Hallerbos

 I've lived here in Belgium for almost 25 years and one place I always wanted to go to was the Hallerbos, a forest in Halle which for a very short time every spring is filled with wild blue hyacinths, also called bluebells.

 The flowers are only in bloom for a very short time so most years, by the time they've announced on the news that the Hallerbos is in bloom, it's usually too late.  This year, however, I finally got my chance!

It was absolutely gorgeous. The blue carpet just spread out in every direction and what surprised me the most was the wonderful smell of all those millions of blue flowers - amazing.

After a long walk through the blue that just seems to go on forever, we felt like we were lost in an enchanted forest or a Harry Potter book. I half expected a unicorn or a wizard to turn up!

Loop van Vlaanderen

Yesterday my friend Ingrid and I participated in the first edition of the Loop van Vlaanderen, a new event for both trail runners and hikers in Oudenaarde, where the famous cycling race, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, takes place every year.

Oudenaarde turned out to be a lively little town, with a gorgeous town hall (here to the right) and a busy market square full of cafes.

The event offered 10K, 25K and 50K for both runners and walkers.  We decided to do the 10K.  We've been doing walks together all fall and winter on a regular basis, and we knew 10K would be doable for us; 25K would have been a real stretch.

 Oudenaarde is located in the Vlaamse Ardennen, a very hilly area in the southern part of the province of East Flanders.  I had never been to this part of Belgium before and it was beautiful - rolling hills, green pastures.  We were lucky with the weather - it was sunny but not warm, which was perfect for both runners and walkers.

I have to admit, when we lined up for the 10K start in the walker's corral and I saw all the runners up ahead of us, I did feel a bit sad and nostalgic.  This time last year I was still running 10K's!  I do miss it.

But then we were off and with all the hills and rough paths I was actually glad at the end of the day to be walking - it would have been a tough course to run.  There were at least 4 pretty steep climbs and several rocky descents.  Not to mention parts with treacherous cobblestones!  The whole thing was really well organized - with the three different distances start times being staggered, we even saw the winner of the 50K come in before we started out, which was impressive (he finished in 3:36).

Ingrid and I had a great time.  The nice thing about walking is that you can keep up a steady chit chat, you have time to really enjoy what you're seeing around you, and when there is a water stop, you really stop to drink and say hello to the volunteers.

That's not to say that we didn't put in an effort, however.  We finished in 1:57, which meant we kept up a good steady pace - and I am still feeling it in my glutes this morning!

We both agreed this would be a fun event to do again - and who knows - perhaps the 25K next time?

Valencia!

Imagine Paris and the Seine river.  Imagine if all the water was drained out of the river and replaced with a beautiful green sunken park, full of runners, bikers, walkers, picknickers, children on playgrounds, people walking their dogs...

Well, we were in Valencia last week and that is exactly what they did with the river Turia, which is now the 9 km long Jardines del Turia that runs right through the center of town.  Of course, they do have better weather in Valencia than in Paris, but it was just amazing to walk through this long park and see how active so many people were, young and old.  The long stretch of running paths was a runner's dream - and every day there were lots and lots of runners flying past us. 

They also had several exercise stations with strength equipment that was always in use, as well as orange tree groves, football pitches, ponds, cafés, artworks, climbing walls, an athletics track, a zen garden and more.  We also passed by some really funky spiky trees with fluffy cotton-like flowers:

The many bridges, some of which reminded me of those gorgeous historic bridges in Paris, carry traffic overhead across the park. At every bridge there are stairs and ramps to bring you down to the park. 

By the end of our trip we had covered nearly the entire length, some parts more than once.  The City of Arts and Sciences, with its amazing architecture, is located on the very end of the park as it reaches the Meditteranean seacoast:

 

And it was such a treat to see the blue sky and feel the sun on our arms for a few days.

 

The old city center of Valencia is also really nice.  There is a fantastic covered market where the stand holders don't bark at you if you take pictures (like they do in Barcelona), lots of tapas bars, and of course many places where you can enjoy paella:

And finally, really cool grafitti art all over the city:

My 16-year-old and I had tickets to see this concert last night. It was excellent, especially the two piano version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue they played (an excerpt of it starts at about 9.28 minutes in the video if you're interested). I think I've mentioned before how much I enjoy watching Jef Neve perform...I'll have to add Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort to my list, now, too!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Sweet Potato

My middle son wanted to make foccacia bread today, and I thought I'd make some soup to go with it for dinner, which works perfectly with the cold and blustery weather we're having.  Three ginormous red peppers in the fridge and a large sweet potato were all I needed to be inspired!  Here's how I made it:

First heat up your broiler.  Halve the peppers, pull out the seeds and pith and place them skin side up on a non-stick or lightly oiled baking tin.  Put them under the broiler for about 15 minutes (check frequently) until the skins are blackened all over.  Take them out and let them cool off until you can handle them without getting your fingers burnt.  Peel the skins off and remove any remaining seeds and stems.

While the peppers are broiling, roughly chop an onion, a celery rib, and three cloves of garlic.  Peel and cube a large sweet potato.  Sautee the onion and celery in about a tablespoon of olive oil in a soup kettle til soft.  Add the garlic and sweet potato, and sautee another minute or so.  Now you can add your roasted and peeled peppers to the pot, along with 5-6 cups of vegetable stock, 2 Bay leaves, a pinch each of dried rosemary, thyme and summer savory, a dash of tumeric and some freshly ground black pepper.  Bring to a boil and then simmer gently until the sweet potato cubes are soft.  Remove the Bay leaves, blend until smooth with an immersion blender and check the seasoning.  Enjoy!

So glad I didn't see this last summer!

This happened in July 2011 - a year later, we stayed at the same area (Canyon) and hiked there - with bear spray but I was nervous the entire time about running into a bear.



Yellowstone is gorgeous and I am so glad we went there, but it is wild and potentially dangerous.  So tragic for the man who lost his life and for his family.

One more week...

...to seeing Aimee live in Gent. This is one I love: