Journal - Woman on Her Way

July 21: Aberdovey

Yesterday we met Sheila Harper on the train. She is an octogenarian who was a teacher and then headmistress. During WWII, she and her siblings and cousins were sent to Wales; she is returning to see it, having heard nothing has changed. She regaled us with stories of her childhood, her time teaching the RAF, and her post-retirement trips and amateur Shakespearean acting.

Time sped quickly, and as we approached Machynlleth (Mac), where we were to disembark, the conductor announced that the first two cars of the train were going to separate from the rest to go a different direction. People scrambled with their luggage in the narrow aisle to change to the appropriate cars. What a hoot!

At the station, we asked for directions to Pas Panteidal, a small community near Aberdovey, and were told how to get to the bus stop. Later, the French couple we approached returned to drive us there. The woman had an English mother and had spent her summers as a child in this coastal area. Since she had never been to Pas Panteidal, she was curious to see it; her less-enthused husband drove us about eight miles out of his way to the turnoff and then up to a progressively narrowing mountain road to our rental hilltop chalet. The view is fantastic from here, but the closest grocery store is three miles over the mountains. As we asked our neighbors for directions, Jill and her mother-in-law June decided that we would not have time to hike to the store before it closed and kindly drove us there.

Taking advantage of not having to backpack the groceries, Dennis and I grabbed can goods and basics (including two bottles of wine) enough to enable us to eat for several days. To thank our helpful neighbors, we will give them our linen when we leave. This was a great exchange for both of us.

Dawn awoke me at 4:44 A.M. Sunrise at 5:15. I propped my pillow to block the rays and fell back to sleep. After rising, I fed the birds and enjoyed the brisk mountain breeze and glorious morning. Our landlord left a note saying we could feed the hedgehog peanuts. Never having seen one, I hope to coax it out from the woods.

It took us 2.5 hours to walk to Aberdovey. Since it is Sunday and there are few buses, and since we are also carrying groceries, we will take a taxi home. The fare is £8 ($12.21). For this reason, we will not be coming to town too often.

July 19: London

We met Diana and Hanna Friedman at the Princess Diana’s Playground in Hyde Park. After chatting and watching Hanna play, we went for lunch. Diana brought us up to speed about the goings-on of our mutual friends in Sarasota; her wit as sharp as ever.

After lunch, Dennis and I visited The London Towers. Fortunately there was not a lot of stress on the tortures and beheadings. The Beefeater (tour guide) presented historical data for about thirty minutes, and then we toured the tours on our own.

I particularly liked the info on the Royal Menagerie, a zoo developed from gifts of exotic animals. There were lions, ostriches, monkeys, porcupines, snakes—even a polar bear. For entertainment, people would bring cats and dogs for the wild animals to prey on. The polar bear was tethered and then allowed to fish in the River Thames. With all the pollutants in the river during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, I am surprised the animal survived. Eventually the animals became part of the London Zoo.

Tomorrow we set out for Wales. I will have to walk into town for WiFi, so the postings may be more sporadic.

July 18: London

We purchased Day Travelcards at the Visitors Center. With these one-day tickets, we can get on-off the bus, subway, or local train as often as we wish. This is a lot less than the tours they sell in the city. After a 25 minute subway ride, we came out of the tube at Oxford Street and bustled through the crowds by world-renowned stories until we arrived at Trafalgar Square and took pictures of Icarus.

On The Mall, we gazed at the enormity of the buildings and monuments; prior to skyscrapers they built monstrous stone edifices. We strolled through St. James Park stopping to watch the ducks and admire the gardens. There are many parks in London, and this one was filled with people, even though it was a weekday. Some were in bathing suits others in work clothes. Kids romped in the grass while older people on canes slowly inched along on shaded paths or sat feeding the pigeons. People gregariously chatted or listened to iPODs while texting. I heard various languages and saw people dressed in native clothing or fads such as grunge and heavy metal. There was even a model doing a photo-shoot.

We were too late to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Place and too early for the queen to offer us tea–I will need to return later tomorrow to sip the brew and enjoy the crumpets.

It is an honor to guard the queen, but it must be difficult to stand so still in the hot-looking uniforms at 90 F.

In Hyde Park we sat on the ground in the shade of a chestnut tree to eat hot dogs. I don’t usually like tube steaks, but this one was delicious. At the Speakers Corner, I was so disappointed to learn that the speakers are there only on Sundays that I had to console myself with a scoop of double chocolate ice cream. Yum!

We saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, but I had no interest in exploring either.

The highlight of the day for us was the Jack the Ripper walking tour. Andre, the guide is an historian who has been studying Jack the Ripper for 25 years. He led us to the sites of the murders and described the incidents and police findings and gave us his own conclusion about the identity of this serial killer. I now want to see the Johnny Depp movie From Hell and Dennis wants to read Jack the Ripper:The Final Solution by Stephen Knight. Have you seen the movie or read the book?

July 17: London

We decided to stay a few more days in London. Since we could not extend our stay our current hotel, we went in search of another. The Tourist Office suggested the Mitre Hotel, which is smack in the middle of Greenwich. We will move there tomorrow. After completing this chore, we went to the train station to book our tickets to Wales. I could not believe how inexpensive the tickets were (about £52 for the two of us), thanks to the senior discount.

We then enjoyed the panoramic view of London from the Royal Observatory. As we climbed the hill to the lookout, Dennis was amazed at how much prime land England gives to the people to enjoy. Greenwich Park, surrounded by a 12-foot high, two-mile long wall, covers 73 hectares (183 acres) and is the oldest enclosed Royal Park. People were sunbathing (yes, some in bathing suits) or sitting in the shade, playing games, strolling, or paddling boats on the pond–just having a good time.

The Shephard Clock Gate welcomes you to the Royal Observatory. The clock was probably the first to display Greenwich Mean Time to the public, and is unusual in using the 24-hour analogue dial.

The displays demonstrate how important having accurate time was for seamen. With it, they could determine their exact position (longitude and latitude) and avoid wrecking the ship.

The museum had models and anecdotes about the various attempts to develop a way to accurately determine time. Once such story is the Powder of Sympathy. It was believed that anyone cut with a weapon that was dipped into the powder would feel pain whenever the weapon was dipped into the powder. The plan was to cut a dog with a knife that had been plunged into the powder, and take that dog aboard the ship. Someone at the South Gate Clock would plunge that same knife into the powder at noon causing the dog to yelp and providing the captain with the accurate time. Of course, it proved absolutely useless.

In the past, the Prime Meridian (the first longitude) varied by country and mapmaker. Obviously, this caused a lot of confusion. In 1884, 22 countries voted to adopt the Greenwich meridian as the prime meridian of the world. You can see the prime meridian in the picture on the right. Nowadays, a green laser shines at night to indicate the the meridian; the green beam can be seen for about 15 miles.

Since we have not been using our packs, I am concerned about out-eating my caloric expenditure. While backpacking, I burn three times more calories per hour than when I am just walking. Notice how much Dennis at 180 lbs burns compared to someone like me at 130 lbs. It just isn’t fair! Do you think that if I gain weight, I will burn more calories?

Calories burned walking

Activity (1 hour)	130 lb	155 lb	180 lb	205 lb
Walking 3.0 mph, moderate	195	232	270	307
Walking 3.5 mph, brisk pace	224	267	311	354
Walking 3.5 mph, uphill	354	422	490	558

Calories burned during other climbing, hiking activities

Hiking, Climbing, Walking (1 hour)	130 lb	155 lb	180 lb	205 lb
Climbing hills, carrying 10 to 20 lb	443	528	613	698
Climbing hills, carrying 21 to 42 lb	472	563	654	745
Hiking, cross country	354	422	490	558

The cabin we are going to in Wales on Saturday does not supply sheets or towels. Since we cannot backpack them after our stay, I did not want to spend too much. The hotel concierge recommended ASDA as a place to buy inexpensive sheets. Once we got there, we discovered that ASDA is an English subsidiary of Walmart. Unlike the American chain, these had limited clothing and supplies; it was mostly a grocery store. Like the American version, it was mobbed.

Many street crossings are marked which way to look before crossing. I guess I am not the only one who had to be reminded about the safety rule to always look first in the direction of vehicular travel.

July 16: London

By chance, we stopped for breakfast at Alacosta Coffee. The cafe latte was superb, the garden where we sat was cool and peaceful, and the owner Eddy Wong (right) and his worker were energetic and friendly. Eddy developed his own blend of coffee to produce an excellent brew. He took time from his work to describe Greenwich and its attractions. I am looking forward to returning tomorrow to have another perfect java and to converse with Eddy and staff. I can’t think of a more perfect way to start the day.

