Author Archives: dipidydoo
Mostly Flat: Orienteering In Slow Motion
The course planner (me) came up with a clockwise route which would take in the Baixa and Alfama neighbourhoods of Lisbon. The terrain description (provided by Google Maps) was “mostly flat”. Not sure when or if they last visited here? The control descriptions came straight from the Condes building. As this is shared with a […]
Porto
Porto is all about the river. The Douro snakes its way through a steep sided valley, under 6 bridges. The old town of Porto is on the north bank, while the port wine making centre of Gaia is on the south side. Away from the waterfront on both sides, the terrain rises rapidly. Our ship […]
Bilbao
Day 2 of the cruise was a sea day, a chance to rest and recharge our batteries. It was also my birthday. We celebrated with a 5 course dinner at Sabatinis, the Italian restaurant on the ship. The piece de resistance was the huge piece of birthday cake, served with a flourish and accompanied by […]
Things That Begin with S
In order below: Embarkation day is like stepping into a parallel universe. Because we believe in self flagellation, we dragged our heavily laden suitcases and backpacks for almost 3 km, to the Mayflower cruise terminal. This took over an hour. On arrival, we were sent to Baggage Pod 4, then Baggage Pod 1, then Baggage […]
Southampton, City of Seagulls
After an uncomfortable night (warm room, lumpy bed), we woke to drizzle. Our morning was spent on optimistic tasks (shopping for lightweight tshirts and sunscreen, in anticipation of things to come). The drizzle turned to rain, and we headed back to the apartment for shelter and lunch. By mid afternoon it had almost cleared, so […]
Completion
After a week at our country retreat at Shrewton, it was time to pack up and move on. That required an early start, but thanks to the 90 minute drive (I am so glad not to be driving any more!), it was after 11am before Ian hit the trail for his final day on the […]
Downland
It was time for Ian to head back to the South Downs Way, starting from Saturday’s end point at Hall’s Hill, and finishing at Cocking, some 20 km away. That meant I had several hours to spend at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum – “weald” meaning heavily wooded. This is very similar to […]
Don’t Be Defeatist Dear, It’s Very Middle Class
I have watched every single episode of Downton Abbey, have seen both movies, and can’t wait for the third. The writing is impeccable, the cast are wonderful, but the star of the show is the stunning setting. So when I discovered that Highclere Estate was less than an hour’s drive away, visiting was a no-brainer. […]
3650 BC
After a sleep in, a shopping trip, and a lunch at home, we set off for an afternoon of Neolithic history. Stonehenge was not our destination; instead we headed north to Avebury, and stepped back in time over 3000 years. Avebury and Stonehenge are very different. Avebury is a much larger site, and you can […]
Ancient Ways and Time Travelling
The heat of yesterday was replaced overnight with overcast skies and a bit of light drizzle. It was Day 2 for Ian, who pulled up pretty well from his 21 km walk. We returned to the car park at Exton where he’d finished walking yesterday, and he was soon underway. The plan was for me […]
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