Dali Park : Belgium
When you seek out places like these, you come across all sorts, some interesting, some scarey, some damn right dangerous.
Dadi park was what I would classify as surreal, its in quite a small town from what I saw, the brown tourist signs still point the way to the open carpark with a faded buck tooth bunny sign perched high on a post.
There was an odd rumble mixed with laughter coming from the other side of the trees. next to an old security sign was the main entry gate... The doors were missing and instead the entrance opened up into the courtyard. Inside were a few teenagers milling around and a few others with pics and video cameras.
The ticket hut and entry turnstiles looked from a past era, in the right light it would make an excellent set for a scarey scene in a movie but with the snow on the ground, it just added to the strangeness of the place.
Around the corner was the source of the rumbling, huge hamster wheels with kids running around in them. The park was made up of roundabouts, slides, swings, see-saws and other play things all of them mechanical, there were no electrical toys or powered rides, no roller coasters or video games, this was a park of wholesome good entertainment.
There were alot of people wandering around the park, even a couple walking hand in hand, out for a gentle stroll. It was like the town of Dadi had accepted its dilapidated state and it reminded me of one of the magnificent 7 graveyards on a Sunday afternoon.
Nature, although thinned by winter still gave camouflage to the huge playground, the white of the snow and deep blue winter sky made this a great way to end a hectic weekend in Belgium.
Dadi park was what I would classify as surreal, its in quite a small town from what I saw, the brown tourist signs still point the way to the open carpark with a faded buck tooth bunny sign perched high on a post.
There was an odd rumble mixed with laughter coming from the other side of the trees. next to an old security sign was the main entry gate... The doors were missing and instead the entrance opened up into the courtyard. Inside were a few teenagers milling around and a few others with pics and video cameras.
The ticket hut and entry turnstiles looked from a past era, in the right light it would make an excellent set for a scarey scene in a movie but with the snow on the ground, it just added to the strangeness of the place.
Around the corner was the source of the rumbling, huge hamster wheels with kids running around in them. The park was made up of roundabouts, slides, swings, see-saws and other play things all of them mechanical, there were no electrical toys or powered rides, no roller coasters or video games, this was a park of wholesome good entertainment.
There were alot of people wandering around the park, even a couple walking hand in hand, out for a gentle stroll. It was like the town of Dadi had accepted its dilapidated state and it reminded me of one of the magnificent 7 graveyards on a Sunday afternoon.
Nature, although thinned by winter still gave camouflage to the huge playground, the white of the snow and deep blue winter sky made this a great way to end a hectic weekend in Belgium.
By Darren Nisbett
