Hi folks! No time has been wasted on the past few days. Marta went ahead and blogged last night about session that we had yesterday. It’s true, I was exhausted and passed out while editing. Not a proud moment for a photographer. 😉
We started out the day with making home made chocolate mousse. Might I add…this stuff was heavenly and out of this world. I’m going to try to explain this cooking process as best I can.
First thing’s first. You have to get a pot of water boiling, then stick a smaller pot with a little bit of water, butter and two dark chocolate bars. Your level of cacao is up to you, or you could just go milk chocolate…I wouldn’t recommend that though.
While that’s going on, get three small eggs and get the egg yolks out. Add two tablespoons of powdered sugar with the egg yolks and stir. Save the egg whites for later. Keep an eye on the chocolate; make sure it doesn’t burn.
Stir the yolks and powdered sugar together.
While all this is going on, make sure that the chocolate is being stirred frequently. At this point it’s good to have an extra pair of hands to help.
Once the chocolate is melted and the yolk and powdered sugar are mixed, mix it all together in a bowl. Add a little chocolate at a time to make sure things are mixed evenly.
Remember those egg whites? Get a beater and beat them up. Seriously, beat them up like you were a part of Fight Club. Now add them to the mix of things.
Mix it all together.
Everything should be mixed together and it should look something like this. Now the next part is the hardest and most difficult process: waiting. I’m serious. When you have this for the first time, you’re going to love it! So much, that you’re going to hate waiting for it the next time that you make it. It’s best served with vanilla ice cream and whip cream. Add a cherry too if you want.
Alright, so two days ago we ended up driving around the town that we’re staying at. Everything was more or less 20 minutes away. It was actually pretty nice going to so many attractions so close. First up, Limbourg.
If you follow the link, you’ll see that this little town has only so many members. Back in the Middle Ages, it was quite a powerful town because of it’s position. Higher elevation has always been a military advantage.
It’s actually quite a nice little town. Anyone can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery. No one will bother you for anything. Not to mention how nice the climate is over there. There’s always a constant breeze and a lot of sunshine (at least when I was there). It’s a nice place to move to.
Next stop, La Gileppe. Here we visit the Gileppe Dam. It was built in the 1870s as an arch-gravity dam, an all natural construction. At the time of it’s creation, it was easily considered ahead of it’s curve. It was the example for later dams of the same caliber. It was used to bring water to the town of Verviers, which produced wool and textiles. Today it supplies industrial water as well as hydroelectricity.
About 20 minutes out is High Fens. The bogs and swamps found here are over 10,000 years old. It was declared a natural reserve in 1957. It has a very unique collection of flora and fauna, which further leads to the need of preservation. Not to mention that it’s also the highest point in Belgium at about 700 meters. With it’s height, unique ecology, and lack of humidity it’s a very interesting part of nature.
This lonely farm was found next to a restaurant in High Fens. Most places are closed on Mondays in Belgium. We found that out pretty fast. Next to the farm, we found one a pretty cool character.
This guy, all the way to the right…we dubbed him the Bieber Cow. A new breed. He smelled like every other cow out there in the world though. Nothing special but the hair.
When we found this path, I really wanted to follow it. I mean REALLY! Time was short though, so we couldn’t. Apparently, hikers use the trails to venture into the swamps and bogs. It’s pretty cool! 🙂
Next on the list is Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, or better known as Francorchamps. Multiple races are held here, including the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, Spa 24 Hours, and plenty more. Normally, when there’s something going on, it’s closed. When there’s nothing going on, it’s closed. The only way to really be able to go in is be a part of one of the racing teams or to get a reservation only guided tour. Luckily, on Monday there was a motorcycle race that was going on and it was open to the public. We were able to get some awesome shots of the track.
If you don’t know, Formula One is usually on a leveled track (as in the altitude rarely changes on the track). Racers from all over the world love this track in particular because of the changing altitude. They say that even though you can see the track in front of you, the only way you really know how to navigate it through it’s multiple turns and changes in altitude is through continuous training and practice.
The next and final stop was at the spa…in Spa, Belgium. Most people don’t know this, but the term spa (as in a place you go to relax and get pampered up) originated from the luxurious treatment and healing powers found in the geyser in Spa. When King Henry VIII injured his leg jousting, he ended up heading into Spa for healing. Afterwards, he believed in the healing powers of the geyser in Spa, and he only drank the water imported from the geyser. Anyways, here’s a couple of shots of the city of Spa.
The picture above is of one of the five geysers in Spa, Belguim. Locals have said that there’s a sixth one as well, but we didn’t see it. Anyways, this building is under condtruction at the moment. It’s the Geyser of Peter the Great.
This is where the original spa in Spa was at. A new one was built atop a plateau. It’s called Thermes de Spa.
This “elevator” takes you from the Raddisson Blu directly to the spa.
That’s about as far as I could go with the camera. I put it away in fear of it getting wet. ;p
So that’s that for now. We’re still a day behind as far as blogging and editing is concerned. We’ll try to share more ASAP.
-Rudy&Marta
P.S. Feel free to “Like” or “+1” this post at the bottom. Sharing is caring.
P.P.S. I slept like a baby that night. Two and a half hours went by so quick there. In case you’re wondering, a yearly membership runs around €1.000 or about $1,371 (at the time of this post).
P.P.P.S. This is for Laura.
P.P.P.P.S. Once we got home we had an awesome meal and dessert. Remember that mousse…it was scrumptuous.
