Fri., Jan. 30th Sandy's Auderghem Walk

A lucky 13 of us (and 2 doggies) participated in today's walk in the Foret de Soignes from Rue Nisard. We almost had another walker if she had not gotten her list of walks mixed up ... so, it was a fine group who enjoyed a beautiful January zip around the forest.

Fri., Jan. 30th Sandy's Auderghem Walk

All of us certainly savoured the bright and sunny skies which we encountered this afternoon. The temperature even reached 6C which also enhanced our enjoyment of the walk. We encountered some mud but not too much and we made our way around the route in about an hour and a half.

Fri., Jan. 30th Sandy's Auderghem Walk

Toward the end of our excursion this afternoon Kathleen (2nd right) surprised us with a "mange tout" break ... and passed out the bright green, crunchy snow peas to all who wanted some. They were really quite refreshing and indeed different ... Is this group going green???

Fri., Jan. 30th Sandy's Auderghem Walk

Our conversations continued over coffee, tea etc at Au Diable Vauvert in Auderghem after the walk. Our "thanks" to Joan (2nd right) who provided us all with Japanese candies that her son had brought. Unfortunately, Yuko did not join us at the restaurant/cafe or we could have found out what we were eating! It was different and really quite tasty. Since it was green it was probably healthy too. Today was one of our "healthy walks days"!!!

Fri., Jan. 30th - Sandy's Auderghem Walk

And, ... the other half of the table. I had hoped to get the window washer in this shot as he does such a good job but alas he finished cleaning it too quickly. As you can see the sunshine continued throughout our afternoon's activities - yea!

Sandy's Back!!!

Hi Walkers,
I'm back!!! The freezing rain predicted in Washington did not happen before our departure last evening, thank heavens, so we arrived back in Brussels per schedule this morning! I am assuming my dead car battery will be taken care of promptly and I am looking forward to catching up with those of you who can join me for the walk from Rue Nisard (#3) in Auderghem on Friday!!! We will follow the walk with refreshments at Au Diable Vauvert also in Auderghem afterwards. See you then ... Sandy
PS. My thanks to all of you who kept the photos and blog going in my absence it was fun to check in and keep up with your January adventures ... It was definitely a challenging month!

Paulette's Walk in the grounds of the Chateau de La Hulpe

It was fine, if a bit cloudy and - wonder of wonders - dry today for Paulette's walk round the Chateau de La Hulpe.

We walked 6.12Km, which took us 1 hour and 46 minutes and burned 373 calories.

Paulette counts us in at the start of the walk.

Linda has a new hat, we are all very jealous ...

This is the front view of the Chateau, enhanced, of course, by the WIC Walkers in the foreground!

Here is the obelisk, and behind it you can see the Chateau.

We made our way back past the Chateau to the cars. There was no really convenient cafe open today, so we went without our coffee!

Friday 23rd January

Here we are setting out in light drizzle on Linda's Walk from Zwarte Dennenlaan, Foret de Soignes

8 of the 9 brave walkers!

We were delighted to welcome Gabrielle and Widget. Unfortunately Widget didn't stand still long enough for me to get a photo of him! Spartacus seemed very pleased to have a new friend, and the two of them ran along very cutely together!

Rain, rain go away ...!

My final picture of the walk, which really was rather beautiful! However, at the point the rain became more insistent and the camera got put away. Unfortunately the path we were meant to follow was closed, so we ended up on a different route that took us away from coffee! We tried hard to find somewhere, but ended up returning to our cars.

Many thanks to Linda for leading us today, despite the weather! It really is a beautiful route.

A sad end to the walk for Gisela

We were all stunned to return to the cars and discover that a tree had fallen on to Gisela's car: damaging the roof and preventing Gisela from leaving. We all hope that the police/firemen didn't take too long to arrive, and are grateful to Janette for taking charge of the situation and staying with Gisela until help arrived. Good Luck Gisela, we're so sorry this happened to you.

Paulette's Route Today

 

We walked 6.3km, took 1h 30 minutes and used 380 calories!

Paulette's Walk from Jesus Eik

 

Nine of us gathered for Paulette's Jesus Eik walk. It had been very windy and had rained all night and a good part of the morning, too, but we had WIC Walkers Luck and it was cold but dry by the time we arrived at the meeting point.

We had to wade through a bit of mud at first, but at least it wasn't raining ...

This was our first sight of the sun!

The weather improved and the walk got more strenuous, so most people had by this time shed their scarves, hats, gloves ...

The photographer - me - was perched on a bench in between other people, so this was the best view at the time! We were welcomed very warmly by the staff and customers in Istas, one couple even moving to another table so that the nine of us could sit together.

Sheila joined us in Istas, it was nice to catch up with her.

Time to go!

Checking in from Atlanta, GA USA

Dear Walkers,
It has been fun to check into the blog and catch up on what you are doing while we are tripping around in the US. I see that you have been continuing your efforts as best you can under the unusually cold weather conditions for Brussels. It has been cold here, too, but so far no snow in Georgia! Here's hoping it warms up there soon ... Good work on keeping up the blog postings, Sandy

Friday 16 January Anne's Tervuren Walk

Our thanks to Anne who took us on a carefully thought-out walk today. After the recent snow and slush, Anne was mindful of the muddy conditions and we enjoyed the fresh air without the worry of slippery climbs or descents. Thank You Anne!

This was about as muddy as it got!