A special adventure in Leuven

Today we walked a huge 7.5 km. The longest adventure we've ever had in any Dijleland adventure. And we had just realized that there were a whole new set of numbers we hadn't seen! We started off at black 12 (the blacks were the landmarks and the reds were normal) then we went to black 9 and 8, then to black 2, 3, 1 and 4 after that to black 6 then red 69 and finally back to 6 red where the car was.

Just as we started, we saw landmark 12 called Kasteel Van Arenberg. It looked beautiful. We tried to find a way inside but all the doors were locked.

As we walked to 8 and 9 we found a village. In the medieval times, the men used to go far away and fight while the women and children used to stay and build villages where they would live a very religious life. The town was full of houses that looked like they were from the 17th century. Near 8 and 9, there was a river called Dijle. That river and Dijlepark is why the whole thing is called Dijleland. Dijlepark was lovely and had a classy bridge. We took a picture there. Just after that we decided to have a break. I had a coke while Tonio had a Belgian beer called Orval and we shared a tapas for two. It was delicious!

We went into a church and saw St Damien De Veuster. He went to Molakai in Hawaii to help people that had leprosy. He helped the people to build schools, hospitals and homes for the poor. But while he was finding a cure, he caught leprosy and died of it at the 15th April 1889 but his courage and bravery helped the people and they slowly but surely found a cure to leprosy!

When we found 1, 2, 3 and 4, it was near the center. We had another break there and I had a portion of olives. Nearby we saw a church and went into it. It looked grand. 

When we reached 2 we saw a huge bug being stabbed by a much bigger stake of sorts. Opposite it was a majestic looking building. Near the entrance was a roof that looked strange but cool.

Then, we saw a statue called Fons Sapientiae. It was a statue of a man pouring beer into his brain while reading. I said, "That's proof that people think a certain amount of beer is good for you." Then Tonio replied, "You know that alcohol isn't good for you, no matter what type." We took a picture of it with me eating an Oreo flavoured ice cream.

After that, we reached 6, the city park. There was a mini waterfall that looked admirable.

Then it was pretty straightforward from 69 to 6. But there were very stunning views indeed.

When we finally reached our car, we realized that we were very VERY exhausted, so we stumbled into the car, and drove home. Did you like our adventure? If you did, then join us next time, in Dijleland adventures!

GianlucaDeGringu

[By Tonio:] A while back, our route should have taken us to no. 69, but the way was closed as the bridge that led to it was closed down as it was in danger of collapsing. No. 69 is at the edge of Leuven and in our map there's an "off network" route from 69 through Leuven and leading to no. 6. The off-network path through Leuven is 4.9 km long, while the "network" path from 69 to 6 is 2.6 km. Both alternatives may be joined into a 7.5 km long loop.

Saturday 16th, two days before our great adventure in Bucharest, Romania, we embarked on this 'special' adventure. We started at no. 6 in the extensive garden of an educational establishment at the edge of Leuven and could immediately admire the Kasteel van Arenberg next to the Dijle river.

The route followed the Dijle for a good while. We entered the central part of Leuven, within its ring road, in a Unesco World Heritage site - the Groot Begijnhof. This was a medieval village that used to house single women in a spiritual community. Nowadays it's used mostly for student accommodation. Leuven is very much a university town with different faculties spread within it, and students make up a sizable proportion of its population. The Begijnhof is maintained in excellent condition, although I have to say the old cobblestones are not easy to walk on at all.

We had a lovely tour of some of the main attractions in Leuven. We entered a complex with a watermill where we had lunch consisting of tapas, proceeded to a garden over a bridge and approaching the centre. We entered a church dedicated to St Anthony the Hermit, where there is a crypt and an exhibition on St Damien, who died of leprosy after going on a mission to take care of lepers on a remote island in Hawaii. It's so impressive how selfless some people can be.

We passed through the Oude Markt and had coffee at the Grote Markt, the main square with a magnificent town hall in gothic style, entered the Sint-Pieterskerk, said hello to Fonske, the mascot of Leuven, and passed by many other interesting sights.

