Day 12 – Don’t Forget To Look Behind You

Date: 7th of July 2015

Route: Brussels – Rotterdam

Vehicles hitchhiked: 3

In the morning I ate breakfast that was stolen for me (by Maia) from the hotel restaurant – a big plate full of delicious fruits and butter croissants. When we were packing, Maia noticed that her favourite water bottle, which she had left on a bedside table, had disappeared – the hotel staff had thrown it out while cleaning the room. In that case we needed to buy another one on the way.

My yummy breakfast

We didn’t have coins to pay for tram tickets, so Maia walked into a nearby shop, and asked to break 50€. However, she was told that breaking money was not possible, and she had to buy at least one item in the shop in order to get coins; so she chose a small bottle of water. It turned out later that a shop assistant made a mistake while giving her a change (the assistant probably remembered subconsciously her request to break money) – banknotes and coins that she was handed added up to exactly 50€ ;-)

We took a few trams, and walked several hundred meters in order to get to a motorway where we wanted to start hitchhiking. Our spot turned out to be quite a dangerous place for the cars to stop. After we saw a few police cars driving next to us, we got a little bit nervous, and agreed to hitchhike somewhere else.

Crushing the Atomium - the only very-touristic photo that I have

Our search for a better place lasted for a long time; we walked around 2 kilometres along the motorway, crossing through high grass and bushes, and passing roadworks. We couldn’t find any reasonable place to stand and stop cars on the way. A spot that we chose in the end wasn’t very good either – it was a motorway shoulder again – but we agreed to try catching a lift there anyway, since cars were driving there more slowly than in the previous place, at least.

After several minutes, one of the drivers who passed next to us showed to me that I should look back... When I followed his advice, I did a double take – there was a car standing behind us, which we hadn't noticed before. The driver was patient enough, fortunately, and he waited for us to get inside the car. Moreover, he was so kind that he drove through the whole Antwerp – although he worked on the other side of the city – in order to make it easier for us to stop a car going to Rotterdam.

It took us only a minute to catch the next lift. When a driver saw us standing next to the motorway, he backed his car several dozens of metres (along the motorway!) in order to take us. He said that the last time when he had seen hitchhikers on that road was 2 years before. He enjoyed listening to our stories a lot, and said that he would tell his children about them.

He left us on a petrol station near Breda. We met a Belgian couple there who let us go to Rotterdam in their car.

Taken while watching boats floating through the Nieuwe Maas River;
the famous Euromast in the background (on the left)

We said goodbyes somewhere in the centre of the city, and then Maia and I started wandering around. We came across a river on the way, sat on its bank, and spent some time watching boats. Then, according to our custom, we went to a park. It was pretty windy (the Netherlands, of course), so after some time of sitting there we started to feel cold, so we huddled inside the sleeping bag. Then we walked to our hosts’ house, sightseeing Rotterdam on the way.

Checking out a park in Rotterdam

A Polish family that hosted us in Rotterdam – Ela, Marcin, and their 2.5-year-old son Jerzy –  was really friendly and hospitable. We talked a lot about our travelling experiences, in the meantime eating dinner that Ela had prepared for us. They told us that they had used to move to a different country every year, and we fancied this idea a lot. Moreover, it turned out that they were planning to visit Japan in September, so they arranged to meet with Maia there.

The Netherlands is a cool country

Our general impression of the Netherlands was positive – it seemed like a very friendly and tolerant country. We noticed that there were thousands of bikes everywhere, and at least three hair salons on each street.

All in all, we regretted a lot that we couldn't stay in this country for a longer time.

Day 11 – A Walk In The Forest

Date: 6th of July 2015

Sightseeing: Brussels

I let myself sleep longer than usual that day. The meeting for the participants of the "Vulcanus in Japan" programme (in which Maia participated) was going to be held until 5 p.m., so I had a lot of time to rest.

Laurie had to prepare for her Dutch lesson, which she was going to have in the afternoon, so I decided to walk alone to a forest which was very close to her flat. I was wandering there for almost two hours, breathing fresh air, and enjoying the nature. I definitely needed some peace and quiet, after listening to sounds of engines near motorways and noisy people in big cities for more than a week.

