After our usual ‘stuff ourselves to the brim’ breakfast we hit the road. I took my strongest hayfever meds and didn’t suffer too badly in the morning. At about 12pm we cycled through Landeck, a larger town than any we’d seen so far.
We cycled past Jane and Rutherford, who stopped for a chat and said they’d just been to a chemist! So I went in and bought two replacement bottles of nasal spray and two bottles of eye drops, which now brings my total quantity of hay fever meds to seven.
We stopped at a cafe for a drink which turned out to be more like a dessert – a very ice cream heavy iced chocolate and iced coffee. They came with three long wafers to scoop up the icecream. Delicious!
Heading out of Landeck was a bit of road riding, then gravel, then a lovely tarmac bike path.
Not far out of Landeck we saw this interesting ruin. Imagine living up there! You certainly wouldn’t be popular with the postman.
Lots of horses around, particularly palominos.
We stopped in a little village to refill our soft water bottles and found this curious religious statue. Is it Mary or Eve? Or is this a commentary on how all the women in the bible are either mothers or of ill repute?
A little further along we decided to stop at what looked like a charming little cafe.
It seemed small but was like the tardis as we went in.
Hundreds of seats and a dozen different shops. From the other side it was clearly a Highway service station. We ended up buying ice cream and sitting outside. Coconut for me, caramel for Luke.
The day’s ride was pretty easy compared to the previous days and, apart from a wrong turn down an extremely low and creepy (probably haunted) tunnel, we made it to our hotel without too many worries.
So many cobwebs!No fun!
The path was a lot easier in every way and so we made pretty good time, arriving around 3pm.
Time for a drink at the restaurant.
Most of our discussion over drinks revolved around the excessive number of flies in Switzerland and Austria and the complete lack of flyscreens. No matter where you sit they are landing on your plate and no one else seems terribly bothered by them.
We ended up having dinner at 6, knudels (mac and cheese) and salad for me, cordon Bleu and chips for Luke. mine had dried caramelised onions on top, which I will have to try at home because it was a great combo.
Prices continue to become more reasonable the further we get from St Moritz
I’d like to say we went out partying but I was asleep by 7pm and didn’t wake up until after 5am. I think the relief of having enough medication to make the trip enjoyable was such a great weight of my mind I could properly relax.
Our room at the hotel was nice too, spacious with a balcony lined with purple petunias.
Roomy!Mountain views
Poor Luke was up until 11 playing games with his headphones in.
I’d like to say we slept well but for no good reason that I can think of, the church in Zernez rings the bells on the hour 24 hours a day. I definitely heard the 11pm, midnight, 2am and 4am bells. Also the pillows were terrible, which we are coming to expect. Complain complain! I know, but travel isn’t all fun and I think the bad bits are often more memorable or notable.
Anyhow, breakfast was not newsworthy at all (basic Scandinavian breakfast of cold meats, cheeses, yogurt etc), apart from seeing Jane and Rutherford in the breakfast room and learning that they too are Wordle players.
Goodbye Zernez, with your excellent pool and your terrible church.
The church bells rang for 9am just as we cycled out of Zernez.
The morning’s ride began with gravel, some steep ups and downs that were made much easier with the e-bikes. Rutherford had pointed out that all the gravel would be much easier going if we’d had better tyres and I couldn’t help thinking about this as I juddered along. It was nowhere near as bad as the previous day though.
We saw our first covered bridges, which were difficult to photograph in the bright sunlight.
Initially our ride was fairly low in the valley and close to the river.
We rode through very picturesque little villages and along quiet roads. Usually I have to angle my camera to get shots without people, but that hasn’t been a problem since we left Zürich – the Engardin valley seems almost deserted. There’s the Swiss version of the Tour de France next weekend – for those who find the original too easy perhaps? So it will no doubt get busier soon. We’re very lucky to have the paths and tracks almost to ourselves.
Halfway through the morning we were very much not on the valley floor but halfway up the side. In most places there were no rails or fences and having to ride on the right side and close to the edge made me quite anxious. It’s very strange to be somewhere so beautiful and dramatic but not be able to look at it without stopping.
