We kept going from where we had reached last week. The land changed today, from the sheltered path next to a small river, that we used the other week, into wide open plains in Overijse, surrounded by large fields overlooking the village of Huldenberg. Many of the fields were bare, having been ploughed in preparation for seeding.
Gianluca saw a large puddle, which he classified as the biggest he had ever seen. He asked me if I'd seen any bigger. Typically, I turned technical, and mentioned that there's no largest puddle, since the bigger the puddle the closer it becomes to being a lake. Then he asked me what was the smallest lake I had ever seen, to which, of course, I replied on the same lines.
One particular puddle was actually quite interesting. Gianluca asked about patterns he saw floating on it. The puddle was beginning to dry up. At the deeper end the water was clear. Towards the centre some patches of silt began to form on the surface, until close to the shallow end they covered all the surface. Further along there was just mud, eventually becoming dry soil. It was like a timeline illustrating the whole process of a drying up puddle. I wish I had taken a picture.
Gianluca then listed the various periods during which dinosaurs lived - the triassic, the jurassic and the cretaceous. Were there ever any dinosaurs that roamed this same spot, a hundred million years ago? I explained that this spot did not exist a 100 million years ago because the world was completely different then. Was this place beneath the sea then? Possibly.
In spite of me, Gianluca still seems to enjoy it...
There was a lovely view of Huldenberg as we made our way back to the starting place.
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