Gianluca posed in front the statue of a boy, 'De Witte', in yet another garden, this one serving as a bicycle park. We had a rest at the main town park - Sint-Donatuspark - full of families with toddlers chasing beach balls and older children going wild over a kiosk with musical instruments and percussion instruments. Gianluca contributed a lot to the din while we were there. I sat down on the grass and amused myself watching the toddlers.

With all the detours we ended up walking much more than 7.5 km. The route led us to 69, from the other side of the closed bridge, where there was a beautiful view of the church tower of the Abdij van Park (the Park Abbey) where we had been previously. The remaining 2.5 km towards no. 6 was mostly next to the railway and quite uneventful except for some views into long back gardens planted with vegetables or housing chickens. It was here that Gianluca talked about his wish to study agriculture. It's either that or archaeology. Well, good luck Gianluca, either one of them would be an interesting career choice.

We came back to the car about six hours after setting out, tired but satisfied with our thoroughly successful day trip to Leuven.

Witty in Sint-Joris Weert

Today, we weren't sure if we would go on an adventure because in Belgium, the weather can change before you know it but we went on one anyway. On the way there, it started raining heavily. Tonio had said that hopefully, the rain would stop. And guess what. It did! Just as we went out of the car, the rain just stopped. It did rain a few times throughout the adventure but there wasn't any heavy rain. What a stroke of luck!

Our adventure was from 101, then 100 to 108 to 107 and back to 101. It was a short adventure today because we weren't sure about the weather but it still felt long.

When it rained I said, "Its raining cats and dogs. Woah! I almost stepped on a poodle." Ha! Best pun ever. We also made other puns later in the adventure.

We saw a bench. It was a strange bench that had writing on it that said, "Johan Greet" whatever that means. Probably something in Dutch...

As we came to 108, we saw an ice cream van. I took a double scoop both vanilla and Tonio also took a double scoop but one with banana and one with moka. They were really good but I don't know why I took an ice cream because it was already cold without it.

As we walked on, I said, "Its a shame that we can't swim with dolphins in Disney World." This summer we will be going to Orlando and to Disney World for 8 days and I think its going to be soooo cool! There are going to be so many rides. You do know that Disney world is almost 300 square kilometres! But we can't ride with dolphins because its too expensive. I said, "If we could go we would have a dolphin of a time." Another pun.

In the middle of 107 to 101, I asked Tonio if he knew about the colour of a mirror. He said the mirror is the colour of the things it is reflecting. But I said it is actually a slight shade of green. Then I said, "what do you call a mirror that can use internet? Google Chrome!" Not a pun but good enough.

And as the adventure ended we went into the car and drove home. Did you like it? If you did then come again to another adventure!

GianlucaDeGringu

[By Tonio:] Early afternoon today the sun was shining bright, so we decided to prepare some snacks and map out a route for our next adventure. When we were ready a few minutes later, the sky was overcast and it was raining heavily. The weather had been alternating that way all morning, so we decided to go in spite of the rain, hoping that by the time we arrived at the start the rain would have stopped.

And so it was. The sun was shining again when we left the car at Sint-Joris Weert, close to Oud Heverlee. We had our raincoats handy, of course, and soon enough we had to put them on. The weather was crazy all day today and throughout our walk I had to keep putting the raincoat on and taking it off again, as it was too warm while the sun was shining.

A few minutes into our adventure, I mentioned a (not so) old joke of ours to Gianluca. I told him that, rather than "dripping wit" (the old joke) today we would soon be dripping wet. Apparently Gianluca considered this to be a challenge, and he came back at once with, "It's raining cats and dogs. I almost stepped on a poodle," which I didn't get at once but when I did I groaned loudly - a good sign that it was a good pun. He followed this up later with speculation that if on his upcoming holiday he gets to swim in a water park with a dolphin, he would have "a dolphin of a time" (more groans), and pointed out that a mirror with internet is called "Google chrome", which he himself admitted was an awful joke, although simple minded me thought it was actually quite good.