Of course we did stop quite frequently to take photos, and only having to travel 30km meant we didn’t have far to go. I was glad of the early start though as my hayfever wasn’t great and my eyes were watering quite a bit.
The third last village we went through, Ardez, was so beautiful! The houses were very traditional and had some amazing art painted on them that seemed very Gaelic to me.
Look at the detail!
The whole town was lovely, if completely silent. Switzerland has frequently reminded me of Japan and the quietness is another of those attributes. The others are the proliferation of natural springs, wood-based architecture and high prices. Both also suffer from frequent and devastating natural disasters (earthquakes and avalanches) as well as warmongering neighbours. Also both are places where you’ll regularly see everyday people in traditional costume. The more I think about it, the more similarities there are!
The church was perhaps the most plain building in the place.
The best part of the day was between the third and second last villages. It was a pristine stretch of asphalt that didn’t allow motorised vehicles. Only bikes and hikers! It also had a barrier between us and the vertical drop down the side most of the time so I could relax a little.
We stopped at a cafe at the second last village and had a drink, trying to delay our arrival at the hotel until a reasonable hour.
A very frothy cappuccino Cafe in Ftan and no, I do not know how to pronounce it.
The last stretch was great quality road but steep hairpin bends and more traffic, including a number of trucks. I sat on my brakes the whole way down – sitting on the right again meant being on the edge of a drop. I didn’t love it (I hated it) but the hotel wasn’t far from the end of the descent.
The hotel was lovely, the staff were friendly, the immediate surrounds smelled like a mound of freshly-produced cow manure. Not a small amount of manure either, like a herd of a thousand cows had all gathered here to poop for a month. Still, the place did have an indoor pool.
But first, our room. It was magnificent.
If you’ve been to my house or followed our renovations, you’ll know how much I love wood panelling.
The quilts (you always get one each) were in a heart shape! Aww!
We even had a little lounge area. The views from the windows were excellent too.
The cable car run is right outside.Mountains!
It was delightful. Also we had places to plug in all our devices, which we hadn’t in the last hotel. We did some hand washing of undies then headed to the hotel’s pool.
We had it to ourselves for most of the time and it was 27 degrees, very nice!
I wasn’t keen to go outside in the late afternoon and reignite my hayfever (also… manure smell) so Luke went for a walk while I had a rest. He discovered that everything was downhill from the hotel, which made walking back a bit exhausting.
We had dinner booked in the hotel at 7. I had carbonara but Luke had schnitzel, which he’d been looking forward to since we got to Switzerland. And it was only $70 AUD (ouch) but cheaper than Zürich prices and a very generous serve.
Not pictured: a bowl of chips. Which I ate half of because I like to help Luke out when I can. Yes, I’m a Samaritan, guilty as charged!
I splashed out on TWO glasses (100ml each, wtf) of wine that at $12 each were almost at Melbourne prices.
Now we’re lying in bed watching YouTube videos and sending thoughts and prayers to our washing so it dries by morning.
A few more photos of the day to finish.
Luke doing a weird pose.Classic SwitzerlandMore tractorsDetailed signage. Beautiful buildings with charming detail.
I’m hoping tomorrow will be less hectic than the last few days… it’s a 51km day so fingers crossed for us and our sore hindquarters!
Thanks to Danny booking our accommodation in an epic location, we are really close to almost everything in Porto.
Our apartment is in that white building, behind it is the main cathedral and town square and it’s right beside the biggest bridge across the river.
We had an excellent sleep then I found a very Melbourne-style cafe for breakfast, but at about half the price of a Melbourne brunch.
Near us was a large table of people of various ages who were all spread out using various devices and tapping away. We thought they were all working independently. Just before we left they all stopped typing and started introducing themselves and talking about poetry. We tried to overhear when was going on but it was a bit mysterious.
Next stop: stained glass museum! As you can imagine, one of us was more excited about this that the other.
Danny wasn’t terribly keen, but it was only eight euros and literally backed onto our accommodation so if he wanted to go sit it out he could.
