Skopje 1 - The Old Centre (Stara Carsija)

Today we had a great adventure going to the old city walk of Skopje. We met many women and men asking for free money but they weren't euros they were called dinar.

First there was a museum which used to be a bath house, there were lots of pictures with patterns and statues of funny men.

Next we found the best kebapi in all of Skopje its name is Destan.

There was a church called church Sveti Dimitri and we had a look but unfortunatly no pictures were allowed inside.

Then we found a market with many clothes and snacks. I decided to take a seed biscuit even though I didn't know what it was... But it was good. 

Then we went on to a fortress called Kale. We decided to let a guide show us everything and it was very interesting.

But we had a lot of fun and I will see you next time.

GianlucaDeGringu

Comments by Tonio (aka my Dad):

That's Gianluca laughing his head off, almost literally, in the picture above. Good sign. It shows he's enjoying himself!

Well, so am I, although this adventure, a real adventure this time for me and Gianluca, began on the wrong footing with me forgetting the telephone charger at home - panic! - resolved by buying another one at the Skopje airport arrivals area, with the kind help of our new Macedonian friend, Ana. The following morning, our first day here, we went for our city walk and found the main square, the main meeting point for people in Skopje, the central square with a huge "Warrior on a Horse" monument, mostly closed off for laying new flooring.

But never mind. We skirted the works and set off to do a walking route through the Old Centre of Skopje.

We saw lots of interesting monuments, works of art, beautiful squares... starting off with a couple of young Macedonian ladies having a chat...

 

... one of whose great grandfather was standing on top of a pedestal in the background, brandishing a flag.

The Vardar river splits Skopje into the old centre, which is mainly Muslim, and modern Skopje, which is mainly Christian Orthodox. The two sides are joined by an old stone bridge, the Kamen Most, the official symbol of Skopje.

So difficult to take a selfie. Either my arm is too short or my head is too big and fills up the whole picture. I can't figure out how the others do it!

And there's another Macedonian lady, trying to work up enough courage to jump into the cold water ...

Over the bridge, we walked into Karpos' Rebellion Square, adorned with lots of statues, including The Warrior (Philip II, Alexander the Great's father), and the same Alexander's mother holding Alexander the Great when he was still little:

The end of the square leads into the old centre itself, and it's as if you're crossing into a different country, most decidedly oriental/Muslim, complete with bazar, mosques and bathhouses.

The domed roof of a bathhouse that served as a harem once, but is now an art exhibition centre:

The Mustafa Pasha Mosque dominating the skyline of this section of the city:

Our first time ever inside a mosque, strictly without shoes:

The fortress is lit up in the evening ...

... as is the largest cross in the world that towers above the city...

... and the Archaeological Museum:

Simply beautiful, and that's just the first day!

Tervuren park

Today was a very long adventure along the river bank of Tervuren park into a forest path close by.

Just before we started we discussed where we wanted to go, we decided from 41 to 43 and back would be good. It was approximately 5.2 kilometres but we had to stop with the car at 48 so it was plus half a kilometre.

On the way there was a problem, we were on the way to 44 and we had planned to use a shortcut going back or then it would be too long of an adventure (adventure = walk). But the shortcut was closed because it had a sign next to it saying do not enter (in Dutch of course). Then we found out there was a bit of a road we could get into with a bigger shortcut but there was a mini great wall of China so we got worried. But as we went the mini great wall of China had ended so we could get in to the road.

As the adventure came to an end we had to choose between two ways. I decided to stay close to the river bank and I had chosen the right way because it was shorter than we thought compared to the other way.

I decided to take a picture of myself looking at the lake.

We had an excellent time just like a real adventure and I will see you later.

GianlucaDeGringu

By Tonio:

After a long break, mostly due to Gianluca attending scouts, or football, or my own long distance training, plus lots of bad weather for good measure, we finally found the time to resume our 'adventures' in Dijleland.