We visited the Maritime museum and learned about England and its relationship with the sea. There was a special exhibition Visions of the Universe which explained the planets and the showed pictures of the universe taken with the Hubble telescope. We spent about four hours visiting the various rooms.

While Dennis slept beneath a tree on the museum lawn, I visited the Queen’s House. It originally belonged to Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. In the 1800s, the house became an orphanage and school for training boys for maritime careers. Now the building is a fine arts museum. I loved the Tulip Staircase, the parquet entrance, and decorative ceilings.

We explored the Cutty Sark. It was interesting to learn about the ship, its travels, and cargo. The sailors’ quarters were miniscule; I can’t imagine laying in the short and narrow bunk that is just slightly longer than Dennis’ arm. Of course, the Captain and mates had more luxurious cabins and dinning area, but even these were not very roomy. I think it must have been a very difficult and dangerous life, at nature’s mercy, without communications, medical services, or guarantee of return.

We walked under the River Thames via a pedestrian tunnel. The air was cool, in contrast to the 90 F temperatures topside. Once on the London side, we walked east on the river path, hoping to get to the Thames Barrier, structures used to protect London from tidal flooding. We never got there. After walking for about two hours, we decided to take the train back to the hotel. Unfortunately, the closest station was several miles away and we walked an additional hour before arriving. It has been a full and tiring day.

Don’t you think Dennis could have been an Old Salt?

July 15: London

We arrived at the Charlton Station in Greenwich, England, a suburb of London, about 1 pm. From there to our hotel was a short jaunt. Once settled in, we walked about 2 miles to the center of Greenwich. We ate at the Gipsy Moth, one of Greenwich’s favorite contemporary pubs. Coincidentally, while we sat there, a moth fluttered by our table and then landed on the salt shaker. The eatery is near the British clipper ship, the Cutty Sark, so named because the maidenhead is wearing a sark (chemise) which is too small (cutty) and exposing her breasts. In her hand she holds a grey horse’s tail. According to the Alexandria Burn’s epic poem, Tam o’ Shanter, Cutty Sark was chasing Tom who was riding a grey horse, but all she got was the horse’s tail. It is an indication of the ship’s speed.

We then took a tour boat on the Thames, London’s river, to see the skyline and some of the many bridges that span it. One of the prettiest is the Blackfriars bridge. Others of interest are the Waterloo Bridges, sometimes referred to as “the ladies’ bridge” because when it was bombed in WWII, women reconstructed it. Londoners nicknamed the Millennium Bridge (built in 2000) the “Wobbly Bridge” after participants in a charity walk to open the bridge felt a swaying motion; the bridge was then closed for two years to correct the wobble.

London has an easily identifiable skyline. Some of most famous buildings that we saw include the Whitehall, London Tower (left), Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the OXO building, Westminster Abby, and the replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where you can see a Shakespearean play for £5. All these places I had read about were coming to life and adding a different perspective to mine.

Some of the more modern structures include a dildo-looking building, 30 St Mary Axe, nicknamed “the gherkin”, the London Eye (a giant Ferris wheel on the south bank of the River Thames; it is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom and takes a half-hour to complete one revolution), and the Glass Shard, the tallest building in the UK and EU. I need to return to see the skyline after dark; I am sure the lighting will enhance the experience.

The tour ended at the Tower Bridge. To catch the train back to the hotel, we had to walk across the London Bridge. I was disappointed in its ordinariness; it lacks character, unlike others spanning the Thames.

July 13: Circuit walk to Wilton

To our surprise, there are no rooms or campsites available in Bath or Portsmouth this weekend,. For this reason, we found another B & B in Salisbury and plan to take walking trips. Today we hiked a circuit from Salisbury to Wilton and back—about 10 miles. We started out about 4:00 in the afternoon (to avoid the noon heat) and returned to the city about 8:30 P.M. After a quick meal, we walked the remaining 1.5 miles to the B & B. It was a great day!

Leaving Salisbury, we passed St. Paul’s Church, supposedly the site of the last public hanging in Salisbury. On the eve of the execution, the prisoner tried to commit suicide by slashing his throat. The doctor stitched him up and he was hung the next day. Unfortunately, the doctor had done a poor job of suturing and the people closest to the dying man were sprayed with arterial blood.

We walked around the Wilton House and property that belongs to the Earl of Pembroke. There is a high stone wall surrounding the estate that we guessed to be 1.5 miles on the width and over a mile on the length. Now only a third of its original size, it encompasses 14,000 acres—about 7/8 the size of the city of Sarasota. At times, we could see forest and hills with horses grazing, but for the most part the place was hidden.

