Vaalbeek - adventure no. 117

Another adventure, another record. Today, we not only had the coldest adventure in adventure history, but also the only adventure that was under 0 degrees.

We started off with a sign saying 163 ahead. We couldn’t find where 117 was so we decided to do the picture at the end, not knowing that 117 was literally right behind where we parked.

117 was far away from 116 where there was forest but we still managed to end up in a forest even though it was a different forest.

Winter has started, was the first thing that came to my mind when I looked around. Most of the leaves were gone, the trees and the branches were brown or black, as if they were dead. The best thing about it though was that it was like we were in a sea of leaves. Their colour hadn’t completely turned brown so it was like the ground was made of leaves. Tonio thought it was all very grim. There were trees that were cut off and placed on the ground everywhere.

Towards the end we passed by a lake and at that point I thought that it was a mix of many adventures that we posted a long time ago. First I thought of it as the adventure where we had a cafe and Tonio told me about his profile picture and later on I thought it was the place where we found a toad. Both times we were at numbers we had already walked through so we had definitely been there before.

Finally, we walked back to the car (after taking a picture of the sign saying 117) and I sprinted the last bit as I always do, we went in the care and drove home... Did you enjoy our winter adventure? If you have, then there are many more coming soon so make sure to join us in our next adventure. Also take a look at Tonio’s blog called The Wanderer. But for now, I hope to see you next time in Adventures In Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu



[by Tonio]:

There are two types of cold. There's the "fresh" type, which, even if the temperature is below zero is tolerable, I would hazard to say even enjoyable. The other type is cold and damp and penetrates deep into your body.

The latter is what we had in this weekend's adventure. In one fortnight since our last outing (the intervening weekend we went to Malta) autumn gave way most definitely to winter. I have to say, unless it's covered in snow the landscape is much less attractive in winter than the other seasons. So what would one expect, now that we're in winter and the landscape is not picturesque... but that the first picture I took today was when we had not even left the car at Vaalbeek, where we would start our walk.

We have just arrived, and the landscape shouts out loudly: it is now clearly winter time

At -1 degree Celsius, this was probably our coldest adventure yet even if you include Iceland. But apart from the cold, today's walk was mostly about the trees, in their vast majority without any leaves now. In the beginning I was rather upset to see the remains of several freshly sawn off trees that must have been over a hundred years old. Gianluca reassured me that for every chopped down tree it's now compulsory to plant a new one. In Iceland, according to him, they plant two new trees instead because they're trying to "greenify" their country. I'm not sure I agree with that. Their landscape is so unique, and beautiful, that covering it up with trees would spoil it somewhat.

As we went on, Gianluca pointed out various interesting trees, root formations, double trunked... there was even a triple trunked tree.

We walked fast today. Gianluca had his table-tennis training at 2 p.m. and the route was 5.6 km long. A vigorous pace might help warm us up a bit (it didn't) but, in particular, it would take us back to the warmth provided by the heater in the car.

Adventure 116: coming out of the forest

Today, was our shortest adventure in this series. There is a pattern along these adventures. After the break, we had our shortest adventure yet, then our longest, then last adventure we beat the longest adventure and this adventure, we beat the shortest adventure.

We started off walking on the bridge between the plains and the forest. It wasn’t actually a bridge but it was a patch that separated the plains from the forest. On that subject I asked Tonio if he liked the plains or the forest better. Tonio said the forest at the moment because of all its colours. I understand why but I think because of the repetitivity of the forest I chose plains. And the plains wouldn’t be as repetitive as the forest is now because of the diversity of the plains.

We took a right into the forest and the familiar colours burst into view. Then, one way or another, we started a discussion about outside the universe. Then that conversation developed into reincarnation and our beliefs and hopes.

Tonio was still taking a lot of pictures and we saw that some of them were proving to be very similar. This is one reason why we need to get out of the forest. Luckily, 117 (our next adventure) is outside of the forest.

I've just realised, there is another pattern in our last 4 adventures. 4 adventures ago was a lot about the scenery. 3 adventures ago it was all about conversation. Last adventure, was mostly about the view again and this adventure we were talking most of the time and it was almost as if we were ignoring the view.

