Liege discovery trip

After our computer experience last night we returned to the caravan and were invited to spend some time with our Dutch neighbours. They are a lovely couple with 2 children aged 9 and 13. He works in the care home business so we had something in common to discuss. The son loves fishing so he and Steve spoke in stilted English with much translation by the parents about carp and barbel etc. It was a lovely evening, sitting outside by candlelight with wine flowing. It was very late before we all got to bed - but thats what this holiday is all about.

As we are going to Germany tomorrow we thought we would take the opportunity to visit Belgium today and chose Liege as it is only 26 miles from our present campsite.
After being in Holland for the past week we had grown a little complacent we think and as we drove off the motorway into Liege we descended into chaos. Cars, bendy buses, noise, pollution, lack of parking and no concern whatsoever for the cyclist. We had become accustomed to cycling routes in Holland - not so here! It was a case of take your life in your hands and get on with it.

Having said that there were some beautiful parts to Liege as the photos will illustrate. A lot of the historical buildings are set among the new ones in the heart of the city and with the rush of traffic you can't stand still to enjoy them - and they are covered in filth anyway. Above the city however are the old ruins of the Citadel, monasteries and convents with many, many steps to climb to find them. The main set of steps are called Le Montagne de Bueren which consist of 374 steps - we know because we descended them - and that was after climbing to a great height via sideroads and little lanes above the city to find the top of the steps. Our legs shook after all that climbing up and down.

We again used our trick of parking outside the city and then cycling in to its heart. This was very useful but our legs had given way after the steps and we were really grateful to reach the car again for the drive back to Gulpen where we are camped.

The rolling hills around the campsite were a beautiful sight to see after the noisy city and we enjoyed an hour of peaceful reading before preparing a meal. Tonight we are truly shattered and will look forward to a good nights sleep before heading for Germany tomorrow.