Picnic in the park - Parc de Mariemont

For some weeks now, I think we're being really lucky with the weather. No matter how miserable the week days can be, weekend comes bright and sunny. It's how the life should be, if you ask me. 

We managed to use this luck to enjoy the last picnic in the park this year. This time in the Parc de Mariemont.

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As before, you can see information about park itself here, but check out also website for the Mariemont Museum which lays just in the middle of the park.

Despite the colder air outside, it was definitely more crowded than the last time. It's also only half an hour drive from Brussels.

It's hard to stand a competition to lovely Parc de Beloeil, really. This park is different, so maybe I shouldn't even compare them at all. What I found most stunning in it was.... the trees! There's amazing amount of beautiful ones, each in its own way. Half of them could make the main attraction of the whole smaller park somewhere else.

There is quite some amount of grass fields both at the entrance and in the middle of the park. It was perfect place to lay a plaid, since it was a bit too cold in the shade already - it was end of September after all.

If you go for a walk you'll find some wilder parts and a bit hidden treats - like the beautiful florarium and the altar of the Buddha.

Some parts are so wild you can come across dangerous trees. We didn't dare to come closer. It might bite.

The site was created as a royal estate and a hunting park for Mary of Hungary (so says Wikipedia). The castle build for her, is long destroyed. The remains are very picturesque. I yet have to complain on lack of artistic skills to catch the spirit of the place - because it really looked more magical than on those poor pictures.

There is Orangerie in the park, which, I sadly admit, we were too lazy to see. It was so comfy on the blanket...

As for activities, this time I managed to take a picture of the games that are available for kids. There's a crowd surrounding them all the time.

Besides that, there were of course kids running around, rolling down the hills, climbing up the trees, playing, laughing and yelling. 

And while kids where at it, their parents were enjoying beer in the pub or at the temporary stand. If you gather plastic cups you get your beer in, you could exchange them for a strawberry plant! Apparently this was the same on the last picnic - it just missed my attention.

People craving for some more quite could always go for a walk into deeper parts of the park mentioned before - these were mostly kids free.

I don't think I was the only one to appreciate the trees of the park. There was an orchestra on one of them! Really, they hanged themselves on the branches and played. Quite impressive.

Altogether, I really enjoyed the event again. Great way to spend a Sunday, everyone will find something for themselves - whether you come to have a family day with kids, enjoy lazy afternoon drinking beer with friends or go for a romantic walk with your love (and I had it all!).

It will definitely go into my calendar for the next year. And while I'm on the topic, check out the calendar I have shared on this very blog. Even though the idea for the blog is to write about the places I've seen and events I have already attended, I figured it might be nice to share some of them in advance, so whoever reads it - can decide to join. I only added it today with the schedule of Nocturnes, but I hope more will come soon. If you know any nice places to visit and events to attend (we're especially craving for cold-weather kids-friendly kind of stuff) don't hesitate to share it!

Winter is coming!