Enjoying Indian Summer

 

We spent the weekend in Lanaken, in the Limburg area of Belgium.   The weather has been just gorgeous and we signed up for an "Indian Summer Hike" at the only national park in Belgium, the Hoge Kempen.  It turned out to be a very enjoyable afternoon and the highlight for me were all the different wild mushrooms our guide pointed out for us, especially the "vliegenzwam" or "Fly amanita", pictured above and below.  I had never seen one of these in real life, and suddenly we were passing dozens of them!  They actually start out white, but as they mature, the white peels off to reveal the bright red underneath.  Very cool!

 

The part of the forest we walked through was filled with tall trees, and lots of falling leaves:

 

 

 The next day we visited Oud Rekem, which was voted the most charming village in Flanders.  It was definitely a very cute little town filled with lots of history (and for a short time, three silly teenagers):

 

It was a fun weekend in a special place!