Tuesday 21 November 2017

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.


Monday 13 November 2017

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.






Monday 6 November 2017

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 meL


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.