A nice surprise when we paid…
Art and port, a winning combination! Sure, it was 11am but it would have been rude to refuse.
The museum is very small but had some nice stained glass.
Tiffany!
Next, a quick break at the apartment to charge devices and do some puzzles with our feet up. I hadn’t known previously that we were both fans of word puzzles and this book I bought in Australia has been great entertainment.
Then we went for a walk and had a snack break with a view.
It was kind of a brioche-pizza-calzone mashup.
We wanted to do a bit of shopping today. We walked to a mall for a look around and I bought a book. Shopping centres really are the same all over the world.
I was very grateful that the mall bookshop had a couple of shelves of books in English and even a decent selection of fantasy and sci fi.
We went on a walk around town to see street art and other lovely sights.
Iconic Porto church.
I found a nice middle-aged-lady fashion store and bought a dress to wear if we go out to somewhere nice for dinner. While in the shop I met a couple of Kiwis who had been living in Mount Martha for the last ten years. it’s (relatively) just down the road from where I live so it seemed like quite a coincidence.
Next we walked through some markets where I bought strawberries. the strawberries we’ve had here have been really great.
Danny has been wanting some open shoes that would be more comfortable with his blisters.
Despite my encouragement he didn’t even try on this pair of fake-diamond-encrusted trainers (rude) and went for some Birkenstocks.
We made it to 10km and decided to have an afternoon rest and watch some Rick and Morty, during which Danny feel asleep and I started my book.
I’m coming to realise that this isn’t my most riveting blog entry but I’ve written too much to stop now!
Porto is a VERY hilly city and the walk to our restaurant for the evening was quite an ordeal. Worth it though, for views towards the sunset and feeling like we’d found a place where locals hang out.
I’d been reading up on local street artists and there was some work right by our spot.
Subtle but beautiful. Hazul luzer, a local artist.
We walked back to the apartment to get our laundry at 9pm. It turned out that the nearest laundromat was halfway back to the restaurant. Up and down hills again.
In the very new and clean laundromat we got talking to a couple from Melbourne and a couple from Turkey. We all agreed that the laundromat was the place to be on Monday nights.
We’d brought drinks, everyone agreed it was the right idea.
Despite making an effort to stay up later and fight my jet lag with all my heart, I woke up at 4am. With nothing better to do I turned the television on quietly and there was a cooking show where a woman demonstrated how to make risotto in a Bundt tin and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this level of cognitive dissonance sober.
*shudder*
Breakfast wasn’t until 8 but I went down early anyway and the lovely lady in the kitchen was happy to accomodate me with a perfect plate of traditional English breakfast fare, which I think every will agree, is one of the best ways to start the day.
Much better than risotto Bundt. No grilled tomato or black pudding and I’m not apologising.
There were two men at another table having their breakfast just after I finished mine. We got chatting and it turned out they were on their way to Scotland to pick up medical supplies for people in Ukraine. They were retired and had started an organisation in the New Forest to provide aid. A doctor in Scotland had things to donate so they were driving north to collect the stuff then drive to Ukraine to deliver everything. This was the tenth time they had made the trip!
They were both very good humoured about it and clearly loved what they were doing. I suggested golf would be an easier way to get out of the house and they laughed, saying their wives were happy to see them go;-). People are so interesting, no matter who I talk to I learn something surprising!
Although the weather had improved slightly I wasn’t keen on walking too far so I inquired about the possibility of a bus to Penrith, assuming there would be at least a few each day. No, actually there was one… a week! But it went today! No one at the pub knew precisely when it went so I walked up to the shop and asked there. No one at the shop had ever caught the bus but they pointed me to the sign next to the bus shelter and it turned out I had a bit over an hour before the bus left and it would give me two hours in Penrith before doing the return trip. This was all very exciting and I promised to report back upon my return. Time for a few photos of daffodils before it arrived.
I arrived at the bus stop early and was joined by a man and then a woman and we had a good chat about how high property prices are, the scourge of Airbnb rentals and how terrible the weather was. Then a woman (Kay) pulled up in her car as she knew the lady (June) and asked if all of us would like a lift into a Penrith. I was a bit torn because I’d been looking forward to catching this mysterious once-a-week bus, but I also didn’t 100% trust it to turn up so I said yes to the lift.
