a less adventurous adventure?

Despite having already visited five countries in 3 weeks (6 if you count the five minutes we were in France) this leg of our Grand European tour feels distinctly less adventurous than our last. This may be for purely superficial reasons - we're used to being on the road now and the novelty of living in a campervan has worn off, while for my part I have been to all five of these countries - Belgium, Luxembourg, The Nertherlands, Germany and Denmark - before. However I think the reasons are more cultural.

Northern Europe simply is not different enough to feel as much as adventure as, say, traveling through Thailand would (though we're guessing here as neither of us have been to Asia). The towns and cities, while beautiful, new and exciting are not alien to us despite the little differences: indeed Ribe in Denmark reminded me strongly of my home town of Cirencester, except with a Viking Museum instead of a Roman one. For all the intricate canal systems, decorous Rathauses and ancient city fortifications we have seen little that we cannot relate back to our English experience, unlike the tiled houses of Portugal, the relics of Moorish Spain or the Roman ruins in Italy and France. The landscapes we have driven through haven't evoked for us a way of life all that different from our own, pretty as there are. In the south there were countless times, in France, Spain and Portugal, when the surrounding countryside and vegetation reminded me strongly of African vistas, while the lack of traffic on the roads (unlike the busy North) increased the sensation of other-worldliness and exploration.

Plus, we have to admit, we're being totally spoiled up here in North Western Europe. We don't just mean Fran and Henning's wonderful hospitality at their flat in Kiel, but in general. Campsites have been cheaper and yet better equipped: showers hot and strong, camp kitchens available for use, and toilet seats and loo paper a given. None of these was guaranteed at campsites further south, even those in Italy and France. Linguistically we've been having no problems either, for even though we speak even less Danish, Dutch and Flemish than we do Spanish and Italian (that's to say none at all) EVERYONE speaks English. We've hardly had to try at all to get by.

So, basically, while we're having a wonderful time and have been to some brilliant places we're not feeling like we're being particularly adventurous at the moment. We're hardly heading up the Inca Trail or even crossing the Carpathians. Still, we'll be in Poland soon. And after that Slovakia and Hungary; if being vegetarian in Hungary isn't an adventure I don't know what is.

Belgium

The thing about Belgium is that it lacks definition. For the quick visitor, like us, it does have the physical or architectural landmarks that can guide our itineraries and shape the town in our imaginations. There is nothing in Brugge, Ghent or Brussels - all charming, lovely and differing cities all offering a different version of Belgium - that stands out and defines them the way The Eiffel Tower does Paris, or the Mezquita does Cordoba, the Chapel Bridge Luzern, the Arena Verona, the Sagrada Familia Barcelona and so on. The closest Brussels can get to these architectural masterpieces is a small statue of a little boy taking a leak or the new European Parliament, which can hardly be considered Belgian. It's not that these beautiful cities don't have stunning buildings - they do, with the Grand Place as Brussels being as plush and ornate as anywhere we've seen on our travels - but they have none that live in the public imagination in quite the same way as St Peter's or Big Ben.

It's not surprising really when you consider that Belgium has only existed as Belgium since 1839; prior to that it was under Frankish, then Burgundinian, then Spanish, then Austrian, then finally Dutch rule. With the national borders based on religious (Catholic) rather than natural or linguistic boundaries there's no real sense of cohesion to the country, something sadly reflected by the current political crisis - Belgium is widely expected to split into two anytime soon. Only in Brussels are signs posted in both Flemmish and French (which ignores the German speakers in the East). Kate was convinced for ages that I was lying and we were actually already in The Netherlands - she's never been there but the landscape so conformed to her imagining of Dutch countryside - and once we headed south and the language of the road signs changed we might have well been in France.

Instead what cultural landmarks that exist do so in the people, rather than the places - what they eat, drink and do. The Chocolate is great, as are the waffles and the beer, and sea food fry ups are everywhere. Everyone seems to speak English, presumably to avoid learning either Flemmish or French, and is uber-helpful. Belgium may not have a grand tradition and popular imagining to draw on, but it's still a wonderful place. We hope it sticks around a bit longer.