Tonio was taking pictures of the ground. ‘Why are you taking a picture of the ground?’ I asked. ‘Because it looks nice. Now see it on the blog and you’ll understand.’ He replied. And he was right.
It’s quite strange and ironic that even though this was our shortest adventure, this is probably the most I’ve written about an adventure in a long time.

At the end, we went into the car and drove away... Do you think that this adventure was short but packed? If you do think so, then make sure to join us on our next adventure in Adventures In Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu 

Ps. A few weeks ago we went to France on holiday. Make sure to see what Tonio commented about the few days we were there in a blog called The Wanderer. Bye!

[by Tonio]:

In contrast to last week, today's walk was one of the shortest we've ever gone in Zuid Dijleland. We chose a smaller loop, starting from no. 116, because the following day Gianluca would be taking part in a competitive table-tennis tournament, so it wouldn't be a good idea to tire him out.



Bit by bit, we're beginning to come out of the forest at Oud Heverlee. In fact, we started at the edge of the forest so that on one side we had a view of open fields to our left. Further on, we moved back into the forest, which, contrary to what I had predicted the previous week, was still proudly wearing its coat of colourful autumn leaves. This year, we have really enjoyed this beautiful season to the full.

Driving back, I remarked to Gianluca that today's adventure was one of the most uneventful ever. He disagreed. I'm quite looking forward to his version, so maybe I can discover the events that I can't recall anymore.

Mollendaalbos: Adventure No. 113

Today, was, the longest adventure yet, beating the one 4 weeks ago.

Just as we got out of the car, we saw a pug walking with its owner. It looked a lot like the pug in the last adventure but it wasn’t as it had a different owner.

We continued on and Tonio said that he wouldn’t take many pictures today. We’ll see about that...

Some more interesting trees because that’s all there is in the forest. We had the elephant leg tree and the spiral tree. One of the most special trees that we saw was, later on, the thick tree. It may not sound like anything exciting but with the pictures you’ll see why it’s so special.

We kept walking and suddenly, it started hailing! That’s a good example for the weather in Belgium. It is so unpredictable if you don’t look up and see the clouds. This sudden hail is actually a normal thing that happens in Belgium. It’s not like it happens every day but it  does happen every 2 months or so. It was raining for 2 minutes and then it stopped. After about 15 minutes it started hailing again for another two minutes. I just don’t understand how hail can fall down for two minutes then stop, then start again. How?

Throughout the adventure, it was raining leaves. I caught about ten of them (it’s harder than it sounds). It was so much fun trying to catch all the leaves especially towards the end where I was so focused that I forgot about all the mud and once I accidentally stepped in some but didn’t tell Tonio but now he'll know.

After a long adventure, we finally reached the car and drove off. Did you like our adventure? If you did then make sure to come back for our next adventure in Adventures In Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu

Ps. I counted 21 pictures. Next time, try to keep your word Tonio 😁

[by Tonio]:

At Mollendaalbos, starting from point no. 113, today we experienced the Belgian autumn at its magnificent best: light rain, heavy rain, sunshine, hail, lots of falling leaves and a kaleidoscope of colours.

At the beginning I told Gianluca that, this being a continuation of the same forest where we came last weekend, I wouldn't be taking many photos.

Famous last words! I couldn't stop taking pictures. At each turn in our 7.3 kilometre long trek today, a new spectacular panorama came into view. It was a bit like when driving through Iceland and you would need to park the car most of the way to take a snapshot of the surroundings.

It was mostly about the trees of course, this being a forest. Among lots of different types and shapes, we saw newly planted trees, others that are surely hundreds of years old, towering high above us reminding me of the columns holding up Gaudì's Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona...

The base of a tree looking like an elephant's paw...

A spiral shaped tree trunk...

Hand-sculpted trees... and, close to the end of our walk, the pièce de résistance, the pride of Mollendaalbos, the so-called Dikke Eik - the thick oak...