In the forest I found peace and quiet

On the way back to Laurie's flat I went to a bakery to buy a roll. It turned out that no one spoke English in the shop (just to remind you: I was in Brussels!), so I caused a commotion. Nevertheless, a merchant and I managed to communicate somehow, using hands, a piece of paper and a pen.

After I came back to the flat, Laurie and I went by bus to the city centre. We said goodbyes on a bus stop, and then I started my traipse around Brussels.

A park in the centre of Brussels

I had a lot of time before my meeting with Maia, and didn't have to hurry anywhere, so I was just wandering around and observing people and places. I walked along many streets, rested in a few parks, and checked out buildings of the European Parliament en route. The first two things that you could notice in Brussels were its multiculturalism, and white-red vehicle registration plates ;-)

At 5 p.m. I joined Maia and the other participants of the meeting, while they were coming back to the hotel. Then all of us went to a bar; we were talking about their future travel to Japan there. Some of the guys ordered beers for themselves, but then the owner came (after half an hour or so) and said (out of the blue) that the alcohol was not sold in that place. That was pretty weird...

Participants of the "Vulcanus in Japan" programme

Maia and I came back to the hotel earlier than the rest of the group. As expected, I managed to enter her room unnoticed by the staff.

Not only did I have free accommodation there, but I also ate (for supper) a few rolls that Maia had grabbed for me from the breakfast smörgåsbord. We're sooo bad! ;-)

Day 10 – Don't Let Anyone Take You Out Of The Motorway

Date: 5th of July 2015

Route: Liège – Brussels

Vehicles hitchhiked: 5

There had been a storm during the night, so we hoped that it wouldn't be so hot anymore. We had planned to go to Brussels that day, so the distance was pretty short this time (only around 80 km from Liège); that's why we had decided to wake up later than usual.

We ate oat cakes prepared by Maia, and then went on foot to a place where we had chosen to start hitchhiking that day. It was around 12 p.m. when we finally arrived there. We were standing on a shoulder of a motorway; it turned out to be a poor choice, because people weren't eager to pull over in such a place.

On the way to the motorway

Finally, two men were kind enough to risk a fine and take us from there. The only problem was that we couldn't communicate with them at all, because they didn't speak English, and we didn't understand French or Russian. We tried to explain in German in which area we wanted to leave, but unfortunately it didn't work out very well – we ended up left in Tienen, a small town located a few kilometres from the motorway.

Cars passed next to us only once in a blue moon; here I'm showing my resignation

We wanted to come back to the main road somehow, but cars passed next to us only once in a blue moon. To make matters worse, it started raining. We were hitchhiking in such conditions for almost an hour; then a nice couple felt pity and stopped next to us. We drove only a few kilometres with them, to the next bus stop, but every little bit helps. Then we stopped two amiable guys from Baghdad, who had fled Iraq 9 years before, and had been living in Leuven (where they left us) since then.

Walking along streets in Leuven

In Leuven we walked along streets, trying to stop cars that were passing next to us, and after several minutes we managed to catch a lift. A couple that helped us seemed fascinated with stories about our journey. They left us next to the entry of a motorway towards Brussels. That place was even more dangerous for cars to stop than the previous ones – we were standing on a hard shoulder again, and there was a sharp turn just behind us.

Nevertheless, after a few minutes, a girl in a van pulled over. She didn't have much space in the car, so Maia had to sit among bikes that the girl was transporting (Maia didn’t complain of course – the girl wanted to help us). Unfortunately, we didn't manage to convince her to leave us on the Brussels Ring, because she didn't want to get a fine – so we ended up out of the motorway again...

Yeah! We're out of the motorway again!

Luckily, we found a bus stop nearby, and managed to arrive on time at the Pentahotel Brussels, in which Maia had two nights booked as a participant of the "Vulcanus in Japan" programme meeting. Unfortunately, an appointment with Laurie, my host, had to be delayed one hour. I quickly left my luggage in Maia's room, and took only a sleeping bag, clothes for change and some food with me.

While Maia and I were walking through Brussels to meet with my host, we came across a glass city lift, and went down with it.

