Fri., Nov. 30th - Annual Xmas Walk & Lunch

Nineteen of the walkers showed up for the earlier than normal time of 11am for the special walk today led by Sheila for about an hour in the vicinity of the Augerge de la Rosearie. Following the walk we adjourned to the restaurant for our meal. It was overcast and about 6C but no rain (to speak of) and most of us were prepared for the mud that we encountered! Well, it had been a rainy week.

Fri., Nov. 30th - Annual Xmas Walk & Lunch

We paused en-route for this group shot in the bois. It was somewhat of a challenge to get us all in the photo!

Fri., Nov. 30th - Annual Xmas Lunch

Twenty three of us assembled at the Auberge de la Rosearie for the splendid lunch today. The meal choices appealed to us and everyone was delighted with the service. It is really nice to see us all dressed up for a change. After all the kilometers of walking we have done in the past year we felt it was appropriate to enjoy a fine meal with our walking friends!

Fri., Nov. 30th - Annual Xmas Lunch

From the other end of the long table! Again, it was difficult with the tight space to get adequate photos of the entire group but ... the "other" end of the table enjoyed the meal just as much. We were delighted to have our former regular walking friend, Antoinette, back for a visit from her new home in Switzerland. We hope she will join us again.

Fri., Nov. 30th - Annual Xmas lunch

Wow, so many thoughtful gifts were presented to Sandy and Sheila. It was such a treat to receive them from all the walking ladies. "Thank you all so much" ... it was indeed like an early Christmas. It has been our great pleasure to lead so many interesting walks around the green areas of Brussels and spend time with all of you! Sandy and Sheila

Fri., Nov. 30th - Annual Walkers' lunch

On behalf of the WIC Walkers Sandy was delighted to award the Golden Boot to Marie Jo for her years of dedicated walking and for leading us on many walks when needed! She is especially noted for originating the "Crepe Walk" in Jezus-Eik with a stop at the Mercator restaurant's back room for the individual crepes afterwards. We will miss her when she moves on to Vienna next year but we will be delighted to let her lead us again any time when she visits in Brussels.

Fri., Nov. 30th - Annual Xmas Lunch

The Golden Boot was also awarded to Alison and Max for their years of dedicated walking. Over their 4 years in Brussels they have covered a lot of territory here and have been willing to step in (so to speak) and lead a walk when needed. Alison took over the Sept Fontaines walk ... one of our favorites and she and Martin led one of our most successful Couples' walks last year in Beersel. They, too, will be missed when they move in '08 but we also hope sincerely that they will be back for some visits in the future and will have fond memories of their time in Brussels.

Also our thanks go to many of you who helped to make this day possible including Sheila who led the walk and worked with the restaurant arrangements, Keith who also helped with the restaurant communications and to Jennifer who was kind and efficient enough to handle the money collected for this event. It was lovely to see so many walkers participate today - thanks for a great 2007!!!

Mon., Nov. 26th - Sheila's Genval Walk

Under overcast skies we made our way around Sheila's route at Genval. The walk incorporated quite a bit of inner city streets which cut down on the mud and gave us a chance to view more of the area up close and personal. "Thanks", Sheila!

Mon., Nov. 26th - Sheila's Genval Walk

Eleven of us were able to enjoy today's walk from the lake at Genval up into the heights above it and around the La Hulpe area. We had a mix of Belgian weather with a sprinkling of rain and at 6C we were fairly comfortable once we got going.

Mon., Nov. 26th - Sheila's Genval Walk

We had an unexpectedly longer than normal stop for our refreshments this afternoon as the service was quite slow. The setting; however, was very nice and rather more upscale than some of our normal cafes. Are we ready for all the Christmas decorations though???

Mon., Nov. 26th - Sheila's Genval Walk

From the other end of the table. ...

Fri., Nov. 23rd - Sandy's Walk in the Bois de la Cambre

Six of us walked through the Bois de la Cambre and on into the foret de Soignes this afternoon. It was about 8C and overcase but we managed to escape the rain of this morning.

Fri., Nov. 23rd - Sandy's Bois de la Cambre Walk

For the second walk in a week, Janet, gave us a "chocolate break" in the middle of our route. Yum ... we could get used to this. It seems to be a tradition for friends of hers who are in a UK walking group .... Why not in Brussels ... the chocolate capital of Europe?