All the while, the weather was changing like crazy, brilliant autumn colours everywhere, leaves were floating down on us, including at one late point when the wind increased in strength and so did the intensity of shower of leaves coming down around us. I remarked to Gianluca that this was probably the last time we could enjoy the colourful show of autumn: by next weekend most leaves will have been blown off their trees, leaving behind the bare branches for the duration of winter.

But what an adventure today. One of the best ever.

A pug, the Tarzan tree and lots of fallen leaves

Adventure from point 112

Today, was quite a straightforward day. We got out of the car and started walking.

The strange thing today is that there isn’t much to talk about. Whilst we were walking we met a couple and their pug, the cutest pug in the world. I wish I could get a pug but Tonio doesn't allow me. L

As we sauntered on, we saw a gate to our right. There was a sign on the other side of the gate that said in Flemish that said, ‘army territory’. Tonio decided not to take a picture of the sign because they might think that we could be some sort of spies.

Later on (we were still next to the army territory) there was another sign saying in Flemish once again, ‘dog patrolling’ which was quite surprising since there was no sign of dogs or humans leading the dogs anywhere around where we were.

After moving away from that, it started raining but not only rain, but also leaves. We had a bit of fun trying to catch the leaves mid flight. We caught around three but came close many more times.

Towards the end we found two abnormal trees. We called one of them the limbo tree because it looked like someone was doing the limbo. We gave two names to the other tree: the Tarzan tree and the snout tree. The Tarzan tree you can see why we called it that and the snout tree because the end of it looked like a pig's snout.

"The Tarzan tree"/"Snout tree" - a show of great strength by Gianluca

Ok, I’ve realised that there was quite a lot to talk about. We went in the car and drove to a friterie, which is French for a place that sells mainly fries. We went in there and had a takeaway because the friterie was closing in 5 minutes. Tonio had fries and sparkling water and I had fries, chicken wings and still water.

We strolled back to the car, ate our takeaways and drove home... 

Did you enjoy our adventure today? If you have, then make sure to join us on our next one in Adventures In Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu

[by Tonio]:

Our walk today was one of the most straightforward that I can remember. Except for a bridge crossing and coming back from a different point across the same road, it was mostly along wide paved paths in the Meerdaalbos forest, the loop being roughly the shape of a square.



Most, but not all leaves, have now fallen from the trees, creating a thick reddish-golden-brown soft carpet on the ground. Each step produced that pleasant shuffly crunch, typical of an autumn stroll in the forest. Around us, leaves floated down in erratic paths. So erratic they're almost impossible to catch. Almost... Gianluca managed to catch one or two.

Along the way, a couple with a pug caught up with us. I like pugs. Gianluca patted the top of its head. We smiled at them and they walked on. That's the way it should be with dogs. Any more and it's too much. They bark. They wreck the house. Not to mention the toilety stuff. But as long as you don't need to look after them... This pug was okay: funny and friendly.



Close to the end of our walk, the leafy rain slowly changed into a watery rain, the real wet thing.

No problem. The car was only a few hundred metres away.

Meerdaalbos - Adventure no. 109

Today was a rollercoaster of emotions. After about half an hour, we finally found our parking that we were fed up of.

At the start of the adventure, we were confused. There were these new signs saying “109 via 131”. At first we weren’t sure what that meant but we later figured out that to go to 109 we needed to go to 131 first. But our maps weren’t the same as the new signs. We followed the route to 109, then 110. Then we sat at a bench next to 110. Tonio tried to figure out what was going on. I didn’t know what was going on but I trusted him to lead the way.

We stopped at a bench again (Tonio's hip was hurting and it was going to be a long walk) [Tonio: to clarify - just a measure of caution] and we looked at a patch of trees. I’ll show you why this is important later.

Gianluca rightly insisted to take a picture here

This route was proving to be very long. As I think of it now it was quite the opposite of the last adventure. The weather was all grey today, today was more about our conversations and our emotions, today was in the forest and today was probably the longest walk we've been to. Tonio can’t even think of anything in common except the obvious that we're in Dijleland and that we're in Belgium.

