An Insect Filled Adventure - number 214

Today was a strange one to say the least. We started off  walking by an old farmhouse. If they had renovated the farmhouse the place would have looked very nice. Personally, it looked a bit more creepy than nice, but Tonio  liked it. He thought it was pleasant. Ask him why.

As we were walking next to the river, Tonio said; “Good thing there are no flies yet.” Now I don't know if you believe in the jinx or not, but 5 minutes later we were in a forest, forging through an army of insects. Tonio regretted that he said that and he was also annoyed that he wore shorts to the

adventure. He almost convinced me to wear shorts too but I was too lazy. Note to self: always wear long trousers on a hot adventure. It’s worth it. I told Tonio to add this to the list of why January is his favourite month. If any of you people are Maltese or know how to speak Maltese, you can check out

one of Tonio’s blogs called Gallarija. One of Tonio's posts explains why January is such a good month.

For the next 15 minutes, we didn't even talk. We just half walked half struggled through the swampy, humid environment. It sounds bad but it wasn’t the worst (for me).

As we neared the end of the adventure, we saw the animal of the day. Two horses. They both had long hair that covered their eyes. They were in the middle of lunch, and we knew how horses are at lunchtime. We tried to attract their attention, they looked up at us, but then back down. For some reason we didn't take a picture of them.

Just before we went into the car, we decided to go in a shop that made beer. It had quite a nice atmosphere. Tonio had one of the local beers and chips and I had a coke.

And after that, we went back to the car and drove home. Did you enjoy our adventure? If you have then make sure to join us on our next one. Also, check out Tonio's blog called The Wanderer. But for now, we hope to see you on our next adventure!

GianlucaDeGringu

[by Tonio]:

We have had our hilly, "flatty", and "froggy" adventures. Following the same terminology, today's would definitely be an "insecty" adventure. 

It was hot and humid. Starting at 214, close to Neerijse, we could either do a short 4 kilometres or a longer 6 and a half kilometres. Half way at junction 219 we would choose depending on how we felt. I was relieved when Gianluca chose the shorter route. Because of the heat I had opted to wear shorts. Big mistake! Throughout the second half of our walk I was swatting mosquitoes on my legs most of the time. The vegetation at the narrow passages in the forest was overgrown and we had to be careful to avoid nettles and thorny stems. Gianluca seemed quite fine, having had the foresight and wisdom to wear long trousers. I, on the other hand, couldn't walk fast enough to get out of the swamp.

I have had more pleasant adventures in Dijleland.

The outing did end pleasantly enough, though. In the beginning, while looking for a parking spot, I had noticed an interesting looking open area where people were having a snack and a drink. At the end of our walk I suggested that we go there. It turned out to be a brewery. Some fries, a Pepsi and the house beer, De Kroon, served by their friendly staff al fresco under an umbrella provided a perfect ending to our adventure today.

This picture pretty much sums up my 13 years (and still counting) of living in Belgium

A Very Froggy Adventure - Doode Bemde park, Neerijse

We are back from our break in Scotland and back with a good old adventure.

Today, was quite a strange one (as usual) and we started off walking in a place that was starting to get familiar.

We quickly went off track on to a steep uphill. After a bit of walking I found a small path leading somewhere. I was curious and followed it and it turned out that it led to an old bench facing the river. We stopped and had a little break and I noticed the bees and butterflies swirling around the plants. Then I thought of how much more peaceful the world could be without us humans. People say dinosaurs were terrorising the earth but we humans are worse.

But on to a more positive subject. Before the adventure we didn't know if we should go on a long route or a short one back to the car. We postponed the decision, based on how we would be feeling. I let Tonio choose, so he chose the longer route but quickly changed his mind and chose the shorter route because the passage looked nicer as we would be passing in between two rivers, and also since we had already been on the long route. After about 20 metres walking the short route he stopped and said we would be passing the short route in other adventures. But then I pointed out that surely if we would be passing the short route in other adventures we would also be passing the long route in other adventures. So we turned around for the third time and kept walking.

We saw the first river with a swan in it but nothing too special but in the second river it was covered with algae and I spotted a very well camouflaged frog in the algae. I said the whole thing looked like the green on a golf course.

After walking a little bit more we saw a whole hoard of baby frogs crossing the roads all around us. It was like lots of giant ants. The frogs must have been crossing the road from river to river. I don’t think I've ever seen as many animals (apart from humans) in my life than the amount of frogs crossing the street.

But at last, the adventure came to an end as I sprinted to the car and we drove home. Did you enjoy our adventure? If you have so then make sure to join us on our next one. Also, make sure to check out Tonio's blog called The Wanderer. But for now, Goodbye!

GianlucaDeGringu

[by Tonio]:

Next to the village of Neerijse, there's a lovely park called Doode Bemde. This is where our route passed today, along the meandering path of the Dijle river which gives the name to the Zuid Dijleland region where we have our walks.

Spring is quickly leading into summer and nature has really sprung into life now: fields dotted with different coloured flowers, bees busying themselves around them, tiny newly-hatched frogs leaping dangerously across footpaths towards the nearest body of water... The temperature was the perfect medium, the sun staying generally hidden behind thin clouds and thereby sparing us from too much glare. It was beautiful. The pictures can tell the rest of the story.