We have been doing a lot of traveling, but until Easter Sunday we had yet to experience the great outdoors in Europe. The southern part of Belgium, otherwise known as Wallonia, is the mountainous part of the country. Well, mountainous for Belgium that is. Let’s not get too carried away. This is an extremely flat country! The landscape contains gently rolling hills, lots of trees, and cute towns situated within river valleys. We chose to go hiking in a town called La Roche-en-Ardenne, one of the more wild and scenic towns in the area. It was a good choice. Although a bit touristy, the town was very picturesque, especially the geographic setting.
We picked up the recommended "Carte de Promenades" from the tourist information office. We chose an 11K walk through the woods above town. The route took us along the Ourthe River and through some other small towns. While we definitely had a good nature experience, the big hike in the mountains turned out to be more of a walk in the woods. We were never too far from civilization. No worries about snakebites or bear attacks here! If you wanted a bite to eat or a cold beverage, however, you were in luck. Restaurants with outdoor terraces were plentiful. The only dangers we could foresee were sunburn and/or drunkenness! Not exactly the intense hiking that we are accustomed to. But it was beautiful nonetheless. I think ICO should seriously look into this!
All kidding aside, we had a fabulous time and we managed to get some exercise. We did walk through a wooded area and the terrain was steep in spots. We also enjoyed some grea views. The region offers a lot of outdoor activities so we are ready to explore some more. We didn’t have time to stop for a beer on this trip so we will have to add it to our itinerary for next time. Boy am I getting soft!
We picked up the recommended "Carte de Promenades" from the tourist information office. We chose an 11K walk through the woods above town. The route took us along the Ourthe River and through some other small towns. While we definitely had a good nature experience, the big hike in the mountains turned out to be more of a walk in the woods. We were never too far from civilization. No worries about snakebites or bear attacks here! If you wanted a bite to eat or a cold beverage, however, you were in luck. Restaurants with outdoor terraces were plentiful. The only dangers we could foresee were sunburn and/or drunkenness! Not exactly the intense hiking that we are accustomed to. But it was beautiful nonetheless. I think ICO should seriously look into this!
All kidding aside, we had a fabulous time and we managed to get some exercise. We did walk through a wooded area and the terrain was steep in spots. We also enjoyed some grea views. The region offers a lot of outdoor activities so we are ready to explore some more. We didn’t have time to stop for a beer on this trip so we will have to add it to our itinerary for next time. Boy am I getting soft!
2 comments:
I love the picture with the castle behind it.
I'll let Rick know you said that. He's very proud of that picture.
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