The bus stop contains some cushions and a box of books. If you leave a donation it goes towards the pool.
It turned out to be quite an interesting ride – June runs the local OUTDOOR pool, however it’s not open for a couple more weeks. When it’s open it’s heated to 29 degrees! I am so sad that I can’t go, I’m definitely putting it on my list of things to do on my next visit.
We were dropped off in Penrith, with many thanks to Kay, and I arranged to meet June at Morrisons at 1:15pm. I had a short list of things I needed, which I managed to buy in the first 15 minutes so then I was free to wander around town.
Penrith has some charming laneways but this photo makes it look kind of derelict.. but it isn’t, I promise!
I had a walk around, bought two op shop books then realised I’d already read one of them so I left it in the bus stop box in Askham before I left. I took a few photos of some buildings around town too.
I had a cup of coffee in a cafe that seemed entirely filled with very noisy elderly people who either all knew each other or just like talking loudly to strangers (right up my alley, obviously) and the vibe was great.
Highly recommended!
The only other thing I did in town was look at the museum, which was small but had many interesting things. I particularly liked the Roman coins and this quiver and arrows.
I wandered up to Morrisons in time to meet June and then catch the bus back. June was probably in her late fifties but everyone else on the bus was definitely on their second set of teeth. They were talking about a young couple in the village who were very nice and then after a bit someone remarked that the couple in question were in their sixties 😂.
Then one of the ladies said a friend of her had written a book and everyone wanted to know what it was about and she said very loudly ‘Sex!’ and everyone laughed and wanted to know more but she claimed she hadn’t actually read it. By this time June and I, up the back of the bus, were almost crying we were laughing so hard.
When we got off she asked what I thought and I said it was the most entertaining bus ride I’d had in a long time!
When I got back to the Punchbowl it was a bit early to be propping up the bar so I took a walk to the other end of the village. I saw a church yard with some very old tombstones and lots more daffodils.
Beautiful but also kind of creepy.
Further on I walked over the river and then saw Lowther castle in the distance. Jet lag has really been an issue in the afternoons so I turned back after a short walk.
I had mentally prepared myself for a quiet evening as the previous night had been so enjoyable, chatting to so many people had really filled my tank in terms of social interactions, and the chances of having two great evenings in a row seemed unlikely, however it turned out that the second night at the Punchbowl was even better than the first.
Lakeland beers
I ended up chatting to the bar staff but also meeting a local, David, who is an author. He has one book published but is working on his next book, which is part of a three book deal, which I thought was very impressive!
I wish I’d got a photo together as we got on so well. We talked about poetry, art, music, film, travel – everything! It was so lovely to meet someone so interesting. I gave him the blog address so if you’re reading this, David, leave a message!
Being a bit more of a homebody than myself, he was very concerned at my laissez faire approach to my travels (I had no idea where I was staying the following night) but if you’re reading this I’d like to reassure you things worked out ok although I did nearly kill myself climbing over a very precarious stile!
Whew! Congratulations to anyone who slogged through this enormous post. It was all very fascinating to me but maybe not everyone is interested in the joys of regional bus services and swathes of daffodils😂. Good news, in the next post I actually do some hiking!
As Luke’s aunt and uncle live in Dedham we decided to incorporate a visit with a leg of the Essex Way, a long distance walking trail that stretches from the English Channel to the eastern edge of London.
Dedham sits close to the middle of the Way. We decided to walk from Great Horkesley to Dedham on the first day, stay the night then walk from Dedham to Manningtree the next as it would be easy to catch the train back to Cambridge. Also the part around Dedham is considered one of the prettiest on the Way as it’s an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
We left Cambridge mid morning and caught the bus from Bar Hill into town then a train from Cambridge to Ipswich then another train from Ipswich to Colchester. The train to Colchester was supposed to go on to London but due to a fatality on the track it was delayed in Colchester indefinitely.
From Colchester we caught a bus to Great Horkesley where we shared a steak and ale pie at the amusingly-named Half Butt Inn.
