rambling
Scotland 2006 - Day 5 - Walking the Highlands
10/09/06 21:28 Filed in: Longer
Vacations
What trip to the Scottish Highlands is complete
without a day out hiking? Ours certainly wasn't!
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Rambling with the Old Folks
07/11/04 21:09 Filed in: Rambles
After our last very successful ramble, we decided
to go out with a little bit different group,
which proved to be very different and quite
enjoyable. Read
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Our First Ramble
23/10/04 21:12 Filed in: Rambles
So, Stephen and I finally went on one of the
walks that we've been discussing since our first
days in London. About 20 of us gathered at Tring,
snaked through some farmland to an old village
with a really cool church, St. John the
Baptist--one of those with a cemetary where most
gravestones are so old the names have
disappeared. We stepped inside just a moment to
see the tomb of one of the first parishoners.
Usually, tombs have a lion or a dog carved at the
feet of the one buried there to show if he died
in battle (lion) or peacefully at home (dog).
This one was a bit different as he had a green
man carved at his feet. Stephen and I got bonus
points for the only ones being able to identify
it correctly and then knowing what a green man
*was*, and here I thought that was an English
icon. Oh well.
Then we headed up to into the hills and forest where there is an old manor house and random monument to the builder of the English Canal System. Standard English monument=concrete block for a base, with generic greek style pillar with piece of statuary on top. Here we stopped for lunch and there was a really neat little cafe being run by the National Trust. Stephen and I packed our lunches and ate them in the picnic area, but got tea and hot coco afterwords---85 pence for a whole pot of tea. I was a happy camper, or rambler as the case may be.
Up until then we'd been having pretty nice weather, not sunny, but warm and an overcast that made the fall leaves really vibrant. Of course, we start the second half of the hike, the part going up into the chalk hills & Ivinghoe Beacon and through a Pre-Roman trail back to Tring, turning into a windy soggy raining mess. All of us who did have the forethough to bring along anything more than a raincoat (not waterproof pants, mud guards, gators, etc) were completely soaked to the bone and muddy up to our knees. We still had a lovely time though as people were in pretty good spirits, but we missed most of the beautiful landscape due to trying not to fall on the slippery paths and keeping the rain out of our eyes. The guide was awesome though and is planning on doing the walk again come spring when the bluebells are in flower.
But we survived no worse for wear, by the end my hips were starting to ache (and my right knee for some strange reason, same kind of ache in my hips too which does *not* bode well), but nothing a nice hot shower (bath would have been better), hot soup, tea and a nap couldn't fix. So that's good, and getting a pair of waterproofs for the rainy season like this would probably do a good bit for preventing the aching since cold + wet does tend to trigger what's left of my old injuries.
So we liked the group quite a bit, got some good talks in with other members. Very friendly people who love to get out and in the thick of things so to speak. We may not make any fast friends there, but it is nice to get out with a bunch of like minded people, get a feel for the local history, breath the fresh air, and see some neat country side. Good stuff all round and another whole day of weekend left--just what the doctor ordered.
Then we headed up to into the hills and forest where there is an old manor house and random monument to the builder of the English Canal System. Standard English monument=concrete block for a base, with generic greek style pillar with piece of statuary on top. Here we stopped for lunch and there was a really neat little cafe being run by the National Trust. Stephen and I packed our lunches and ate them in the picnic area, but got tea and hot coco afterwords---85 pence for a whole pot of tea. I was a happy camper, or rambler as the case may be.
Up until then we'd been having pretty nice weather, not sunny, but warm and an overcast that made the fall leaves really vibrant. Of course, we start the second half of the hike, the part going up into the chalk hills & Ivinghoe Beacon and through a Pre-Roman trail back to Tring, turning into a windy soggy raining mess. All of us who did have the forethough to bring along anything more than a raincoat (not waterproof pants, mud guards, gators, etc) were completely soaked to the bone and muddy up to our knees. We still had a lovely time though as people were in pretty good spirits, but we missed most of the beautiful landscape due to trying not to fall on the slippery paths and keeping the rain out of our eyes. The guide was awesome though and is planning on doing the walk again come spring when the bluebells are in flower.
But we survived no worse for wear, by the end my hips were starting to ache (and my right knee for some strange reason, same kind of ache in my hips too which does *not* bode well), but nothing a nice hot shower (bath would have been better), hot soup, tea and a nap couldn't fix. So that's good, and getting a pair of waterproofs for the rainy season like this would probably do a good bit for preventing the aching since cold + wet does tend to trigger what's left of my old injuries.