Today's walk was mostly in the Tervuren park. We started from 41, walked along a straight path next to an artifical lake to 42 closer to the middle of the park. Towards 43 and then 44 we walked outside the perimeter wall of the park. We were supposed to go on to 44 and on the way back take a short cut back to 41, otherwise the walk would be too long, and we were getting tired. But, on the way to 44 we saw that the short cut to 41 would be inaccessible. On the map it showed that if we went further ahead the path would pass next to a street from where we could take a short cut to 41, however we were not sure if that short cut was accessible or not, and if it was inaccessible the way back along the same route we had done would be even longer.

We took the risk and walked on, and it turned out that the street leading back to 41 was accessible. Good thing, otherwise it would have been a very long way back.

Each adventure is unique in its way. One thing they have in common is that they're always a pleasant experience. Today's was no exception. Now we're looking forward to a very special adventure indeed. Three full days in Skopje, Macedonia!

Tiles, hazelnuts and chestnuts in Overijse

Today it was an unbelievable day. I'm sorry but lately I have been busy so I couldn't write anything. But other than that we went over all the thirties (or at least most of them).

We saw tiles of all sorts and at the end a grasshopper but even now I'm wondering if he ate that leaf I gave him. Usually I'm right about things, and particularly in adventures for some reason, even though I'm a child... Today I was right about a chestnut, for Tonio didn't know. We found a whole lot of hazel nuts and chestnuts and as always there was a great scene.

I sat down on some very comfortable wooden logs when I was tired. We found the life cycle of the puddle the last time we went there only it was all water this time, but we had a spectacular time.

GianlucaDeGringu

Tonio's version: We confirmed today the beauty of the countryside surrounding Overijse.

 This old farmhouse is being refurbished.

 Maize, almost ready for harvesting

It was threatening to rain most of the time but, luckily, we were spared getting wet although the ground was muddy in some spots as it has been raining quite heavily the last few days. Actually, today we covered ground that we had already been to, but we wanted to 'wrap up' the 30s on the map so as to move on to another area. It was still very interesting as we saw various changes since we last were here. In particular, it's harvesting time and we picked up a good amount of hazel nuts from the many that had fallen onto the ground. We also saw lots of corn ('maize' according to Wikipedia) ready to be harvested.

Close to the end of the walk, Gianluca picked up a broken tile, from the rubble used to surface the path, and said he wanted to keep it as a souvenir by which to remember these "adventures" when he grows old.

My eyes watered...

August in Malta

August in Malta is not the ideal setting for a walk. This did not discourage Gianluca and me from going for a couple of interesting "adventures".

Fort St Elmo - Valletta

Not only was it August in Malta, it was also mid-afternoon and therefore really quite hot. We set off down a flight of steps opposite the Mediterranean Conference Centre and walked on the rocks next to the bastions that make up the perimeter of Fort St Elmo. The main breakwater of the Grand Harbour is now connected to the mainland by means of a steel bridge, and that's where we went. Gianluca didn't want to pose for a picture facing the blinding sun, so he turned his back to the camera. The result was one of my best photos ever.

He did accept to face the camera with his back to the sun... and a splendid view of the bastions in the background.

Back on terra firma, we proceeded to the other side of the peninsula towards St Elmo Bay, then up a narrow street underneath a tunnel towards the Auberge de Baviere, and back towards the Conference Centre treading very carefully on the pavement to avoid stepping on dog poop. So disgusting. They really should do something about it.

The walk ended with a well deserved ice cream / Snickers cake.

Comino

Comino was even hotter. The trip was a hair-raising ride on a speedboat from Spinola Bay. When we got there, before disembarking, we were shown some interesting features, including a cave with shimmering turquoise water as well as a sunken patrol boat, now an attraction for divers, which was just visible from the surface.

The Blue Lagoon is where hundreds of day trippers spend their day on deckchairs underneath umbrellas, completely clogging up the place. It was really, really, crowded. Our guide Ian who drove the boat had mentioned that Santa Maria Bay was a 20 to 30 minute walk away, so Gianluca and I immediately decided to escape the mayhem and seek more tranquil surroundings.

