was now 1 o clock in the afternoon and we were both hungry and had Wanda toasties for lunch before moving on.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 2

    Deûlèmont

    October 4, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Our next stop was a 50 mile drive right on the border of Belgium and our original plan was to cycle a remembrance circuit of war graves from world war 1 but that changed once I saw how busy the local roads were.
    I had already plotted a parking spot to sleep at in a small village called Deûlèmont before we left home and it was on a river bank and we arrived just after 2:30pm. Fortunately for me there is also a veloroute that runs the length of the canals along eastern France and into Belgium spanning a total of 365km so I twisted Ellie’s arm into cycling some of that with me instead.
    Just before 3pm we set off at a slow pace and rode 15km down to the city of Lillè before turning around and heading back. It was a beautiful gravel route, with runners, other cyclists, and completely traffic free. The whole route ran alongside the canal and there were massive barges hauling stuff up and down the entire route. This part of France does seem quite industrial but on the cycle paths you would never know.
    We got back to Wanda at 5:30pm and Ellie’s backside was grateful we had stopped. The sun had also disappeared behind clouds so it was also getting a little chilly.
    Back at our parking spot there is just one other Motorhome and a few parked cars. We’re well away from any main roads and it is very quiet so hopefully we’ll have a peaceful nights sleep.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 3

    Sanctuary wood Museum & Ypres

    October 5, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    This morning we didn’t get up until 8:30am. I was laying in bed just watching the clock and suddenly I realised I hadn’t changed the clocks and it wasn’t really 7:30 it was 8:30.
    Ofcourse it didn’t really matter, we weren’t in any particular hurry and were still debating whether or not to even go to our first destination as we hadn’t found ticket prices.
    Just after 10am we left our parking spot and headed for the town of Leper. This was our first real border crossing of this trip and had we not known we were going to Belgium we would never have known as there was no signs to say welcome. Infact we only knew because the signs changed language from just French and English to French, English and Flemish, which I think is the European equivalent of welsh.
    Our first visit of the day was the Sanctuary Wood Museum and the original trenches of the British military in World War One. The museum was full of artefacts found in the trenches including guns,knifes, bayonets, buttons and various tools. Grenades, mortar shells and various items of clothing had also been retrieved. All of these items were displayed in glass cabinets around all of the walls. In the Center of the museum were two large tables with 12 chairs around each table and at every chair, on the table was a big wooden box with what looked like the viewfinder for binoculars on the outside.
    Both Ellie and I sat on separate chairs and we looked through the viewfinder.
    The pictures we saw were from 1914-1919, all in black and white or sepia, and they started off quite mild, showing family life, Farming, people getting married and just general life. The pictures in each box progressively got worse as the war started and finally ended up showing the trenches, dead bodies strewn everywhere, soldiers that had horrific injuries and even dead animals.
    Neither of us particularly enjoyed the boxes, but we do appreciate the cost of the war and the sacrifices made.
    From the museum we headed outside to the trenches. They were amazing to see and the fact that we could walk through the trenches and original tunnels with no lights in the pitch black really gave us a sense of the horror that took place here. Whoever was here in that time period must have been terrified.
    We left Sanctuary wood museum both feeling a little depressed and decided that even though we had the flanders fields museum on the list we would skip it. We had seen enough death and destruction for this trip.
    Our next stop of the day was Ypres, and almost all the way there we passed war graves of British and Canadian soldiers. Once you pass one of these cemetery’s you start to realise how many people were sacrificed. Once you pass 20 that cost of life is really unfathomable.
    We arrived in Ypres just after midday and found a great parking spot right in the edge of the city. We walked in and headed straight for the cloth hall. This is the home of the In Flanders Field museum but we had already decided we weren’t going to pay for entry as we didn’t need to read or see any more about the war, but the building itself is amazing and so was Ypres.
    Most of the shops were closed for lunch between 12 & 2pm except for the cafes which were bustling with people. We noticed lots of independent shops selling clothes, Food, or housewares. The town itself is a mixture of modern and old architecture with the focal point being on the main town square where the cafes and churches have been rebuilt to there original design pre war. Ypres was all but totally destroyed in the war and every single night at 8pm the last post is played. There are also bronze keys placed on the floor outside civilian homes that were killed in the war. It really is a remarkable city and we enjoyed it.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 3