I had about a quarter and Luke had the rest, primarily because I’d weighed myself at Andrew’s and been mightily displeased with the results.
Anyhow, a little bit of pie was just as delicious as a lot and it’s good not to set out with a bursting stomach.
We set off up the road looking for the Way markers and were soon on the right track.
The Essex Way turned out to be much, much better marked than the Cumbria Way. Almost every time there was a turn it was clearly signposted. We only missed one marker and took two wrong turns, each of which only cost us a few extra minutes. I wouldn’t recommend doing it without a map but we coped quite well with a combination of a printout from from the website and google maps. On the Cumbria Way I would recommend the full OS maps but they weren’t necessary here.
A lot of the Essex Way seemed to be through fields.
A lot of them weren’t particularly scenic.
Maybe it wasn’t the best time of year to do it? We saw a lot of onions and beets, anyhow.
Essex is also very, very flat. We only walked up and down perhaps three small slopes in the two days of walking. This would make it an excellent walk for people with little experience doing long walks, plus you’re always within sight or sound of a road so it would feel a lot less daunting than being out on the moors or up a mountain. The trade off, off course, is that it’s nowhere near as beautiful. If the Lake District was a ten then most of what we saw on this trail (which admittedly wasn’t much) rates about a two. There are some pretty vistas across gently undulating fields with church spires in the distance but half the trail is between hedges and you can’t actually see anything.
Also not great if you’re a bit nervous of cars. Good for snacking on blackberries though, of which there was an abundance!
The little villages are very picturesque and if you like that he’s cottages you’ll be in heaven.
I particularly like all the churches and their fancy lych gates. Lych gates originated in the medieval period as a place for mourners to bring the corpse (litch) to be accepted by the priest. The lych gate was a covered place for them to wait.
This part of England is known for horse breeding and racing so we saw a few horses along the way too.
As we neared Dedham our feet were aching so we stopped for a drink at Milsom’s, the fancy restaurant that we’d visited on our previous visit to Mark and Sue. They didn’t bat an eyelid at our sweaty clothes and red faces, which was awfully good of them.
After a half pint and a rest we felt slightly refreshed and didn’t find the last kilometre too taxing. We walked nearly 19 kilometres on our first day, a good effort after a number of weeks of slacking off. We also managed to get in just before the clouds opened. Lucky!
The following day we had a delicious cafe breakfast that was as good as anything you’d get in Melbourne and had another look at the renovations of Mark and Sue’s place. It’s really come along since we were last there! It’s all going to look amazing when it’s done and there’s lots of neat little aspects, like windows that close automatically when it starts raining.
I took a few photos of Luke with his cousins Alice and Isabel. Luke is the oldest of his generation of cousins as his mother is the eldest of nine Dempsey children. Luke’s uncle Mark is the youngest of the nine (and only four years older than me!) so his children are the youngest of that generation of cousins. Does that make sense?
It was lovely to see them all again!
Our second day of walking was from Dedham to Manningtree. It wasn’t anywhere near as far as the first day but that was probably just as well as we were a bit stiff. The views on day two were a bit better and we only went off track once right at the end. It did mean climbing a fence and crouching through some trees but we emerged on the footpath only a couple of hundred metres from Manningtree station.
We stopped off at the surprisingly nice Station Hotel in Ipswich for lunch (surprising because hotels that are next to train stations are often rubbish) and then continued on the Cambridge.
All in all, a good walk for our level of fitness and experience but not terribly scenic. Perhaps it would be better in Spring? It did seem like a walk that wouldn’t get too muddy (unlike the CW) and is much more accessible. That being said we only saw one other walker in the whole two days and he was also doing the Essex Way. We stopped for a moment to chat and he expressed surprise as well that we were the first people he’d seen and he’d been walking all day. I’m glad we saw at least one other walker so Luke could have a small taste of what I’d experience on an hourly basis in Cumbria. Often chatting to other walkers took up several hours of my day! How strange that, this close to London, we only saw one person.
A few more photos to finish with – and could someone tell me what plant this is?
Here Comes The Planet 