A car filled adventure

Today was... let's just say that today was unusual.

So basically, a lot of the terrain we went through was roads and streets. However, an exception was going from 229 to 228, which was by far the most interesting and beautiful part. After Tonio complained a little about the cars and the dogs – which were also quite frequent – the road branched off into a door which was quite unusual. It was made so that you can only pass as a person. Bikes and cars couldn't pass as they were too wide and/or long. We passed quite a few of them.

Anyways, we passed through that and, after walking down a straight road, we went on to a slightly dodgy bridge or path – depends on which way you look at it – made out of wood. Anyone could tell that it wasn't in the best of conditions. We wobbled through them and, although the quality wasn't the

best, the views were nice and we took some pictures of the scene.

After a few more roads and a few more cars, we went onto another non-tarmac road and we met our animals of the day.

First, we met a flock of sheep, who, after we greeted each other, we moved away and saw how they worked. At first we thought that only one of them was in one field and the rest had to stay on another. We then watched how each sheep bar one picked their way through the fence and into the other field, which made us think that one sheep had to take care of one field while the rest of the sheep went on the other. But, slowly slowly, that one sheep on the other field sauntered over to the other field. We then gave up on the sheeps' algorithm.

The second group of animals of the day were 3 horses on a very big field. One of the horses came to greet us while we read the sign on the fence. After a few minutes of translating, we figured out that it said:

3 old horses up for sale; looking for somebody to take care of
them for one or two months. They are all old, the oldest one 30
years old and the youngest 17 years old.

At last, we came to the car and drove home.

If you’ve enjoyed this adventure, make sure to join us in our next one. Also, make sure to check out Tonio’s blog called The Wanderer. But for now, goodbye!

GianlucaDeGringu

[Tonio]:

The starting point today was at a crossroads between Neerijse and Sint-Agatha-Rode. There were beautiful fields on each side, but unfortunately, our path was through a busy road with cars whooshing by. It was not pleasant in the beginning and from point to point the loop passed through roads with yet more cars. I mentioned to Gianluca that I would complain to "the manager" of the Zuid Dijleland network.

Finally, eventually, we left the car traffic behind us. From then on it became muddy but much more peaceful and calm.

We look forward to nicer adventures with less cars whooshing by (and they really all seem to be in a terrible hurry).

Probably the warmest December adventure yet

Today, we had quite a strange adventure. Not like that’s unusual or anything.

We started off having to pass through 216 as there was no parking and we saw once again a very familiar river. Once reaching 219 we set off for a muddy adventure.

Throughout the adventure we had this big long conversation about percentages and how you can say 'probably' to any yes or no question that has a probability from 0 to 1 including 1. This is true except for 0. You can’t say probably to a probability if you know for a fact that the probability would be zero (unless you are being sarcastic).

We came into this very strange clearing and I suggested we take the first video ever taken on this blog because we wanted to show the full 360 view of the scenery. Here it is:

At one point we met quite a few animals of the day. The first ones were 3 chickens that didn't interact with us much. The second was a field of many sheep (or at least we thought they were sheep). Tonio made a bad joke when he saw a black sheep. He said that it was the black sheep of the family. Very funny Tonio. The third animal was two ducks waddling around in the mud and the final animals were two cows  in the same field as the ducks.

After the adventure we decided to go to a 'friterie' that replaced a restaurant called 'Italia Grill'. We both shared a small chips and I had a coke.

But after all that, we went back to the car and drove home... Did you enjoy this adventure? If you have 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, that’s all folks!

GianlucaDeGringu

A beautiful rose next to a memorial stone. Pictures by Gianluca.

[Tonio]: 

On the very last day of 2018 we squeezed in another adventure: number 219 around the Margijsbos forest, close to Loonbeek.

As is customary, I started taking pictures even before the 'official' beginning of our walk.

'Yet another picture of this watermill,' according to Gianluca.

As is also customary, the walk had a unique character of its own. While navigating our way I came up with my 'Theory of Probability'. This states that you can reply to any yes/no question with one word: 'Probably', the only exception being if you're 100% certain that the answer is no. A very low probability is still a probability. A certainty ('yes') is a probability of one, or 100%. All qualifying as 'probably', meaning that there is a non-zero level of probability, except if the probability is zero (i.e. the answer is a definite 'no'). We considered different scenarios illustrating this theory, Gianluca quickly working the formula to perfection by answering 'Probably' to most of my questions... We had an argument about whether what looked like a concrete bunker could have been formed naturally, purely by incredibly unlikely coincidence. I insisted this was absolutely impossible but Gianluca maintained that the probability, even though incredibly small, was still there. The pupil beating the master at his own game. We also pondered on the 'astronomically' small probability of the structure having been built by aliens. And so it went on through the muddy paths...

Earlier, while walking through an open plain with fields all around and some distance away from the edge of the forest, Gianluca suggested I take a 360 degree video scan of the surroundings. It was our first video (up above) taken for this blog.

Dull and dreary as it was, it was quiet and pleasant and I managed to take some interesting pictures, while of course enjoying the banter with my 'pupil'.

My silly quip of the day: 'The black sheep of the family'. I just couldn't resist.

The cow convention (Adventure 218)

As we arrived at the starting point, we found out that the adventure went through the middle of a convention for cows. The first session we saw was of meditation.

In the adventure, we got into this huge conversation about evolution and which species were most successful in the world and why humans had almost no positive effect on the world. While we were discussing this, we passed a few other sessions of the cow convention. We passed mountain climbing, gym and even the buffet.