    Deerlijk, Our first night in Belgium

    October 5, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We left Ypres just before 2pm and instead of heading straight to Gent, which is our next visit we decided to look for somewhere on route to park up for the night for free.
    I found a nice little place at a Motorhome dealership where we can sleep, get rid of our grey and black waste water and refill with fresh water and even have electric if we wanted and it is free. So far all our sleeps have been for free.
    It was just a 30 minute drive to Deerlijk and we found one of four Motorhome spaces and parked up for the rest of the day. There was one Motorhome here already and another has since joined.
    It seemed a little early just to sit and do nothing and is Ellie’s bum is still in recovery after yesterdays bike ride I decided to head out on my own, so I pulled a route off of my cycling app and downloaded it to my head unit, got changed and headed out.
    I’d chosen a 53km mountain biking route hoping this would steer me away from traffic but it didn’t really and I ended up getting lost twice before I’d even gotten to the start of the route adding another 10km to my 53km trip. Finally, through no fault of my own I eventually found the route and started.
    It took me right through the town Center to start with and I was a little concerned but there are cycle paths everywhere in Belgium and even though I had heavy traffic next to me I was in my own lane.
    The route stayed alongside heavy traffic for about 10km before finally entering a park and nature reserve which is where I thought I’d be staying but this part only lasted about 5km before I left it and entered into small country lanes, also with bike lanes. Eventually I found the famous hills of flanders and started climbing. This section is obviously in the tour of flanders as cyclists names were sprayed all over the floor and I managed to fly up it over taking 2 other cyclists on the way over the top. Once on the other side and into the descent I was on the drops travelling at 60kph with the wind whistling by.
    Back on the flat section I then came to a field full of reindeer which didn’t seem that out of place next to the field of mini alpacas. Then I was off the road completely and onto mud and then deep sand. I was grateful to get back onto the tarmac.
    Once my head unit hit 40km I wanted to head back to Wanda. Doing the extra 10km had cost me a lot of time and it had now gone 6pm and the light was fading and temperature was dropping. I was glad I’d put on my arm warmers before leaving.
    I had no choice but to complete the route as I didn’t have a clue where I was or where Wanda was and finally at 6:30pm I got back to Wanda. I’d enjoyed the ride but not the route. But Belgium is a great place for bikes.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 4

    Graffiti Street, Ghent

    October 6, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We continued on foot through the winding alleyways of Ghent, admiring the mix of modern and old architecture, until we came to a tiny little alleyway covered in Graffiti. This was our next stop and the alley has been aptly named Graffiti Street and every night graffiti artists come out and produce some amazing pieces of art.
    The Alley is probably just under a hundred meters long, much shorter than we thought it would be, but in that 100 hundred meters is an array of artwork. Some are really colourful, some are black and white and some are just weird. The detail in some was so intricate that on our return journey we were still noticing things that we had missed before. It was quite the spectacle, and the alley was crammed with people trying to get photos.
    From Graffiti street we took a slow walk back to Wanda stopping for a fresh strawberry milkshake on the way, which was nearly €10. I thought I was going to have to carry Ellie after they told her the price but after I said she could have half she soon recovered.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 4

    Gravensteen Castle, Ghent

    October 6, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    This morning we were awake at our normal time of 7:30am. I made tea and coffee and we both drank them in bed while I plotted a route to Ghent trying to avoid the low emissions zones. It was a total nightmare trying to look for a route on my phone, compare where the low emissions was and then try to plot it in to the sat nav. The problem being that TomTom doesn’t currently recognise low emissions zones. I eventually worked it out by plotting a course that involved 2 fake stops on the motorway so TomTom would guide us around the ring road rather than through the city center.
    We arrived in Ghent just after 11am, I’d already found a huge car park on the edge of the city before leaving England and getting there was easy enough. Once parked Ellie fed me up with Wanda toasties before we left. Probably so I wasn’t begging for food like a dog every time we passed a restaurant.
    Our original plan was to cycle in on the cycle paths but in the end we decided to walk in and it was about a mile and a half in an arrow straight line right to the city center and our first stop of the day. Gravensteen Castle.
    The castle itself is right in the historic part of the city centre, right on the canal with a moat around the outside. Even the local buildings matched the era of the castle and it almost felt like we were back in Disney, walking down diagon alley and visiting hogwarts. There was even a little bar called the troll bar that had hundreds of different trolls in the bay windows, it was an amazing city.
    The Current Castle was built in 1180 and was the residence of the counts of flanders until 1353. It was then re- purposed as a court, prison, mint and even a cotton factory. It was restored to its current condition over 1893 -1903 and is now a museum.
    I was only here for outside pictures which I managed to get, mostly with no people in them. Then we continued on our tour of Ghent and to our next stop here.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 4

