TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Dear Flanders (Dutch speaking part in the north of Belgium), Please reconsider divorcing Wallonia (French speaking part in the south of Belgium) because she is just awfully, spectacularly, ooh so magnifique-ally LOVELY! Her countryside is so amazing. It would be such a shame, an immense loss if she goes sovereign or returns to France. AUB niet laten gaan. Niet loslaten. It is a sin! Sincerely, Dutched Pinay I swear on OVI Maps, best thing ever when I switched to Nokia Mini (I ‘had’ Nokia Navigator with Route66). FREE GPS/Maps to all countries! How can you not fall in love with that scenery? Fields of barley, they shine like gold under the daylight sun. Cattles are so organised. Follow the leader! Lovely countryside views. Can you tell these white cows were enchanted by my presence? Lavender fields, it smells so divine here! More cattles grazing the fields. Barley for the winter. Pretty much I went euphoric with the scenic panorama I encountered on every bend. I couldn’t help but stop t...

In most of my travels, I almost never blog about the hotel I stayed in, perhaps because my passion when traveling lies on discovering the country, the culture, the local culinaire and the people, and not my hotel bedroom or the hotel lobby and restaurant. I don’t stay in the hotel most of the day anyway—well, only to sleep. I am outside exploring new places, new things, new experiences and new ideas. For this short trip in Wallonia, I wanted some nature. I wanted so badly to be surrounded with vegetation and mountains. I saw Chateau de la Poste, a lifestyle resort in the Ardennes mountains in my favorite hotel booking site and was right away attracted to its location. What I am trying to say is—I find this hotel very relaxing and very interesting as well, maybe because it’s a castle, so I took fotos of the interior and would like to share them here. The chateau is located in the village called Maillen in the Assesse municipality of Namur province (Wallonia, Belgium). This is...

During my short holiday in Wallonia, Belgium early this month I stayed at Chateau de la Poste, a beautiful castle in the middle of nowhere, exactly just what I had on prescription. This was during the World Cup fever so naturally I watched the game, in the castle’s salon while Dutchman watched in a bar somewhere in the islands of the UK. That night was the Netherlands vs Uruguay semi-finals match and while searching for the best seat in the salon I told the waiter I won’t be taking my order in the restaurant and he got the drift, hehe. Chateau de la Poste from the main road. The restaurant in the chateau is called Chez Clementine and I was really surprised when the tapas arrived. They looked so pretty, I had to take fotos of each =) I originally ordered a variety of cheeses and jams to go with my red wine but the head waiter came back and told me they ran out of cheeses. He suggested tapas instead which I gladly approved. Are you kidding me? I love, love tapas! Close up fotos o...