So we liked the group quite a bit, got some good talks in with other members. Very friendly people who love to get out and in the thick of things so to speak. We may not make any fast friends there, but it is nice to get out with a bunch of like minded people, get a feel for the local history, breath the fresh air, and see some neat country side. Good stuff all round and another whole day of weekend left--just what the doctor ordered.
Castling Again
26/05/03 21:51 Filed in: Longer
Vacations
Today was Donnattur, and I filled up my last
memory card.
I took the bus into the little village nearest the castle (Stonehaven), and then hiked up over the bluffs to the castle itself. The hike was absolutely beautiful. It went through these fields and near some craggy inlets of the ocean. The green of the fields combined with the blue of the ocean and the black volcanic (assumingly) rock formations was quite stunning, especially with the castle ruins crowning the highest cliff over the entire scene.
Wandering through the ruins was really quite a magical experience. Because they're ruins they pretty much let you have the run of the place, and you're free to crawl over, rummage and poke around as much of it as you can get to. They have the most dangerous bits roped/barred off, but the rest of it is completely open. I bought a guide book that was pretty helpful, but I got the feeling they were mostly guessing at what some of the rooms were originally. So, I preferred to wander through and let my imagination do the work.
For being in ruins a surprising amount of the castle is still safe for people. For instance, there are several floors of the original keep that you can still get to and through. One of the features, they had most of the old guest books out (1930ish-present), that you could look through. I thought about looking for Stephen's family's original visit, but I had no clue what date to even expect, so he'll have to go through it with me when we got back one of these days.
After going through all of the ruins, I took a foot "path" down to the shore, and watched the ocean for a while with the castle towering above. Talk about an incredible experience.
Now, you guys are no longer allowed to tease me about Moscow burning, because the number of times this castle has been burned by various armies or the owners is astounding. For being built on a cliff with only one possibility of attack, you'd think they'd be able to defend it better than that. But the fires have left the stones really interesting textures that I'm not sure would have been possible otherwise.
Still, no more Moscow teasing now!
Then I hopped the bus back to Aberdeen and will probably spend the rest of my night packing. My plane doesn't leave until 8:00pm tomorrow, but I'm supposed to take some of Brett's stuff back too, so we'll see how that fares.
Probably a last game of GO as well. =)
Anyway, back to London tomorrow and then to the states the next day. So this will probably be my last entry until I get home. It feels like I just got here too. Not nearly enough time, but an amazing trip none the less.
Until later all!
I took the bus into the little village nearest the castle (Stonehaven), and then hiked up over the bluffs to the castle itself. The hike was absolutely beautiful. It went through these fields and near some craggy inlets of the ocean. The green of the fields combined with the blue of the ocean and the black volcanic (assumingly) rock formations was quite stunning, especially with the castle ruins crowning the highest cliff over the entire scene.
Wandering through the ruins was really quite a magical experience. Because they're ruins they pretty much let you have the run of the place, and you're free to crawl over, rummage and poke around as much of it as you can get to. They have the most dangerous bits roped/barred off, but the rest of it is completely open. I bought a guide book that was pretty helpful, but I got the feeling they were mostly guessing at what some of the rooms were originally. So, I preferred to wander through and let my imagination do the work.
For being in ruins a surprising amount of the castle is still safe for people. For instance, there are several floors of the original keep that you can still get to and through. One of the features, they had most of the old guest books out (1930ish-present), that you could look through. I thought about looking for Stephen's family's original visit, but I had no clue what date to even expect, so he'll have to go through it with me when we got back one of these days.
After going through all of the ruins, I took a foot "path" down to the shore, and watched the ocean for a while with the castle towering above. Talk about an incredible experience.
Now, you guys are no longer allowed to tease me about Moscow burning, because the number of times this castle has been burned by various armies or the owners is astounding. For being built on a cliff with only one possibility of attack, you'd think they'd be able to defend it better than that. But the fires have left the stones really interesting textures that I'm not sure would have been possible otherwise.
Still, no more Moscow teasing now!
Then I hopped the bus back to Aberdeen and will probably spend the rest of my night packing. My plane doesn't leave until 8:00pm tomorrow, but I'm supposed to take some of Brett's stuff back too, so we'll see how that fares.
Probably a last game of GO as well. =)
Anyway, back to London tomorrow and then to the states the next day. So this will probably be my last entry until I get home. It feels like I just got here too. Not nearly enough time, but an amazing trip none the less.
Until later all!