    Temse, our final stop of the day

    October 6, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Back at Wanda it was now 2pm, it was 50 miles to our next visiting place so we decided to look for a place en-route to spend the night.
    I found a great little park up on park4night and it was a 30 mile drive and we set off down the motorway and before to long we came to a turning off of the motorway that led to a recreational area in the small village of Temse. It was quiet, there was a restaurant nearby lots of hiking and biking trails and it’s free.
    After a cup of tea I took the bike off the back and I headed out alone to check out the area.
    I rode on gravel tracks, purpose built cycleways through some woods, round some fields on cycleways, back on to small country lanes with red cycle paths on them and finally around a lake before completing the 20km loop and arriving back at Wanda.
    Back at the parking area we had been joined by another Motorhome from Belgium, we had a chat and he told me lots about the local area. Apparently the river that we are parked near runs into a series of what the British would probably call locks. In Belgium it’s called the SAS and hundreds of years ago they would open the gates and flood the dykes and people could come and collect the river water for their animals and for bathing. All of the original loch gates are still there although they are not used for that anymore.
    In Wanda, Ellie had made tea with our Belgian Sausages and potato Rostis. It was a bit of a junk food dinner but it’s what I needed after a sprint on the bike. Then we settled in for the night watching Netflix before heading to bed.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 5

    Going on a Troll Hunt

    October 7, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    This morning we were up and raring to go at 7:30am. I made the coffees and we drank them in bed as usual and then we put the bed away and got dressed. Today was going to be a big day………….We were going on a troll hunt!
    We had a short drive of just 10 miles to get to the town of Boom. Here there is huge sports and recreational area covering a massive 20 acres. There are numerous car parks dotted around the outskirts and I had picked one before we left home that I thought was convenient for our search.
    The grounds of the recreational area are full of trails for hiking, biking and even climbing. There’s also fenced in football, tennis and hockey pitches and at the Center of it all is a huge amphitheatre where they hold events. The Spartan games was held here recently, that’s the Belgium equivalent of ninja warrior.
    We left Wanda in car park 2 and began our troll hunt at 9:45am. The visitors Centre doesn’t open until 10am so we thought we would have to wait to get in but we didn’t even find the visitors Center and as there were already cars here we set off.
    We wanted to be early to avoid crowds. It’s a Saturday and we both thought that this place would be full of kids so we both wanted to get photos of everything without Ellie having to rugby tackle any children.
    Leaving the car park we headed into the grounds of the recreational area and picked up the first trail and turned right and soon we came to a sign that said “ Welcome to Trollen Bos”. We entered into the woods crossing over a large wooden bridge and within a hundred meters we had found our first troll sitting in a brick building. He was huge and made out of wood and looked amazing and we had him all to ourselves. This was Troll Hannes.
    Pictures taken we set off through the woods and came to a huge lake. We started crossing another bridge and as we looked to our right we spotted another Troll on the other side of the lake with a bucket, so we turned around and headed for him.
    We clambered through trees and down a short embankment of troll steps and down to the waters edge. Here was our next Troll and his name is Mikil.
    More pictures taken we set off back the way we had just come to the bridge and crossed over it onto a boardwalk that led through a very boggy forest and halfway down the boardwalk we found our third Troll just sitting on the edge of the boardwalk chilling out. Again we had him all to ourselves. This was Troll Aruid.
    We continued along the boardwalk in the woods for around 500 meters, then climbed some steps and came to a T junction of trails and in front of us was a field. Here we were looking for the 2 biggest trolls but we couldn’t see them. Ellie was looking around everywhere and checking here crappy map she had screen shot yesterday and then I shouted “ There they are!”.
    They were right in front of us but so big we had just look passed them.
    To our amazement the field was empty and I knew the best way to see these 2 was from the air so I got the drone out and got the pictures.
    The size of these two Trolls is unbelievable, so much so that I told Ellie to go and sit on one for scale. I had to keep checking the drone camera because I just couldn’t see her.
    The Trolls are Una a Joures.
    Pictures taken again we headed for the amphitheater. Hear there were a set of steps made of mosaics and entirely by hand. These are called the Unity steps and from the bottom looking up it looks like 2 people. From the air it looks like an angel. Again we were lucky to have no people and got the pictures we wanted. We didn’t even know it was an angel on the steps until I sent the drone up.
    We still had 2 more Trolls to find and the chief of Trolls is at the Troll tower so we turned around and back to the T junction we had just come to and this time we continued straight down it passing the trail we had come down on our left.
    Another 500 meters of walking and we spotted the troll tower right at the edge of the woods. It was a magnificent looking structure with sculptures hanging from it towering 3 stories up in the air and just sitting next to it is the chief of Trolls, This is Troll kamiel.
    We found a local man here climbing the tower on his own, he was easily my age and told us that every weekend he rides to the shops for little bits but his wife knows he’ll be ages because he always stops and visits the magic troll tower.
    We still had one more troll to find so we headed back the exact route we had come walking the 2 miles back through the woods, passing all of the Trolls and saying goodbye until we came to the footbridge at the edge of the woods. Here on our right hand side was a sensory area and a big wooden shoe rack made from the branches of the forest, so we both took our shoes and socks off and put our shoes into one of holes of the rack, rolled our trousers up to our knees and set off.
    I should point out at this point that I wasn’t really up for walking through the woods barefoot with 6 year olds but Ellie was desperate to do it so I entertained her.
    We walked through sawdust, over round pebbles, through water troughs, over astroturf and on tyres. Then we came to the rungs where we had to monkey walk across or go through squelchy mud. I made it even with my 20kg camera bag on. Ellie put her bags down and just made it across.
    Next came the really muddy bit and I decided to walk around this bit but Ellie was in her Element and then she was up to her knees in thick, clay like mud. It was so thick it was sucking her down with every step and she had to use a tree branch to pull herself out. I was pissing myself laughing because now she looked like a hobbit and to top it off the next thing we had to walk through was loose straw.
    Walking through the straw and out the other side, Ellie now looked like a cross between a rough Lara Croft and Bilbo Baggins and I could hardly contain myself. Especially when little kids were passing us pointing at her feet.
    Finally we got back to our shoes and here there was a water fountain to wash our feet. It took Ellie ages and then we had to sit on the bench and wait for our feet to dry as we hadn’t taken towels.
    Moving on from the Shrek experience we crossed over the bridge and turned right back into the woods along another trail and then we finally found our last troll.
    Even though the place was now getting busy we still had this troll all to ourselves and got our pictures just before the kids turned up. This was Troll Nora.
    We wandered the mile back to Wanda where she had been making plenty of power just sitting there soaking up the sun with her solar panels and then we made Wanda French Brie and ham toasties before heading to our last stop of the day.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaTaking The Long Way
    Day 5

