This is what I'll be doing next week

I'm starting to get very excited about being a part of this performance!  It's going to be challenging and interesting - like nothing I've ever done before.  My kids keep saying I better not trip!  On Monday evening we have a workshop, and on Friday we have to be at our city's theater at 2 pm for rehearsals, and then the performance is at 8.

One of the things I am curious about is how it will feel to be onstage in our theater - I have seen so many performances there, and it is a beautiful theater.  It was built in 1843 and was almost completely destroyed in the first world war, and then damaged again in World War II.

So think of me here, next Friday night. ;-)

Quick Update

Got two more hikes in:
#24: 9 km on Friday afternoon with Aisling
#25: 7.8 km with Stefaan on Sunday morning.

It's been absolutely gorgeous weather around here, bright and sunny, crisp and clear.  Perfect for walking.  I've also started a new Matt Roberts program at the gym.  I do love a good program!

Other than that, life is busy, what with my middle son, Gillis, just starting his first year in university.  They do grow up fast...

Recent Hikes (21, 22 & 23)

These pictures are from the hike around Averbode I did with Ingrid in June - it was such a beautiful day.  Too bad but it seems the summer weather is gone for good and we have entered fall now with its rain.  Since June, and since our trip to Sweden in August, I've gotten three more hikes in to bring my count up to 23 so far. 

 In August I met up with Leen, Jef, and their kids Lucas and Hannah for hike #21 in Bierbeek.  We did an enjoyable 9 km and treated ourselves to a beer afterwards.

 At the beginning of September, Ingid and I headed to Oud-Heverlee and the Dode Beemde for a section of this area we had never done before and hike #22.  We did 13.5 km in the rain!

 Finally, recently I had to take advantage of one of our last sunny weekdays and got out and hiked 5 km on my own in Kessel-Lo, bringing my hiking count up to 23, which I am pretty pleased with, and planning to get a few more in before the end of the year.

Hike #20 in Sweden!

We just got back from southern Sweden - my oldest son, Florian, is doing an Erasmus semester at the University of Lund, so we drove him up and got him settled, and then took some time to explore the area, which was beautiful.  Of course, for us, an important part of exploring is finding a national park and taking a hike, which we did near Dalby, in the National Park there.  We decided to try out the Ulastigen trail, which started with a very cool wood carved entrance-way:

A description of the trail:

It was a great way to spend one of our afternoons together, before we had to head back home and leave Florian behind in Sweden.  We'll see him again at Christmas.  Yes, there were tears when we drove away (mostly on my part - you know how mothers can be, right?)  but it will be a great experience for him to get out on his own and live in another country.  And there is always Skype...

Hikes #18 and #19: Gerolstein

For some reason, lately I've been bumping into a lot of articles about the benefits of walking/hiking in nature, and this one about the connection between walking and writing.  Fascinating!  And very true, I think.  Walking does help to organize your thoughts, brainstorm, and come up with new perspectives.  It's also a great activity to do as a family on a little vacation, which is what we did this past weekend in Gerolstein, Germany.

We love Gerolstein.  It's just 200 kilometers from door to door, there's a lovely hotel we like to stay at, and the long distance walking path called the Eifelsteig passes through the town.  The town itself is small and picturesque, and famous for its natural mineral water.  There is even a spring in the city park where you can fill your water bottle for free with the naturally sparkling water!  Most importantly, though, is the ancient volcanic history of the area which makes for incredible landscapes today: rolling hills, old craters, craggy dolomite formations, open fields and beautiful forests.  Our kids love the "Lord of the Rings" feel to it!

Yes. it made me very nervous when they climbed up there.

This is an ancient volcanic crater, and surprisingly deep.  One of my kids is just barely visible at the bottom.

We did two big hikes together, both about 10 kilometers and both ending up in the town of Gerolstein itself.  Which is handy because then you can treat yourself to something like this:

Hike #17

Just a quick post so I don't get behind on my count - yesterday Tanka and I did hike #17, the "Kessel-Lo Death March" which was a nice 2 hour, 9 km walk up and down hills, through fields, past cows, horses and sheep...and we were lucky because it only started raining after we got back.

This weekend we're heading off to one of our favorite hiking places, Gerolstein, Germany, with the whole family, so I will have more hikes and pics to post!  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Fun at the Barefoot Park

At the start: clean feet!

I posted about this a few years ago when we first visited the Barefoot Park in Zutendaal, but it was time for another visit - we heard they expanded the path to 3 kilometers and my son's girlfriend, Charlotte, had never been.  So off we headed to Limburg!

The path starts off gently, with sand, but quickly forces your feet to adapt to all kinds of surfaces: stones, mulch, tree stumps, logs, boulders, very cold water and...mud!  Lots of mud...

We took our time; the entire path took us well over an hour to complete.  But going barefoot is not as easy as it might seem - you end up using a lot of muscles in your feet and lower legs that are normally completely supported by shoes, so they have to work harder than they're used to.

At the end: dirty feet!

Definitely a fun activity to do on a summer afternoon!  But your feet and calves might be a bit sore the next day...

Interested in more?  Here's a short 2 minute video about the path: