UPDATE I'M BACK!!! ....

My flight and husband arrived on time so I am back on this beautiful, sunny, fall day in Brussels. I hope some of you will be there for the walk at 1pm??? See you then ... Sandy (Fri. 11:45am)


Hi Ladies,

Good job! I've been reading your posts on the blog during my absence and have enjoyed keeping up as best I can. I tried to post myself from Hawaii but for what ever reason it was not to be. I'm now in Atlanta and will be back in time to do the Friday walk this coming week. Let's hope the weather improves. I'll try to bring back some rays from sunny Georgia!

Looking forward to seeing you all Friday! Sandy

PS. I WON'T BE THERE TO TAKE CALLS FRIDAY AM ... JUST MEET ME AT THE WALK SITE AT 1PM ... S.

Friday 28th September - Tervuren

After torrential rain all morning, we had another completely dry Friday walk! We had the Tervuren Park almost to ourselves and enjoyed seeing the autumn colours of the trees reflected in the still water of the lakes. It was very nice to have Inge walking with us again and we all enjoyed our well-earned refreshments at Mont Blanc.

Monday September 24

Many thanks to those who stepped in for Sandy and me. I haven’t heard the details yet but understand that you kept going in spite of mud and rain. Well done.

I haven’t done any walking for three weeks. The passes in Pakistan were at about 4,000 metres and I found breathing difficult. The valleys were at 30+ C at mid-day which was too much.

We enjoyed our drink at Huldenberg so much that I have changed the walk this week. It is possibly the last of the "summer" walks.Keith and I tried it to-day, Saturday. The sun was shining and it was a lovely mixture of woodland and open fields. The weather is expected to change but as we shall go to Huldenberg for apple pie or crepes after, I think we will manage the walk.

Here are the directions. Please add them to your list.

# 43 Terlanen.

Go to Overijse # 19. At the big cross roads at the bottom of the hill below the church, go straight over the cross roads on the N 4. It is signed Terlanen 6 kms. After one kilometre turn left, also signed. Continue on this. You will go down a steep hill and do a sharp right hand bend. The church is on your right and we meet in the parking there.

To get to the café afterwards: continue on from the church. Turn left, signed at the T junction. You pass a sign to say that you are leaving Terlanen and very soon after you take a turning to the left, signed. At the top of the hill you reach some cross roads where you turn left. The sign is on your left but with it’s back to you. Continue to Huldenberg town square.

Phone me Monday morning, please. Look forward to seeing you all again.

Sheila

Friday 21st September - Martha's Boitsfort walk

Martha led us through the delightful gardens of the Tournay-Solvay Park, past the magnificent ruined chateau with trees growing out through the windows, and into the forest where we saw many different mushrooms growing on the fallen trees and watched tiny striped chipmunks scurrying around among the leaves. We stopped for lunch at the Intero tennis club, where some of us had our usual "chose" to accompany our meals.
We were very lucky to have splendid warm and sunny weather for this delightful walk. Thank you Martha for arranging everything for us and we hope you will take us there again!

Gisela's walk from Leefdal

It was another Wet WIC Walk today, but a nice one all the same. Gisela led us on a tour from Leefdal that wound along the Dijl and then through the fields and back into the centre. Afterwards she took us back to her house where she fed us cake and coffee. It was a very enjoyable afternoon!

Sandy, if you are reading this in sunny Hawaii, none of us can get photos onto the Blog for some reason, so we'll save them till you come back and you can wave your magic wand over them...

Friday 14th September - Vossem

Jane and Joan led us on a glorious walk in Vossem today. The leaves are turning but the weather was warm and sunny. We saw big grapes hanging on multicolored vines, tall corn stalks in lovely Belgian countryside, and a wedding party entering the old Roman church. Anne invited us to her place, where we enjoyed cooling drinks and sweets on her terrace, and later her artful ikebana arrangements inside. Thanks to the team: Jane, Joan and Anne who made our day so thoroughly enjoyable!

Friday, September 21
Don't forget the EARLY start time at 11 AM from the parking lot of the Boitsfort Train Station. Be sure to call Martha in the morning and discuss your choices for lunch. Options include ceasar salad (8.5 euros), moussaka (9), meza (9) or meza plate (12) and more... Talk to her on Friday and join us for a walk from the Tournay-Solvay Park through the foret and to Intero Tennis Club for a taste test of Costa's cooking! He is the friendly guy who recently invited us to try his menu items. We will return early to the starting point. Martha's numbers: 02 640 5224 and 0473 88 3020 .

(Thank you Martha for contributing today's posting!)

Monday 10th September

Wet WIC Walkers wander through the Woods

Sue Irving took us on a beautiful walk from Plancenoit on Monday which was only slightly marred by the rain which started as we set out and ended when we were nearing the end of it. Sigh. However, it was a nice mix of woods, fields and villages and we all enjoyed it despite the weather - WIC Walkers are not made of icing sugar - and we enjoyed the coffee and Tarte Tatin Sue provided afterwards even more. She did not bat an eyelid at the array of wet and slightly muddy people who invaded her kitchen. Thank you Sue for a really good afternoon.

Fri., Sept. 7th - Christa's Tervuren walk

Christa took 5 of us on a splendid walk in the park and arboretum in Tervuren. The sun was shining and the lakes and trees looked beautiful. Unfortunately nobody had a camera..... We miss you Sandy!

Mon., Sept. 3rd - Dolphine's Ophain Walk

We had a nice variety of venues on the walk today but the rain overnight did present a few puddles that we had to tangle with. All in all it was a beautiful afternoon for the trek. For more extensive photos taken by Dolphine of the walk: CLICK HERE

Mon., Sept. 3rd - Dolphine's Ophain Walk

A short break to check the map and Dolphine (white hat) was off again taking us on a splendid walk through Ophain this afternoon. With 12 of us on the walk we had a great turn out after such an ugly, rainy start to the day. "Thanks Dolphine" for such a great, scenic and interesting outing this afternoon! Let's do it again sometime ...

Mon., Sept. 3rd - Dolphine's Ophain Walk

Well, let's see ... the sun was out just a few minutes ago. It was that kind of an afternoon with a bit of ominous clouds mixed with brilliant sunshine, strong breezes and just a hint of fall in the air. A normal Belgian September day ... so to speak!

Mon., Sept. 3rd - Dolphine's Ophain Walk

Guess who got to do the accounting today??? Thanks, Jennifer!!! We always seem to come out okay ...

Sat., Sept. 1st - 9th Annual Beer Festival

Here are some of us who showed up to experience the 9th Annual Belgian Beer Festival on the Grand Place! With over 200 beers on offer how could we possibly pass up this opportunity to try some new tastes??? It is always a festive occasion and the great weather brought out a lot of new beer fans.

Sat., Sept. 1 - Beer Festival on GP

Some of us even stayed around for dinner!!! It was such a lovely evening in Brussels a perfect time to find a terrace restaurant and enjoy the atmosphere downtown

Fri., Aug. 31st - Sandy's Boitsfort Walk

We had a good turn out for this end of August walk in Watermael-Boitsfort and it was great to see so many friends together at one time. It was somewhat overcast, with bits of sun but no rain. ... really quite good for our outing this afternoon.

Fri., Aug. 31st - Sandy's Boitsfort Walk

The sun was actually out for awhile .... See, you can actually detect a bit of shadow if you look for it! It was beautiful in the forest and we all got a good work out.