e2e.bike

Cycling adventures across Britain and beyond

Menu
  • End to Ends
    • Britain
    • Ireland
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Spain
    • Austria
    • Liechtenstein
    • Poland
    • Slovakia
    • Isle of Man
    • Faroes
    • Cuba
    • Sri Lanka
    • Taiwan
  • Coast to Coasts
  • Yorkshire Ridings
  • Others
  • Writings
Menu
← PreviousNext →

Interrail 55: Silly ideas

Posted on 4 November 20225 December 2022 by Rob Ainsley

I’ve cycled in a lot of places with silly names. Dull, twinned with Boring. Jump. Bedlam. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, etc. But I’d never been to Silly itself, a small Belgian town southwest of Brussels. Today I took the very sensible decision to visit as I passed en route to Paris.

Silly starts here
For Silly tourists like me

Silly has a population of 8,500, and a pleasing list of facilities.

A Silly train station. A Silly town hall. A Silly police station. A Silly church. A Silly school. A Silly Tourist Information, which unfortunately was closed when I was there. I wanted to ask if they had a leaflet on Silly Walks.

It’s a cultural place. What sort of works get an airing at the annual Silly Music Festival, I wonder?

And there’s a Silly Brewery, right there in the centre of town, opposite the Taverne de la Sille.

(The name of the pub and of the town comes from a nearby watercourse, the Sille.)

Silly people go by train
Silly cow
Silly Sunday market

Well, I had to have a Silly Beer there, didn’t I? And very good it was too: a Silly Triple Bio, 9%, nutty and balanced and sweet, only one of which applies to me. And the taverne, I can report, was a friendly and sociable place, full of chatty locals.

Refreshment for Silly visitors

Silly is a fairly unremarkable town apart from its name, but the area is pushing itself as a tourist destination with plenty of cycling and walking routes around the very gentle surrounding countryside.

The Silly left

Very sensible.

Silly cycle facilities

The only downside was that my expected train out of the place never arrived. With no information boards at the unstaffed station, and no internet access, I had to pace the platform for an hour hoping the next service would turn up in time to get me to Lille, my destination tonight.

Silly Brewery

It did, but until it did, you can guess how I felt…

Silly mural in the station underpass
Previous
←   Brussels: Wee trip No 2
Next
Paris 1: Chasing clouds of the world’s first bike race →

You are here

e2e.bike > Other > Interrail > Interrail 55: Silly ideas

Recent Posts

  • Portugal 4: Viseu to Coimbra 13 May 2023
  • Portugal 3: Lamego to Viseu 12 May 2023
  • Portugal 2: Chaves to Lamego 11 May 2023

Random Posts

  • Matlock 4: News Flash from Tour of Britain9 September 2021
    The Tour of Britain passed through the Staffordshire Peaks today. So did …
  • Bury St Edmunds: Who was Clare Castle?18 February 2020
    Splendid day researching cycle routes with Nigel in friendly Suffolk. Definitely not …
  • F2B 3: Durham to Ashington28 February 2014
    A delightful day of windless sunshine up the flattish north-east coast. After …

Search e2e.bike

Find me

        
Facebook • Twitter • Linked In • Email
© 2023 e2e.bike | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme