Meerdaalbos - Adventure no. 109

Today was a rollercoaster of emotions. After about half an hour, we finally found our parking that we were fed up of.

At the start of the adventure, we were confused. There were these new signs saying “109 via 131”. At first we weren’t sure what that meant but we later figured out that to go to 109 we needed to go to 131 first. But our maps weren’t the same as the new signs. We followed the route to 109, then 110. Then we sat at a bench next to 110. Tonio tried to figure out what was going on. I didn’t know what was going on but I trusted him to lead the way.

We stopped at a bench again (Tonio's hip was hurting and it was going to be a long walk) [Tonio: to clarify - just a measure of caution] and we looked at a patch of trees. I’ll show you why this is important later.

Gianluca rightly insisted to take a picture here

This route was proving to be very long. As I think of it now it was quite the opposite of the last adventure. The weather was all grey today, today was more about our conversations and our emotions, today was in the forest and today was probably the longest walk we've been to. Tonio can’t even think of anything in common except the obvious that we're in Dijleland and that we're in Belgium.

In this adventure we were zigzagging around a road and then we went back to 109 by that road. We met the same patch of trees that were separated by this road. Somehow, we started an argument on whether these trees are a patch or not. Clearly they are because they are only a small part of the forest and the only thing separating it is the road. We gave up on trying to convince one another and drove away, tired. A very nice adventure though.

We had a huge argument about this group of trees

A picnic table for giants

Did you enjoy our, like I said, rollercoaster of emotions in this adventure? If you have, make sure to join us on the next one in Adventures In Dijleland!

GianlucaDeGringu

 

[Tonio]:

Again, road works and closures made it difficult for us to get to Sint Joris Weert for the start of our adventure from no. 109. This time, I switched on Google Maps and finally we arrived at the car park next to Meerdaalwoud.



More problems ensued as the numbers have been messed up somewhat in this area, with new ones added creating confusion as regards the trails we needed to follow. The route we had planned for today was particularly long, so at one point, after following signs saying something like, "110 via 127", I had the suspicion that we were going a different and even longer trek and that we were effectively lost. Once more, it was good old Google Maps that saved the day: I could confirm that we were in the correct position after all.



From then on the walk proceeded well. From start to finish today we walked along forest paths surrounded by tall trees. The highlight of our discussions was certainly an argument we had about a group of trees that Gianluca had spotted while we were trying to find our bearings. Much later, in another section of the forest, he remarked that we were passing through the same group of trees. I insisted that this couldn't be as we were far away from that spot. We never reached an agreement on this.

It took us a long time to get back to the car, but once there we were satisfied at having completed a rather difficult and eventful adventure. Our legs could take a well deserved rest.

Gianluca: "Why are you taking a picture of this tree stump?"
Tonio: "Because it looks interesting."

Finally, we're back - no. 516

We're finally back! We've been having some difficulties and we haven't done an adventure in a long

time. Tonio had a back injury and needed an operation and he couldn't walk well. But now he's
better and we can start adventuring again!



Today, we wanted to continue our 109 110 111 but the road was closed. We tried to go to 109 from
a different road but we couldn't so we decided to find a random number. The first number we saw that we hadn’t done before was 516. We looked at the map and made a route from 516 to 517, 518, 510, 511 and back to 516.

We started at a narrow passageway and I always love narrow passageways. I’m not sure why but I
think it’s because it assures me that there won’t be many cars around so we can walk wherever we
want on the road. Also, there won’t be any sounds of cars that distract us.



We walked through what looked like the tunnel of trees into the flatness of the plains. This is why
we didn’t take too many pictures. The plains were too flat but trust me the view was gorgeous.
There were so many colours of plants and flowers. It was great being on an adventure again. I can’t
wait for the next adventures to come.



Towards the end, we met some cows who were having lunch. When we walked towards them they
started looking at us. We said hello and one of the cows came barging in, and mooed! The cow
understood us! Now I can tell all my friends that I can speak cow language.



Finally, we reached our car, after the long walk, went inside and drove home. Did you enjoy our first
normal adventure in about six months? If so, then join us on our next adventure. But for now, that’s
all folks!

GianlucaDeGringu


[by Tonio]:

... and five months later, after lots of medical consultations, analyses, surgery and then rehabilitation, I could finally resume walking properly.

We were supposed to start at Sint Joris Weert but the last stretch of road leading there was closed for works. I tried to follow the deviation signs - a long drive which fizzled to nowhere, or rather, I gave up trying to reach the place at Korbeek Dijle. I saw one of the wooden posts signalling a position in our Dijleland map, a large number we have not reached yet, and decided to work out an impromptu route from there.

Great success!

Such a pleasure to go back to walking along country lanes or passages between fields. The light was good for pictures, and where the plains were too flat to fill up anything much in the photos, a magnificent spectacle of large clouds playing around with the sunlight more than made up for it.



Close to the end of our walk, we stopped for a chat with a group of cows who were having their midday lunch. They were reluctant to voice their opinion, but eventually one of them threw all caution to the wind and came forth with a meaningful and significant: "Moo!"

Looking forward to many more adventures with Gianluca de Gringu!