Belgium - I feel like waffles

I'm enjoying a spot of sun outside a restaurant/petrol station in Kruibeken on the way to Gent in Belgium, overlooking a field of grassing horses.

Last night I sat for maybe an hour and a half trying to find a lift out of Rotterdam, and finally a car stopped. Frank was headed towards the Belgian border, and could drop me off in Antwerp, Belgium. Awesome! Another country crossed. Frank was planning a holiday with couchsurfing, as he's saving his money to renovate the house if just took over the keys for. I myself would like to try the couchsurfing.org connection if I get to Bordeaux in time. The concept is brilliant: here's a group of people who're opening their homes to welcome travellers in need of a place to stay a night or two.

I was stuck in Antwerp with a sign reading Brussel (Dutch spelling, Dutch part of belgium) about two, three hours before a Turkish man pulled over to tell me in very broken and limited English told me he was going to Mechelen, 30 or so kilometers south. I jumped in. After driving maybe 10 minutes in an awkward silence, Turkish music blaring out of the speakers and him singing along, he opens his mouth to tell me he's too drunk to drive now, and that he needs a cup of coffee to continue. This is the first time during the trip i've been worried for my safety. He never appeared drunk, and I attributed the speech to language barrier. We'd just been doing 130km/h on the highway, and entered a residential area. I calmly but firmly told him to stop the car, and that the approaching McDonalds would be a good place for me to get off. I may be adventurous, but I'm not stupid!

I started moving down the residental area, following the signs for Brussel. After maybe half an hour, around 3 in the morning, a car finally stopped. A local man in a wheelchair had seen me along the streets while he was out cruising with his car, and as long as I could dismantle and throw the chair in the back of the car myself, I could ride with. After a bit of lifting, pushing, and swearing, the chair was in the back, and we were making our way to Brussel. While driving, and it became known that I was headed for Bordeaux, Joeri suggested me an alternate route through Gent, Lille, and Paris, that would save me a couple of hours travel. If also offered me his couch for the night, so that I'd have a place to sleep. I thanked him kindly, and we turned back towards Antwerp. Joeri is fond of driving, and has been playing the piano for six years. It's a shame I didn't get to hear any of it, but if you ever get that computer and recording equipment, please do send me a sample!
In the morning he drove me here, where he bought me coffee and a sandwich. Thank you Joeri!

I've been writing for too long - time to get back on the road!