The places we walked through today were beautiful, and made even more so by the sun those times when it came out. Most of them we have already been, although Gianluca couldn't recall any of them. There were open plains where we also saw a couple of deer, narrow muddy paths in the forest, a playing area with an ice cream van, from where we bought an ice cream each and where I had my very first attempt at a conversation in Dutch with the old vendor. Mid-way in our walk we rested on a bench made from a hollowed out tree trunk.



It was a thoroughly enjoyable adventure. As usual.

The frietjesmachine in Bierbeek

Today, we started off at 74 and then made our way to 75, 76, 115, 72, 73 and back to 74. We didn't take many pictures, for it was a bit foggy but the conversation was very interesting.

As we came out of the car, we saw a truck transferring potatoes, and I said, "I wish I could be a farmer someday." After a pause to look at it I said, "Don't you think there are one too many potatoes being transferred. I knew farms were big but not that big!" "Maybe this isn't only one farm, but used for many farms," Tonio replied.

When we reached 75, I remembered something and said, "Oh I just remembered. Blaz's dad (Blaz is my friend) every month or two runs about 70 km!" Then he said that he was thinking about stopping marathons. "Noooo!" I shouted. "You can't stop now after you've just had a bad marathon." "It wasn't bad it just was my worst one." "But shouldn't you make your last marathon a good one so you have good memories?" "But if I end with a good one I will think about continuing." "But why would that be a bad thing?" "Well, you have to stop at one point. And you know how much suffering I have to do every training session for just one marathon? Every last 30 minutes of training I have to drag myself back home." "Well if you really feel like that then why didn't you stop before?" "Because the suffering has increased through the years."

Then we saw a house. I was about to go in it to rest on a bench for a bit but Tonio stopped me. He said that it was a little bit dangerous and he pointed out that the house was leaning to one side a little so we stepped away. "But wouldn't there be a no enter or stop sign if it were dangerous?" I said. "Yes but I don't know why," Tonio replied. "Say, if that house would fall and people under it would they show it on the news?" I asked. "Well, in the local news yes but I don't think in the national news," Tonio said.

And of course the views were excellent as we went through the forest.

And finally, as we came back, we saw that the truck was still transferring potatoes. But there was another truck just behind it. "You were right as always!" I said. Then we went into our cosy car and drove home...

Did you have fun? If you have, then join us on our next adventure in the amazing adventures of Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu

[Tonio:] The "adventurous" part today was until we drove to the start of the walk.

We had to get to number 74, which is located at the edge of a forest and could be reached through narrow and rough country roads. After a couple of consultations of the map, I parked next to what looked like a farmhouse next to an agricultural processing plant of some sort. There was a conveyor belt which was pouring potatoes into the back of a large truck. Soil was being deposited on the ground, while an elderly man was watching the contents of the belt and taking out the bad potatoes. Next to these works, a billboard explains (in Dutch) the whole process how "frietjes" (fries, the Belgian national snack) are grown.



There was a lot of running activity going on in the area. While still taking our bearings, coming out of the car, a runner stopped to ask for directions to Bierbeek. I could help him out, also thanks to the map we had been consulting, then he noticed my favourite bright orange tee-shirt from the Rotterdam marathon, so we had a little chat about marathons in general. Later, during our walk, we saw groups of runners waiting for each other, running together, alone or accompanied by a dog. This was rather unusual as normally we hardly ever encounter any runners on our walks. It must be an area that is popular with runners, in fact one particular tree-lined path looked exactly like one in the Arboretum which is part of my own standard run. Besides, it was Sunday morning, traditionally the time most runners carry out their weekly longest run.



As usual, our adventure was unusual, in that it had its own peculiarities. Another unusual event today was the fact that it rained. Granted, rain is hardly a rare event in Belgium, but it's rare on our walks because when the weather is bad we tend to stay at home. Today we decided to take our raincoats with us, which was just as well because there was a heavy downpour even before we reached the wooden post with number 74, the "official" start of our walk.



