Jun 112012
 

The lovely couple running 97 High Street bed & breakfast (a name and an address in one) both made mid-life career changes, which gives us something to talk about in between the half-dozen courses of a Full English Breakfast.

 

Hot tea, juice, cereal, fresh-baked rolls, eggs with smoked salmon, tomatoes and mushrooms, fruit… usually you get a sampling of these – this morning it was all on the table! There’s clearly more food here than I could possibly eat, and yet somehow I managed. It was delicious.

It was fuel for the walk ahead, but at a certain point ‘fuel’becomes ‘ballast,’ and I was moving slow on the walk. Continue reading »

 Posted by at 11:12 am
Jun 102012
 

Here’s the detailed plan for my England experience: hike the Ridgeway.

The Ridgeway is the oldest route in England (though how they decided this is a mystery to me), being in generally continuous usage for the past 5,000 years; much of that time for sheep-driving. It’s part of a larger trail (or series of trails) stretching coast-to-coast along southern Britain, but the part I plan on walking runs from Avebury in the west to Ivinghoe Beacon in the east. This section became a National Trail in 1973, and stretches 87 miles (139 km).

Most walkers follow the trail from west to east (for various reasons) but I, ever the contrarian, will walk it from east to west (for my own reasons). So, Ivinghoe Beacon to Avesbury for me, starting on Saturday and finishing (hopefully) by Friday.

Continue reading »

 Posted by at 6:40 pm
May 282012
 

wooded path Sachsische Schweiz

On the advice of my friends in Berlin, I spent three amazing days hiking the Elbsandsteingebirge in Sächsische Schweiz National Park outside Dresden.

“Sächsische Schweiz” means Saxon-Switzerland; apparently the region is reminiscent of Switzerland.  Other nice qualities include not difficult to reach, loads of well marked trails… and stunningly beautiful. Continue reading »

 Posted by at 3:36 am