1. Eva and I in Dinant
2. The church from the fort
3. Also the church from the fort
4. One of the forts old defenses
5. Part of the WWI display at the fort
We had a great, weekend that just past, with a little misfortune as well. I had not really visited the south of Belgium and so we took the opportunity to do so. Eva’s friend Karla and her boyfriend Dirk recently bought a house in the small Walloon (French speaking part) town of Houyet. The house needs s a lot of work, which they have not started yet. They plan to renovate it and rent it out to groups. Going there we knew not to expect much luxury, as they had not started the renovation project.
On the way there we took a small detour to the town of Dinant, a very charming city on the Maas River, with a large church dominating the view, and a hill top fortress. The town was also home to Adolphe Sax. You might know the instrument he invented that he named after himself, not the Adolphephone. We took the cable car up to the fort and had a tour of it. From the walls of the fort, the view was stunning. It has been many weeks since I have seen anything resembling even a hill, and the curves of the Ardennes were welcome.
Dirk came after work and met the rest of us at a bar in Dinant, and the four of us then drove to their house. There was an extra little building attached to the main house, and that’s where we were to eat and sleep. Karla had a very nice meal planned, and we prepared it, ate and drank, filling ourselves with food and alcohol (not Karla she is pregnant). Then it was time to go to sleep, and we brought some mattresses upstairs, set up our beds and laid down for the night.
The next morning we awoke, and we all felt a little off. When I stood to pee I felt a little dizzy, but chalked it up to too many strong Belgian beers. As soon as we all started to compare notes however, we realized it was more than the alcohol (Karla had it too) and that it must have been the stove. There was a small wood burning stove in the room and it must have been the culprit. We were lucky to have woken up at all because Carbon Monoxide poisoning kills a lot of people every year.
Needless to say we had a slow start to the day, but eventually got up to some fun. Dirk and I went for a bike ride to “the castle” and found a pet pig. Seriously. Well the castle was an old railway station that looked like a castle, and the pig was, well, a pig. Near the castle was a young wild boar only she wasn’t wild. She had some tags in her ears, but was just hanging out alone. She took a fancy to Dirk and I and followed us around as we checked out the castle. When we got on our bikes to ride away, along came pig. I decided to she needed a name, so I called her “Dinner.” Half way back the girls were walking along the path and they saw us, with our new friend.
After that we passed the pig off on some locals and went back to the house for lunch, to pig out ourselves. Next it was on to some rock climbing. We went to an area that had a small “via ferrata” and Dirk and I climbed to the top using his harnesses. Via Ferrata in Italian means Iron road, and is a serious of fixed cables, stemples, ladders, and bridges, set in the stone. Apparently they are all over the Dolmites in Italy, but this was just a small version. The climb took about a half hour and was a lot of fun, but a little scary at times.
So we had a lovley weekend but were very tired by the time we made it home. When we were home, we still weren’t feeling 100 percent though, and decided to go to the hospital. When they heard what had happened, they instantly put us on oxygen. They took blood, and found out in fact, that we had had a small dose of carbon monoxide poison. Luckily though, they found that we were only at the level of a heavy smoker, not that of a a corpse. My level for some reason was a bit higher than Eva. So mild poisioning aside, it was a great weekend venture into the south of Belgium
On the way there we took a small detour to the town of Dinant, a very charming city on the Maas River, with a large church dominating the view, and a hill top fortress. The town was also home to Adolphe Sax. You might know the instrument he invented that he named after himself, not the Adolphephone. We took the cable car up to the fort and had a tour of it. From the walls of the fort, the view was stunning. It has been many weeks since I have seen anything resembling even a hill, and the curves of the Ardennes were welcome.
Dirk came after work and met the rest of us at a bar in Dinant, and the four of us then drove to their house. There was an extra little building attached to the main house, and that’s where we were to eat and sleep. Karla had a very nice meal planned, and we prepared it, ate and drank, filling ourselves with food and alcohol (not Karla she is pregnant). Then it was time to go to sleep, and we brought some mattresses upstairs, set up our beds and laid down for the night.
The next morning we awoke, and we all felt a little off. When I stood to pee I felt a little dizzy, but chalked it up to too many strong Belgian beers. As soon as we all started to compare notes however, we realized it was more than the alcohol (Karla had it too) and that it must have been the stove. There was a small wood burning stove in the room and it must have been the culprit. We were lucky to have woken up at all because Carbon Monoxide poisoning kills a lot of people every year.
Needless to say we had a slow start to the day, but eventually got up to some fun. Dirk and I went for a bike ride to “the castle” and found a pet pig. Seriously. Well the castle was an old railway station that looked like a castle, and the pig was, well, a pig. Near the castle was a young wild boar only she wasn’t wild. She had some tags in her ears, but was just hanging out alone. She took a fancy to Dirk and I and followed us around as we checked out the castle. When we got on our bikes to ride away, along came pig. I decided to she needed a name, so I called her “Dinner.” Half way back the girls were walking along the path and they saw us, with our new friend.
After that we passed the pig off on some locals and went back to the house for lunch, to pig out ourselves. Next it was on to some rock climbing. We went to an area that had a small “via ferrata” and Dirk and I climbed to the top using his harnesses. Via Ferrata in Italian means Iron road, and is a serious of fixed cables, stemples, ladders, and bridges, set in the stone. Apparently they are all over the Dolmites in Italy, but this was just a small version. The climb took about a half hour and was a lot of fun, but a little scary at times.
So we had a lovley weekend but were very tired by the time we made it home. When we were home, we still weren’t feeling 100 percent though, and decided to go to the hospital. When they heard what had happened, they instantly put us on oxygen. They took blood, and found out in fact, that we had had a small dose of carbon monoxide poison. Luckily though, they found that we were only at the level of a heavy smoker, not that of a a corpse. My level for some reason was a bit higher than Eva. So mild poisioning aside, it was a great weekend venture into the south of Belgium
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