As usual, again, we had some interesting discussions. We considered the best time for me to retire from running marathons. Gianluca suggested that my last marathon should be one with a good performance, so that I end on a high note. I pointed out that if I run a good marathon it would be a pity if I stopped, and I would want to run another one. We entered deeply philosophical territory - what happens when we're dead, belief in reincarnation, the actual meaning of belief, the incredibly narrow odds of someone actually being born, and various other topics... Later, when we walked through a short stretch where we had already been in our previous walk, we recognised some features like mushrooms growing out of a tree, a gazebo that looks unstable... and mused on the strange nature of memory. Some details remain stored in our memory but we are totally unconscious of them, but then we are reminded of them and the memory is so clear.

It was these discussions and events external to the walk, rather than the scenery itself, that was so interesting today.

An optical discussion in Bierbeek

Today was an awesome day. We went from 7 to 70, 71, 72, 73 and back to seven.

As we arrived to 70, I asked, "If one eye sees from one angle and the other another angle then how can you see only one angle?" And Tonio replied, "Because what you can see is actually the angle in between the two eyes." And then I asked, "So how come when I look at the ground I see double the amount of fingers? To show that it's not just me, try it yourself. Put your finger in front of you and focus on the ground with one of your fingers in the way. Then the finger will turn into two fingers! But don't lose focus on the floor or else it will be one finger again. Anyways back to the adventure. Tonio thought about it for a moment and then said,"I think it's because since both eyes are focusing on the ground, the finger isn't as important and since the brain doesn't do its thing there are two fingers!"

Then when we finally reached 71 Tonio said, "As usual if we had gone the other way the view would be much better. But I replied, "Selective memory." Selective memory is hard to explain but I'll give you an example. You reach a zebra crossing and just as you're about to cross it the lights turn red. You think about all the times that it has happened and you forget the times that it hasn't happened, so you say, "Whenever I'm about to go across the road the lights turn red." And that is selective memory.

As usual the lovely views took my breath away.

Then we saw a house and Tonio said that it could be the one he took in a picture before. Most of the adventures we have are circles but sometimes we go to a place and back. But that is not as practical because we cover less ground, so we leave that as our last resort.

We had a lot of fun and we thank you for reading this. Did you have fun too? If you have then join us in the next adventure of Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu

[Tonio's version] We skipped no. 69, which will take a whole day as it will include a detour into Leuven for a total approaching 7 km. Some day in the, hopefully, near future.

No. 70 was in a village which is even further away and probably the furthest in this network from our home - Bierbeek. We were already here when we started no. 7, and that's where we had to start again as it's the nearest to no. 70 that I could practically park the car.

Gianluca was very quiet in the beginning, and I remarked about this to him. A little while later he told me, "Can I ask you a scientific question?"

"I hope I can give you a scientific answer."

"You always give me a scientific answer. It's either the correct answer or else you say that you don't know." It was the best compliment he could have given me!

The question was about how our eyes register different images of the same view, depending on whether we look through the left or the right eye, and how come when we use both eyes we only see one image. He remarked on how you can look with both eyes at your finger and you see a double image of another object further away in the background, but when you focus instead on that object further away, you see two images of your finger in the foreground. He had noticed this phenomenon by himself, and I theorised that it was related to the previous observation of seeing different images with the left and the right eye.

It was a rather 'optical' discussion, inspired by a certain Physics Girl who he's following on YouTube. He mentioned an intriguing experiment about how she calculated the value of pi using a sheet of white paper stuck on a white board and randomly throwing a number of darts onto the board. He promised to send me the link.

The walk itself was as pleasant as usual. Quite hot and very quiet and peaceful, alternating open fields, a forest and some really beautiful farm houses.

Abdij van 't park, or... switching to silly mode in Heverlee

Today, we had a surprisingly good day. I say surprisingly because in the map it said 68 to 69 and back. That was our route since 68 to 69 was really long. And it was all road. We hadn't our hopes up very high. But it was great!

We started off going into a place that Tonio was thinking of that moment. What a coincidence! He said that the place was where he wanted to take my mum and me.

Then Tonio said we could eat here now if we wanted but I said when we come back because I wasn't that hungry yet. And Tonio said neither was he. Then, we came to a point where there was a board and it showed all the history of the place Tonio said where we should eat. It was actually an abbey. It had three zones. One for the hunters, one for the trading, and one for the praying.

Then we reached 69 but it was blocked because of a dangerous bridge. But we saw the number so we went back.

