wind through the poplar trees

On one of my days in Bruges I took a guided bike ride around the countryside outside Bruges.

Belgium is one of those flat low countries of Europe where there are almost more bicycles than people, so a bike ride felt a necessary thing to really experience that Flemish corner of Belgium. I grew up in the flat plains of Oklahoma and Texas so even through I've lived in several mountainous and hilly places since then, I've always felt so comfortable being surrounded by flat lands and wide skies. And the low land of Flanders was so, so beautiful!

Our guide rode us out along the canals lined with poplar trees that lean to one side because of the constant wind from the sea--the wind blowing through the poplars, our guide commented, is the true sound of Flanders--to the little town of Damme and back again. We got some history of the area (Flanders was literally Europe's battlefield until their independence and the creation of the Flemish/French/German speaking country of Belgium) and watched the huge (nothing but muscle!) Belgium Blue cows grazing. We passed by windmills and over canals winding their way up to Amsterdam and stopped for coffee, hot chocolate and beers at a canal-side cafe. And passed by a lot of fellow bikers riding from town to town. All accompanied by the sound of the wind blowing through the poplar trees.











You can see all my Bruges photos here including more from my Flemish bike ride!