Click here for this week’s European Volksmarch schedule.
After taking the summer off from any organized activities, the local club we belong to, the Tri-Border Walking Club, had a "fun walk" to downtown Brussels, Belgium. There was no formal IVV walk; we just wanted to get together early in the new school year to introduce new and returning members and to get our walking program off to a good start. After arriving in central Brussels, the first place we visited was the Royal Palace. The palace is only open to the public for about six weeks each year, so a visit was at the top of our priority list.
After touring the palace we headed to the Grand Place Grote Markt. The first order of business was to find the tourist information office. There you can pick up a city map that entitles you to discounts at some shops. For lunch, we headed to the unusually named restaurant called the Drug Opera. Inside were five levels of very nice dining with fine Belgian beer.
After lunch, we walked around and finally found the Mannikin Pis. It must have been a special occasion because the usually naked statue was dressed in a cute little outfit. We understand he has a museum for his wardrobe, including an Elvis outfit.
Soon we were ready for dessert. There are more places to get Belgian waffles than you can imagine, so it was no problem to find one of these fresh, warm, chocolate-covered delicacies. We also found the chocolate museum, but, unfortunately, we were running out of time before we had to rendezvous with the bus.
On the way to the bus, we found a wonderful store called Chocopolis. It offered us free samples of its chocolates and we were hooked. This chocolate is a little pricey, so show the staff your map from the tourist information office with the Chocopolis advertisement and you’ll get 10 percent off your order.
All in all, it was a very nice day. We met some new friends and saw a beautiful city. We had a Belgian beer, a Belgian waffle and some Belgian chocolate … a tough combination to top!
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After last week’s trip to Heidelberg, we will be staying closer to home this weekend. The Organisation A.M.T.F. Plombieres in Belgium is hosting its 37th Annual International Walk of the Three Frontiers. They are offering a patch that commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Belgium.
We picked up a couple of these patches last year and they are pretty nice even if they are a few years old. After Plombieres, we might head down to St. Vith, Belgium, for the walk there. Take the St. Vith South exit (No. 15) off of the E42 and follow the signs. St. Vith always has a very nice walk.
Miscellaneous notes about this week’s volksmarch events:
• Members of the Wanderfreunde Miesau host their annual walk Saturday and Sunday in the town of Bruchmühlbach. A very close walk for folks in the Kaiserslautern Military Community, just head down B40 and you’ll find signs to the walk.
• Bike enthusiasts, at Strass im Zillertal, Austria, this weekend they have "out and back" bike trails! Peddle to Kaltenbach and back for the 30K, to Zell am Ziller and back for the 46K, or finally, to Mayrhofen and back for the 64K.
• This Sunday’s walk in Fontanafredda, Italy, is part of Italian-American Friendship Day held every year in different towns around the base to encourage the military folks to get out and meet their Italian neighbors.
• The listing "San Giorgio" in the chart is a shortened version of the full name San Giorgio delle Pertiche, Italy. This is the town’s first walk. The flier notes the walk is in a natural area along the Tergola River.
E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09703-0278.