    Cycling through Water

    October 7, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    A few months back I ordered a brochure from the Wallonia tourist office about cycle routes in the area so our final stop of the day would be Genk, so we set off on a terrifying 50 mile journey down the local A12 and A13. I say terrifying because the traffic was unbelievably heavy and it was just like being on the A12 or A12 back at home.
    Finally at 3pm we arrived in Hasselt, this is the main town and Genk is a part of it and it’s where one of my cycle routes starts. I found a huge car park on park4night that is part of a scientific research Center but at weekends it’s empty and open to Motorhomes free of charge. We are the only ones here.
    After a quick cup of tea I set off on a 20km trek on my own. Ellie still didn’t fancy coming but she knows how much I wanted to do this ride because there’s something special at the end.
    I left the car park cutting through an alleyway and taking the cycle lane into the town off Genk and out the other side. I still can’t get used to having right of way over traffic and feel like I should stop at junctions but drivers just wave me through. Coming out of Genk I joined another cycle path that runs alongside the river. It’s beautiful tarmac and I was pushing some serious speed when I was joined by a girl on a road bike. I was already doing 32kph when she joined me and next to me she was pushing harder trying for the over take. I upped my cadence and matched her speed and we were level pegging so I changed up a gear and stood on the pedals. She did the same but I edged away and just kept pushing power through the pedals, I was now travelling at just over 50kph on flat ground. Coming to a bridge where I had to turn and cross the river I looked over my shoulder, she wasn’t following me so I waved and she gave me the thumbs up and I continued on my own.
    Crossing the bridge I had the wind at my back so I took it easy and let the wind do most of the work travelling at 30kph to the end of this cycle path and then turning left onto yer another cycle path cutting through housing estates and coming out into some woods.
    I continued through the woods until I realised I had water both sides of the trees and knew I must be close to the reason for this bike ride and then I came to it.
    A cycle path dug down into the lake so as you ride through it, your at eye level with the lake. It’s called cycling through water and even the Belgian people were amazed at it as they were cycling through. At one point I was eye to eye with Swans and Cygnets. It was definitely worth the ride.
    Out the other side I was back into the woods and then I rode through an animal park with Llamas, goats, sheep and donkeys. It was very weird.
    Finally I was back on tarmac and as I rejoined the cycle path I kept my eyes open for signs to the scientific research Center.
    It didn’t take long for me to pick them up and after a few twists and turns I was back at Wanda. It had been a great ride.
    Ellie made a great dinner of chicken and rice which I was grateful for after my thrash on the bike and then we settled in for the night.    Read more

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