It was accidental but Tonio planned the route so that we were doing the exact opposite of what we did some time ago when it was snowing. Remember that? The scenery was completely different then. The snow, the croaking of our footsteps, the snow angel and even the tractor tracks. Now it was sunny, warm with vibrant colours and a nice breeze to go with it. I'm not sure which one was better. Tonio prefers the snow one.



But in the end, we went back to the car and drove home. Did you enjoy our adventure? If you did then make sure to join us on our next one. And also, make sure to check out Tonio's blog called The Wanderer. But for now, that’s all folks!

GianlucaDeGringu

[By Tonio]:

After I had planned today's walk, from no. 218, I realised that it was exactly the same route we had done last winter, a memorable Saturday morning when we went out quickly to walk in the snowy landscape before it all melted. But the other way round. I even parked in exactly the same spot. This time, however, the setting was completely different - early autumn (more like late summer) instead of the peak of winter.

The contrast was impressive. I took some pictures to compare with the snowy version.





I remarked that grazing animals - mostly cows today - create such a serene atmosphere. It was so beautiful.



In the picture above, the grazing animals were horses (far away on the right). I like to think they're the same horses we saw last winter, enduring the freeze.

Among various subjects, we discussed what would happen to the path we were using if mankind were to disappear from planet earth. We moved on to a more general picture and whether a new "dominant" species would emerge. I suggested that there need be no dominant species, in fact the very existence of such a concept could only mean that this species was being detrimental to the ecological equilibrium.

Like us.

Not very cheerful of me, I have to admit. I'm surprised Gianluca puts up with my ramblings. But the surroundings were really pleasant.

An adventure on Mars - no. 216

Today was... I don’t know how to explain it... unusual. Well, all of our adventures are unusual but that’s the only way I can explain it.

After taking the usual picture of myself showing the number 216, we continued in the direction of 217. A while later, Tonio told me that he was finding this place familiar. After about 2 more minutes of walking Tonio remembered that we were where we were in the last adventure. Then we saw the sign saying go left towards 215. But we weren’t supposed to go to 215, so we turned round and started walking the way we came. Then we reached a sign that said we were at 216 next to a broken log (by the way, that broken log was quite strange. Well, that’s the tree of the day!) 

But it wasn’t the same 216 we saw last time. That was near a river with somebody fishing. Then we realised that there were two signs saying 216. 

Starting again, at a second no. 216 pillar

We went towards 217 and moved on.

Into the field we went, with the usual trees in the distance and the green and yellow colours, in their own little farm space. We saw what looked like a giant pyramid of hay bales and it looked quite familiar to me. We then passed what looked like a fishing pole, which also looked familiar. I was trying to think why everything looked so familiar. Then it all clicked. We were doing the adventure 204 the other way round, the one where we had Sue as our special guest. We spotted the place we parked and I still remember that adventure quite well.

After that, we encountered our animal(s) of the day. Just after the familiar farm we passed, we saw a herd of cows. We walked up to them and we politely said hello but the cows didn’t show much interest. One kilometre later and we suddenly hear a faint ‘moo' in the distance. It sounded like a cow had finally become excited. I was just fascinated by how a cow could moo so loud.

Tonio was looking at the fields and said that this used to be the Martian landscape we were talking about a few adventures back. It now had lots of yellowish plants.

Then he proceeded to make a joke. He said that there was ‘life on mars'. Quite typical of him to make a joke or pun during an adventure.

Finally, we saw the car, went in it and drove home... did you enjoy our adventure today? If you have then make sure to join us on our next one. Also, make sure to check out Tonio's blog called The Wanderer. I will see you on the next adventure in Adventures In Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu 

"Looks like Toblerone", according to Gianluca. Quite appropriate, considering the field next to here used to look like Mars.

[by Tonio]:

We had a false start today. Two anomalies, in fact, one an error of ours and another error by the walking network maintenance team. We started at no. 216. Even before the beginning of the walk, I was taking pictures...

The light was good today, as was the thoroughly comfortable temperature, unlike the terrible heat of July and August.

The plan was to proceed to 217 and then 218, 205, 204, back to 217 and finally 216 again. As I said, conditions were pleasant and the path next to a spring picturesque and enjoyable.

Forest furniture from a fallen tree trunk

I then realised that a field and a large shed on our right were very familiar. A couple of minutes later we learned why. We had taken a wrong path, and were walking back to 215, in the opposite direction of our previous adventure! So we went all the way back to the start... well, almost, as we learned of the second anomaly. At the fallen tree trunk, where we should have turned to the right, the wooden post had no. 216 written on it, but it was not the same place where we had started at 216! There are two posts marked as 216, at two different places.

We set off again, correctly now along the planned route, to 217 etc. Again, the terrain was so familiar. This was a path that we had walked, also in the opposite direction, on a freezing Sunday afternoon last winter, with Sue as a special guest.

I stopped for a chat with a cow. A philosopher of few words. None, to be precise. If, at a certain stage in her life, she may have had an identity crisis, this should be over by now as someone made sure that she would have an identity. Her name is 8074, and is proudly displayed on a tag fixed to her ear.

It's fascinating how different the landscape looks in different seasons. In winter, we passed next to a frozen field, completely devoid of any vegetation. I had likened this to a martian landscape...

More or less the same field, in late summer, looks so different...

I decided to call this, now, "Life on Mars", but Gianluca was far from impressed by my wit!

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