Fri., Nov. 23rd - Sandy's Bois de la Cambre Walk

Since the little cafe in the Bois was closed we made our way over to "Les Filles de Papa" on Rue Leon Vanderkindere where the new owner (of 3 months) took very nice care of us. Several of us even indulged in crepes! Our "thanks" to Barbara (right) who hosted us this afternoon!

"Pedometer users walk farther, get healthier, researchers say!"

Here is an article from the San Francisco Chronicle of Wed., Nov. 21st, 2007 that I think will be good for the walking group to read and consider! Sandy

PS. Don't forget to use the back arrow to return to the blog!
'>Click'>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/21/MNLCTG4D2.DTL">

Mon., Nov. 19th - Sheila's walk from Place de Ransbeck

Can you see the Waterloo lion in the distance??? The walk was worth it for just this view ... "Thanks" to Sheila and Keith for a really good work out on a rather grey and dull weather day. We still had a great time!

Mon., Nov. 19th - Sheila's Ransbeck Walk

And, then there was the mud ...!!!

Mon., Nov. 19th - Sheila's Ransbeck Walk

Our "thanks" to Janet for a surprise "chocolate break" this afternoon! It came just as we needed a lift to get us through the muddy paths!

Mon., Nov. 19th - Sheila's Ransbeck Walk

Eleven of us turned up for this outing today!

Mon., Nov. 19th - Sheila's Ransbeck Walk

We were well taken care of by the staff at Miam this afternoon after our 2 hour walk and we were more than happy to sit and enjoy the warm drinks!

Fri., Nov. 16th - Alison's Sept Fontaines Walk

We gathered in the parking area next to the Pineta Restaurant at Sept Fontaines at lake side on a beautiful, sunny, fall afternoon with the temperature at about 5C. It was cool to start but we warmed up quickly.

Fri., Nov. 16th - Alison's Sept Fontaines Walk

Who's in charge here???

Fri., Nov. 16th - Alison's Sept Fontaines Walk

We all enjoyed seeing the last of the fall colors as we made our way around Alison's route! Our "thanks" to Alison (2nd from right) for organizing and leading this delightful walk today!

Fri., Nov. 16th - Alison's Sept Fontaines Walk

Ten of us bundled up for this walk and were surprised that we warmed up so quickly. The abundant sunshine helped!

Fri., Nov. 16th - Alison's Sept Fontaines Walk

About half of us were able to finish off the afternoon with a stop at the delightful 't Pleintje Tearoom in Alsemberg where some of us indulged in their delicious pastries! Yum ...

Friday, Nov. 16th - Sept Fontaines Walk!

Hi Walkers,

Alison has kindly offered to lead us tomorrow, Fri., 16 Nov. on the Sept Fontaines walk which we abandoned last week due to the weather. This will be in lieu of the scheduled walk in Auderghem. Tomorrow should be sunny and with the colder nights hopefully minimal mud. This is walk #28! Please email or call Alison at 02/242 10 17 to confirm in the morning if you plan to come.

In addition, here are the 19 walkers who have signed up for the Christmas walk and lunch on the 30th. If you want us to add your name to the list please advise either Sheila or Sandy before Nov. 28th:

Sandy, Sheila, Christa H, Christa W, Barbara M, Sarah A, Alison W, Vyvyan, Janet, Penny H, Marie Jo, Anne B (Veg), Jennifer, Denise (?), Dolphine, Moira, Joan, Kyung-sook, and Ghislaine.

Thanks,
Sandy

The GPS maps

Sandy always says the Google Earth maps, distances and the calorie count that she publishes after some of the walks are due to my 'trusty GPS'. The GPS is indeed trustworthy, but it has one rather unreliable component - me. I sometimes forget to switch it on when we start walking, which means we don't get the information. If you enjoy seeing the maps, finding out how many calories we've burned etc, please remind me as we set off, I won't mind at all. So regardless of what I am doing as we leave the car park - chatting, staring into space, whatever - give me a nudge and tell me to press the button!

Jennifer

Mon., Nov. 12th - Sheila's Walk in Rhode Saint Genese

There was still some color in the trees today and it was especially lovely when the sun was out! We made our way through the back areas of RSG on a crisp, autumn afternoon and were pleased that the mud wasn't too challenging.