In the glass city lift

We also saw people sitting in the middle of a street. They didn’t care about it, but were just talking and eating sandwiches there (well, to tell the truth, it wasn't particularly strange because cars had been banned from the city centre since some time before :-P).

People sitting on a street

Laurie took us for a short walk and showed us the most famous places in the city. Then, we parted in a park next to The Royal Palace – Maia came back to the hotel, and I went by bus with Laurie to her flat, located on the outskirts of Brussels.

Sweet photo next to a fountain

Laurie was a really friendly and interesting person, with a unique and healthy lifestyle. She had been travelling in Australia for 8 months with her friend, and then she had started working on some kind of a social project.

Before I went to bed, I checked my e-mail and read a message from Maia; she wrote that her Spanish roommate had nothing against the idea of my sleeping in their room. It meant that Maia would smuggle me into the hotel for the next night :-)

Day 9 – 100 Kilometres Out Of The Way

Date: 4th of July 2015

Route: Fischbach – Liège

Vehicles hitchhiked: 2

Although it was very pleasant to spend time in Fischbach, which was a verdant and scenic village, we had to move on. After eating a hearty breakfast, we went together with Hiroko and Mariko to Luxembourg City, by bus and by train; we said goodbyes there. Then Maia and I took a two-storey train to Capellen, where we wanted to start hitchhiking.

In a two-storey train; producing a new card

To get to the chosen petrol station, we had to go along a dirt road for a while, and then choose between two paths: one leading through bushes, and the other through fields. I persuaded Maia to go for the latter (although it was extremely hot), because the path seemed to be shorter than the other one. But it wasn't. It was leading all around the petrol station, but not a single entrance was visible. After some time Maia became impatient, and crossed through a fence. I followed her, but was stung by nettles, unfortunately. According to Maia, it was a punishment for making the wrong choice :-)

The path in the heat

We asked a lot of people on the station for a lift, among them a group of Polish guys who had been camping there; no one agreed to take us, so we moved to hitchhike near the exit. After some time a friendly Luxembourgian stopped next to us and agreed to give us a lift. He told us interesting stories about his hitchhiking adventures in France and Australia. He drove us to a parking lot for trucks in Arlon, apologizing that he couldn't take us further.

It was Saturday, so truck drivers had to have an obligatory break from driving. It meant that on that day we could only count on cars to give us a lift... There were just a few of them on that parking lot. All the drivers that I asked for a lift were heading in other directions and no one could help us... I braced myself for waiting for a long time for the next car to stop on that parking lot, so I sat on the grass. Maia was standing next to one of the cars for a suspiciously long time, and talking vigorously with the driver.

I didn't know how she had managed to convince him, but the driver agreed to detour – 100 kilometres out of his way (sic!) – and take us to Liège.

Sitting in the car and listening to nice African music (the driver was from Congo), I was contemplating how kind some people could be, and, on the other hand, how distrustful others might become because of media's influence.

After we arrived in the city, we hid from the sun in a nearby park. We stumbled upon interesting ruins there, and took a few funny photos on them.

One of the photos on the ruins

While walking to our host's flat, we ran across an island on the Meuse; it was pretty large, and lots of houses and other buildings were situated on it.

The island (behind me)

Feeding ducks in a pond on the island

After we met with Virginie, we quickly did our laundry, and then the three of us went to sit near a fountain. Maia tried to swim in it, but it was definitely too shallow; she didn’t feel hot anymore, at least.

Later we went shopping together, and prepared a healthy vegetable salad and fried aubergine for supper.

It turned out that the fountain was too shallow to swim in it ;)

Virginie was a cool girl who had studied law. In the evening she guided us around the city – we enjoyed walking with her a lot. She showed us interesting places, which we most probably wouldn't have seen if we had travelled like normal tourists.

Maia claimed that being in that town made her feel extremely happy. She especially liked a bar with a very peculiar atmosphere and lots of unique paintings and sculptures.

One of the paintings which you could see in the bar

Virginie asked us if we fancied climbing famous city stairs with more than 300 steps; it was hot, so we didn't feel like doing it... We took a funny photo on an old fountain instead, and then all of us walked to a park to train yoga there. While we were stretching, several rabbits were jumping around us :-)

The famous city stairs

Despite having an invitation for a party, we didn't go there. We felt tired, and wanted to go to sleep early. Well, covering around 300 km per day had its disadvantages...

