Relatively shorter day by today's standard (gosh last year 64km was the longest day:).

41km in and I'm sitting in the house of the eel in Temse riverfront - Het Palings Huis. TripAdvisor#1 is closed but this is no disappointment.

Lobster bisque and Eel in green sauce. The eel dish is interesting but lacking umami. The Muscadet Vieille was delicious. Oh one of the most tasty soup that reminds me of the one I had in Provence and with a fair amount of yummy lobster meat thrown in. Really needed that after a cold start to the day. It'd been drizzling in the morning and I'm glad to have visited St Bavo cathedral (Sint Baafskathedraal) with lovely artworks namely a Rubens and a Jan van Eyck triptych (if you don't want to pay €4 to see it there's a smaller replica at the back of the cathedral).

The ride today was fortunately dry and flat, a bit winding but straight forward.

First surprise was there's not a bridge but a tunnel to cross the Scheldt.

And second surprise was #1 in TripAdvisor is a small joint called Fish a'Gogo and everyone raved about the razor clam which is my favourite shell fish so guess what, I ordered one.

Phoah!!! Incredible. And the

Ichtegem's Grand Cru went really well with it.

The scheermessen was so good that I ordered the scallops with wakame salad which was equally yummy. Oh I was in food heaven!

Alas I didn't get his name but the owner/cook was friendly and cheerful.

And across the road the smell of sweet sugar was simply irresistible so I sat down and ordered the waffle with strawberries and melted white chocolate.

If Ghent was charming and picturesque, Antwerp feels even more lively and cosmopolitan with a slight edge. The sheer number and noise of North African immigrants especially in the outskirts where my Airbnb is, coming from kids screaming and kicking balls on the streets up till 9pm-ish creates a different feel and slight unease in the air.

I love how Belgian cities are so liberal with cyclists and you really feel like king of the road. Of course in the centre you have to be able to take on the cobbles.