I’m not much of an outdoors person, and I would fare much better in a concrete jungle than the one filled with foliage and bugs. And yet, the most rewarding trips to me are usually nature related. Maybe just the sense of surviving a whole day without checking my email is a feat in itself.

But back to where I left you last… so after lunch our group drives to another village still in the Hautes Fagnes area, where we trade our aching feet in for pedals:

It’s a different kind of work on your feet (and butt) when you pedal a rail bike as opposed to just walking. You can go as fast as you want (assuming there’s not too much traffic ahead of you) or take it easy and really take in the sights and sounds around you…

Needless to say, I pedal like a crazy person running a race of one. As much as I appreciate the clean air and all, I’m always in a hurry to see what’s waiting at the end of the destination. In this case, our day leads to wine tasting in Verviers,

followed by a heavy, heavy meal…

I crawl out of bed the next morning, my knees and shin splints killing me. Did I forget to mention that we had a bit of a collision on the rail bikes at some point the day before? I didn’t exactly fall out of the bike (completely) but I think my knees and legs did make contact with the rail. Ouch. But when in pain, what do I do? I try to walk it off. I’m still thirty minutes too early for the breakfast meeting so I tour the grounds of the huge hotel…

and for a few minutes my pain is distracted by a collection of these classic cars in the front parking lot:

Hands down, this is my favorite:

Well, this city girl is heading back to the concrete jungle. Change is coming to this blog so there may be a lag in my next few posts, but Paris is on my horizon so I promise to make the eye candy worth your patience!