Maia and I on an old fountain

Day 8 – The Mad Hatter

Date: 3rd of July 2015

Route: Frankfurt am Main – Fischbach

Vehicles hitchhiked: 4

Following Markus's advice we decided to try hitchhiking on the Frankfurt Airport. In order to get there we had to buy very expensive bus tickets (4.55€ for one!). Although there were lots of cars on the airport, the majority of them was just waiting for their owners to come back from holidays. We tried hitchhiking in various places, with no luck, unfortunately.

We were sweating from heat, so we decided to leave the airport, and look for some other place where we could stand in the shade. Not having many sensible options, we ended up on a hard shoulder next to a motorway. After a few minutes, a service car stopped in front of us. Unfortunately, instead of being given a ride, we were told to go somewhere else, because it was not allowed to catch a lift in such places.

More and more time was passing, and we still hadn't driven with anyone even one kilometre... We started to be less enthusiastic, so Maia suggested that we could try synchronising waving to the drivers.

As our hitchhiking equipment, we had been carrying a couple of white A4 paper sheets, two black marker pens, and a small piece of cardboard (we put it behind paper sheets to prevent them from waggling in the wind). Thanks to that we could produce fresh cards with new inscriptions every day. That time, apart from the card saying "Luxembourg", we added another one which said “Help us! So hot”.

On the way from the airport to the motorway

Eventually, several minutes after producing the second card, an orange car pulled over. The couple who stopped, drove us to a petrol station in Ramstein-Miesenbach. As soon as we left the car, Maia noticed that she had left her hat inside. I wanted us to wait near the entrance of the petrol station for some time – I hoped that the couple would realise what had happened, and come back. In the meantime, I managed to get two sets of plastic cutlery from a bar, and we ate our second breakfast.

After some time, there was no point in waiting any longer... I wrote in my notebook “HAT FOR HONEY”, just to check if the law of attraction would work, and we wouldn't have to pay for a new hat. Meanwhile, Maia persuaded two German guys, who were heading to Scotland in order to hike there, to move their things from the back seat to the boot (so that we could sit in their car), and give us a lift to Luxembourg City.

We were left next to a supermarket. While doing the shopping there, we felt a little bit confused, since we couldn't figure out if people in that country spoke French or German (well, in the end it turned out to be Luxembourgish).

Maia wearing her new hat

Then Maia came up with a crazy idea – she made a hat for herself from a cardboard box from the supermarket. Many people who saw her wearing such an unusual thing on her head smiled, waved, or exclaimed, “Nice hat!” Moreover, we managed to hitchhike a bus – when we entered it, the driver said that we didn’t have to pay for the tickets ;-)

We hitchhiked a bus :-)

While we were walking towards a bus stop, we saw a big valley and The Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge (or The Red Bridge) hanging over the valley. When I looked more closely at the massive construction of the bridge and its height, I felt petrified somehow.

The Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge (on the photo it looks less scary than in reality)

On the bus stop we met a very friendly guy from Canada. While all of us were laughing about the Maia’s idea, a driver stopped her car next to us and tooted the horn. To our great surprise, he gave Maia an orange ING hat through the window (sic!)

Maia got a hat for free! Law of Attraction works ;)

Laughing even more than before, we talked in a bus with our new Canadian acquaintance; then, we said goodbyes, took a photo with him, and went with another bus to Mersch.

In the meantime, Maia threw out the previous hat. She regretted doing this soon afterwards – she said that the hand-made hat had been cooler (both meanings!) than the ING one.

A funny Canadian that we met

We sat in a park in Mersch for some time, and then we started walking to Fischbach. I didn't like the idea of going around 8 km on foot, but unfortunately no one wanted to give us a lift. Resigned and tired, we were walking along the road, and looking at yellow-black number plates moving away from us.

A park in Mersch. There was no sign saying "No yoga on the bridge" ;-)

However, even in Luxembourg, where people are said not to like even their own neighbours (not to mention foreigners), the golden rule of hitchhiking, “someone will stop sooner or later”, applies – we caught a lift. What's more, a driver took us directly to Fischbach, which was several kilometres further than his house. Well, he had studied in Germany and France, so maybe that's why he was more open to other cultures...