In this adventure we were zigzagging around a road and then we went back to 109 by that road. We met the same patch of trees that were separated by this road. Somehow, we started an argument on whether these trees are a patch or not. Clearly they are because they are only a small part of the forest and the only thing separating it is the road. We gave up on trying to convince one another and drove away, tired. A very nice adventure though.

We had a huge argument about this group of trees

A picnic table for giants

Did you enjoy our, like I said, rollercoaster of emotions in this adventure? If you have, make sure to join us on the next one in Adventures In Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu

 

[Tonio]:

Again, road works and closures made it difficult for us to get to Sint Joris Weert for the start of our adventure from no. 109. This time, I switched on Google Maps and finally we arrived at the car park next to Meerdaalwoud.



More problems ensued as the numbers have been messed up somewhat in this area, with new ones added creating confusion as regards the trails we needed to follow. The route we had planned for today was particularly long, so at one point, after following signs saying something like, "110 via 127", I had the suspicion that we were going a different and even longer trek and that we were effectively lost. Once more, it was good old Google Maps that saved the day: I could confirm that we were in the correct position after all.



From then on the walk proceeded well. From start to finish today we walked along forest paths surrounded by tall trees. The highlight of our discussions was certainly an argument we had about a group of trees that Gianluca had spotted while we were trying to find our bearings. Much later, in another section of the forest, he remarked that we were passing through the same group of trees. I insisted that this couldn't be as we were far away from that spot. We never reached an agreement on this.

It took us a long time to get back to the car, but once there we were satisfied at having completed a rather difficult and eventful adventure. Our legs could take a well deserved rest.

Gianluca: "Why are you taking a picture of this tree stump?"
Tonio: "Because it looks interesting."

Finally, we're back - no. 516

We're finally back! We've been having some difficulties and we haven't done an adventure in a long

time. Tonio had a back injury and needed an operation and he couldn't walk well. But now he's
better and we can start adventuring again!



Today, we wanted to continue our 109 110 111 but the road was closed. We tried to go to 109 from
a different road but we couldn't so we decided to find a random number. The first number we saw that we hadn’t done before was 516. We looked at the map and made a route from 516 to 517, 518, 510, 511 and back to 516.

We started at a narrow passageway and I always love narrow passageways. I’m not sure why but I
think it’s because it assures me that there won’t be many cars around so we can walk wherever we
want on the road. Also, there won’t be any sounds of cars that distract us.



We walked through what looked like the tunnel of trees into the flatness of the plains. This is why
we didn’t take too many pictures. The plains were too flat but trust me the view was gorgeous.
There were so many colours of plants and flowers. It was great being on an adventure again. I can’t
wait for the next adventures to come.



Towards the end, we met some cows who were having lunch. When we walked towards them they
started looking at us. We said hello and one of the cows came barging in, and mooed! The cow
understood us! Now I can tell all my friends that I can speak cow language.



Finally, we reached our car, after the long walk, went inside and drove home. Did you enjoy our first
normal adventure in about six months? If so, then join us on our next adventure. But for now, that’s
all folks!

GianlucaDeGringu


[by Tonio]:

... and five months later, after lots of medical consultations, analyses, surgery and then rehabilitation, I could finally resume walking properly.

We were supposed to start at Sint Joris Weert but the last stretch of road leading there was closed for works. I tried to follow the deviation signs - a long drive which fizzled to nowhere, or rather, I gave up trying to reach the place at Korbeek Dijle. I saw one of the wooden posts signalling a position in our Dijleland map, a large number we have not reached yet, and decided to work out an impromptu route from there.

Great success!

Such a pleasure to go back to walking along country lanes or passages between fields. The light was good for pictures, and where the plains were too flat to fill up anything much in the photos, a magnificent spectacle of large clouds playing around with the sunlight more than made up for it.



Close to the end of our walk, we stopped for a chat with a group of cows who were having their midday lunch. They were reluctant to voice their opinion, but eventually one of them threw all caution to the wind and came forth with a meaningful and significant: "Moo!"

Looking forward to many more adventures with Gianluca de Gringu!