Did I mention that it was hot? At one stage Gianluca pointed the correct way to the hotel, which was an intermediate stage to our destination. We met a group of Gozitans, who where heading to the Bajja ta' Santa Marija, and we chatted and walked with them for a while.

Finally, the bay came into view.

It was also rather crowded, but much less than the Blue Lagoon. We found a shaded spot on the sand, under a tree, had a sip drink of bottled water, and jumped into the sea to cool down.

Lovely. Lovely. Simply wonderful.

The walk back from Santa Maria Bay was even hotter, characterised, among others, by a stop at the Comino Hotel for a fish and chips, a Blue Label beer and a Coke, a towel on top of my head while I was walking, as I had forgotten to bring a cap, but most of all, that most characteristic sound that says "the peak of summer in the Mediterranean". The continuous loud screech of cicadas. Gianluca actually spotted one sitting on a dried up plant and showed it to me. We went up close and the sound stopped.

Eventually, we jumped into the melee at the Blue Lagoon to rejoin our group, swam over to Kemmunett and back with Gianluca's mama, and waited for the boat, driven by our dreadlocked guide Ian, that raised our hair even more than in the morning as we speeded back to Spinola Bay.

Did I mention that it was a tremendously enjoyable day?

Overijse - 32 - June 2014

Our home town, Overijse, may have a silly language policy, but it's a really pretty place to go walking around once you leave the built up areas. Yet another walk, this one from node number 32, was thoroughly pleasant and rewarded us with some beautiful sights.

We befriended this nice chap...

... admired the cornfields,

... while discussing a thousand subjects and debating whether a particular tree, of which we were seeing many, was a hazel nut.

I googled a picture of a hazel nut leaf and compared it to a sample that we had in hand. It turned out that Gianluca was right. As usual. It was a hazel nut.

Adventures in summer 2014

Summer, with various associated travel, holidays and changes in routine, has had a heavy toll on the 'adventure' activities that Gianluca and I love so much. It doesn't mean we haven't been active, but the  normal one walk per weekend has not been happening. I hope that soon we'll resume our walks, and that we'll continue to give our accounts of them in this blog.

Following are pictures of some of our best moments this summer.

'Arbour 'arbour - Malta, May 2014

We went for a harbour cruise while in Malta in May. It wasn't a walking tour of course, but it's worth mentioning here as a thoroughly enjoyable experience supplemented with a colourful commentary, replete with hilarious sentence construction and approximate vocabulary in English.

Our boat set off from the Sliema Ferries, skirted Manoel Island into Msida Creek, then followed the coastline of the peninsula on which Valletta is built. Gianluca was actually allowed to steer the boat for a short part of the trip.

We were rewarded with spectacular views of the Valletta Grand Harbour and the fortified towns that surround it.

The main breakwater:

The Upper Barrakka gardens next to the newly reconstructed lift, that connects the port disembarkation area to Valletta:

A 'gardjola', a lookout post, adorns the outer extremity of Senglea (L-Isla):

Fort St Angelo, which guards the old city of Vittoriosa (Il-Birgu):

It was all so beautiful!

Majjistral Park

During the same visit to Malta we went to a special adventure, at a natural park situated in the north west (Majjistral) of the island.

This is a rocky area next to the coastline, with views of 3 sandy beaches towards the south - Golden Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa and Ġnejna, further north Anchor Bay and across the sea the island of Gozo. The ground was rough, dry and barren. It's a typical landscape for Malta called 'garigue' (xagħri), consisting of hard rock with pockets of red soil where hardy plants grow. Some lizards and assorted bees and insects complete the picture. Again, wonderful views...

Overijse

Back in Belgium, we managed to squeeze in a couple of walks, starting at nodes number 31 and 32. Both are close to a path with lakes on one side and a road on the other. Clearly, we were more interested in the lake:

Going up a hill after crossing the road, Gianluca stopped to study something on the ground.

It was a broken floor tile, and we wondered how it ended up there.

We concluded that dirt roads are made up of crushed material from broken down buildings. We saw various bits and pieces in the gravel as we walked. Looking up, we were rewarded with such lovely scenery.