After we arrived at a pretty house with a Japanese roof, we waited for a while for our host Michel and his wife Hiroko; she had unfortunately twisted her ankle on that day, and they had gone to the hospital.

Waiting for our hosts

Then the five of us (their teenage daughter Mariko came back home several minutes later than her parents) had a pleasant conversation while eating dinner. Maia and I found it amazing that the girl was speaking Luxembourgish to her dad, Japanese to her mom and English to us, and she didn’t have any problems with switching the languages.

After the dinner we enjoyed listening to both women playing the grand piano. Maia was fascinated with the instrument, and she played something on it as well.

Before going to sleep, we looked at a world globe standing in our room. We realized that the part of the world which we were going to see on this trip seemed pretty tiny... There are so many other places on Earth that we dream to visit!

Day 7 – At Full Speed

Date: 2nd of July 2015

Route: Nuremberg – Frankfurt am Main

Vehicles hitchhiked: 1

It was almost 40 degrees outside, and we still didn't have anything to cover our heads. Fortunately, we were able to buy very nice straw hats (for 8€ each) in a supermarket that we entered on the way. The purchase influenced our decision to go to a petrol station on the outskirts of Nuremberg on foot, instead of going by bus.

A photo session in new hats

It was extremely hot, and we didn't feel like catching a lift in the sun. When one of the cars finally pulled over, I felt grateful and relieved... It turned out that my reaction was too fast – the driver said that he was going directly to Frankfurt, but in 4 hours, and he could take us then.

To be honest, I didn't like the idea of staying in Nuremberg until 3 p.m. at all – in that case we wouldn’t have enough time to sight-see the next city. I wanted to continue hitchhiking; Maia, on the other hand, opted for resting somewhere in the shadow, and waiting for that guy. We decided that if no one stopped within the next 20 minutes, we would go to a park nearby. And so it came to pass...

Well, to tell the truth, spending time there was definitely more pleasant than standing in the heat. Maia learned that day’s portion of Japanese vocabulary using the Anki program, and I read a part of “Inferno”. While eating lunch we both found out that matzo might be used instead of a knife, as well.

As promised, the man came back to the station around 3 p.m., and he took us to Frankfurt. The travel was very fast and pleasant (despite the fact that our musical tastes didn't match very well). That day I was driving 220 kph for the first time in my life. Surprisingly, I was not afraid at all. I decided to trust the driver fully.

When we arrived in Frankfurt, we walked to the Main river. En route, while sitting on a stone wall next to a street, we ate a 1-litre pack of walnut-vanilla ice-cream.

Our first impression of the city was not particularly positive – it was very loud there, and the smell of the river was pungent (well, maybe it was just because of the heat). What is more, when we saw an island on the map, and decided to rest there, we found out that, unfortunately, the entrance was closed for tourists. In this case we had to look for some other place to rest.

The Main River (the island in the background)

We ended up in a small park in the close neighbourhood of our host's house. We felt so tired and lazy that day, that lying was the only thing we did there; we didn't even have energy to read books.

When we finally arrived at our host's flat, we were astonished to discover that we had a whole apartment for ourselves – his neighbours had gone for holidays, and had allowed him to host couchsurfers in their flat.

We both took a quick shower, and tagged along with Markus to the riverside, where all of us met with his friend. While sitting on a blanket near the river, the four of us were talking and observing movements of Venus and Mars, which were clearly visible on the sky (they passed very close to each other the day before).

Sitting on the riverside

Marcus was a very outgoing guy, who was curious about the world, and had plenty of hobbies. His friend was also very interesting and knowledgeable.

Maia and I agreed that Frankfurt seemed prettier to us in the evening (maybe we were more relaxed then). We especially liked the skyscrapers visible on the other side of the river.

We especially liked the skyscrapers visible on the other side of the river

Regrettably, we didn’t have a chance to sightsee the older part of Frankfurt (we wanted to start hitchhiking towards Luxembourg the next day in the morning). Who knows, maybe it could be a reason to visit the city again.