After that, when we were going back, we went into the place Tonio said where we should eat. I had some prawns wrapped around breadcrumbs with fries and Tonio had a Caesar salad.

Finally We strapped ourselves in our seatbelts and drove home. Did you have fun? Because I have. If you have too join us in the next adventure!

GianlucaDeGringu

[Tonio's version:] I was not looking forward very much to this one, from 68 to 69 and back, along what appeared to be an asphalted road from an industrial area at the edge of Heverlee towards a residential area in Leuven. It turned out to be one of our most interesting walks yet in Zuid Dijleland.

The route immediately led us into a forest path, always much better than a road with fast cars driving past. Spring is definitely in full swing now. It was warm and sunny and the forest so much more pleasant. I embarked on a sermon about selective memory after Gianluca mentioned that, every time whenever we encounter a rail crossing, the barrier comes down and we have to wait for a train to pass.

We reached the residential area but soon afterwards the route turned towards cultivated patches and a lake further along. At the time, I was thinking about an interesting abbey at the edge of Leuven, that I had reached when on a solo bike trip last summer, when lo and behold, we arrived at that same abbey!

We crossed through this "Abdij van 't Park de Heverlee", which is undergoing restoration, on towards no. 69, but the way was barred. A bridge over the railway leading to post 69 was blocked for safety reasons - a technician was investigating how it can be made safe again as parts of it are falling down...

We stopped at The Lodge for lunch. It's the same place where I took the selfie which is still my profile picture on Facebook. Lovely place.

On the way back, instead of philosophising, we switched to silly mode. Gianluca was humming something about snow - I sang the same tune in Maltese, mentioning "borra" (snow), which Gianluca insisted it sounds like "bucket"... on towards my invention of "Dik il-barbara Barbara Barbara marret barra mal-barri fil-borra." (That barbarian Barbara Barbara went out with the bull in the snow... Barbara is both a name and a surname in Malta).

It was a thoroughly enjoyable walk. Sorry, adventure.

Spring springs alive in Heverleebos

Today, we started off by going past a graveyard and we had a bit of a look. It was not just a normal graveyard. It was giant with many sections of dead people in what times and nationalities.

We saw some trees that were red. "But how come they are red when it's spring?" I asked. "I don't know, replied Tonio. Maybe they were ever red trees!

After going to 68 we went into the forest. We took some pictures of Tonio and I on a bench but they didn't work out very well. As we continued, we saw a large tree stump. We counted and it was 150 years old! Shortly after that we saw another stump and it had a new baby tree on it. Tonio said that even when they cut the tree down it was still alive.

We found some logs and had a rest on them while talking about science. We were saying what we believed about the universe. Was it infinite? Was it only one of the countless universes? So many questions and so few answers. I think that the universe is always growing nonstop forever. But lets not drift off into that vast subject.

At last we came to the car and drove home. Did you enjoy reading this? If you did then come again to the next adventure!

GianlucaDeGringu

[By Tonio]: The past week it was practically winter in late April in Belgium. Not today. We were rewarded with a brilliant day of sunny weather, and thoroughly enjoyed our walk in the Heverlee wood.

We set off along a longish straight path, with factory-like structures and military looking lorries on one side and a large field on the other. We passed by a large cemetery and more fields before entering the Heverleebos itself. It seemed as if, after last week's dismal weather, nature sprang forth in a kaleidoscope of colours. Rarely does a completely straight path provide so much spectacle.

Gianluca was inspired to come up with some atrocious puns mixed up with other good ones. It's clear that he's honing his skills for a hopefully witty future.

We discussed the nature of the universe, whether it is infinite, or whether it's a small bit of a much larger universe. Whether dark matter, since it's invisible, makes up the rest of what exists outside of the observable universe. Whether "nothing", which is what I speculated there is outside of the universe, can really be considered to exist at all...

Beyond the straight pathway we crossed underneath the E40 motorway towards another section of the wood that was just as spectacular. Too bad about the noise from the motorway that cuts right through the middle of this beautiful forest. But we didn't let this bother us at all. It was quite simply a lovely walk in a wonderful place.