Brussels - july 21 - belgian national day

On the road by 8, heat broke without storms, heading east with tailwind, fueled by Cappacino and croissant. A good start. Weird airbnb but better than $$$ hotel during festival. Found a macbook OTR, among best bike finds (leatherman, $10, ipad which I tracked down owner) - alas had a half broken screen...Mostly unremarkable ride, through farms and towns, lots of kitted out cyclists all obeying traffic rules. In brussels by noon, definitely feels different. French signs and architecture, not bike centric. Unfortunately synagogue did not open, I'm reminded of french using term "normally" as in normally it would be open today. Which of course means it isn't. The churches were open, as was korean cultural center - maybe a little antisemitism? City was packed with festivities, a military parade, and "resto national". Visited the floor of belgian parliament, fancy palace of Prince of flanders; packed and breaking my rule of one hot overcrowded touristy city/trip. 38 miles, 18k steps and even had some hills.

Monday did a walking tour, learned more about belgium, a country with 3 languages and a mix of dutch, french and other architectural influences. From what i got, french was historically the elitist language, but within the past century, is catching on more with those the flemish speakers. Lots of talk around food- mussels, fries with mayonnaise, chocolate, waffles and beer. Food has been good everywhere! Got a haircut as this morning marks shloshim for my dad, thinking about him daily as I've listened to podcasts that would interest him. Nap, dinner and quiet day off the bike. Dont really need another brussels day, so gonna do day trip to great runs approved leuven tomorrow. By bike obviously.