In Wilton, we walked by the Italianate Church of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, consecrated in 1845. The entrance way is ornate marble. Look at all the details.

Wilton has many centuries-old buildings with short doorways indicating the stature of people in the past. Dennis would have to be careful not to bump his head entering these portals slightly taller than I am.

As we walked, we laughed at many humorous signs. Below are a few of them.

July 12: Stonehenge

Today we took a double-decker bus to Stonehenge. We sat on top and enjoyed the view and narrative. At Stonehenge, we used audio guides to listen to explanations and details about the circle of stone. My first impression was that it seemed smaller than I imagined. No one seems to know why these giant pillars are placed there, positioned to act as a calendar, or how the bluestone slabs were brought from Wales to the Salisbury Plain. The audio guide talked about the various theories and myths and gave a lot of interesting (and boring) facts.

Twenty-five years ago, Dennis visited this site that dates back to the Neolithic period, some 5,000 years past. When he came, he and his friend were the only ones looking at the stones. Now there is a booming tourist business involving buses, souvenirs shops, and a tourist center that is slated to open this December.

From here, the bus took us along a two-car garage wide road that snaked around hills and steep grades to the Old Sarum Castle. Branch limbs were bouncing off the windows and top as it hugged the banks at a rapid speed to let other vehicles by. At one point, a tractor had to back up and climb the shoulder to let the bus pass. Riding upstairs on this part of the trip takes courage–or blinders.

Old Sarum Castle are ruins of a royal palace, cathedral, and town dating back to the 12th century. It was fun to lay on the grass and try to imagine what life was like for the inhabitants. There were the privileged few and the workers: bakers, archers, police, cooks, and those that dug out the royal privy. I imagine that they had hopes and disappointments, celebrated births and weddings and cried at funerals, and had feelings similar to people of this era. I wonder if they had time and inclination to ponder their existence and the ability to change their plot. I left grateful to be living now rather than then.

I was hungry and wanted to take the bus back to the city. Since we only walked a few miles today (and since he had a Full English Breakfast), Dennis wanted to walk back to town; not on the dangerous roads, but on a “short cut” he spied from the top of the hill where the castle ruins were. The path quickly became a single track and then a walk though grasses that at times reached my head. I was not pleased. I had no idea where I was and my instincts said I was going away from where I wanted to be (and food). Dennis kept saying he knew where he was and why could I not have faith in his guiding ability. By the time we crossed the river and got back onto paved roads, I was very lost. Also, it was late and all the eateries had stopped serving at 2:oo P.M. I ended up buying a sandwich in the Shell petro quick market. Not very satisfying.

July 11: Salisbury

Nature treated us to a wonderful sunset last night, and then an imposing display of stars. We never would have seen this had we not camped. The silk sheet that I placed inside my sleeping bag kept me warm and I slept better. After shaking off the morning dew from the tent, we took the street bus to Par, the neighboring town, and then the train to Salisbury. Come to find out that for £30 and proof of birth date, people over 60 years old can purchase a rail pass that provides a 33% discount on all trains in the U.K. When we asked at the tourist center yesterday, we were told that only citizens were eligible for this discount pass. When we arrived in Salisbury, we visited the Tourist Center there and asked them to contact the TC in Fowey; their misinformation cost us 18 quid.

We are staying at The Old House in Salisbury. This 16th century building was converted into a 10-room B & B by the present hosts a couple of decades back. It has lots of character, but I favor the meticulously-kept gardens. From our room, I can smell roses and honeysuckle. In fact, there is a floral scent throughout the city; the air is crisp without pollution, like after a spring rain. The center of Salisbury is a pedestrian zone with lots of eateries, markets and stores. We stopped for tea and pastries and watched the tourists walk by.

One of the stores on the street is The Last Bookstore, which made us comment on the life expectancy of print books. The majority of our books sales are e-books. When I started selling Women of the Way about a year ago, 30% of sales were printed vs. downloaded electronically; nowadays, the printed version is minimal. There was another bookstore in in town; it recently closed–another example of change resulting from technological advances.

We visited the Salisbury Cathedral. For more than 750 years, pilgrims have come here in search of inspiration and peace. In my opinion, it is much more attractive than the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. This was my first time in an Anglican church and found it less ornate (not so much gold and silver and fewer statues) than the ones I visited in Spain and Portugal. The church has beautiful grounds surrounded by a high wall with large oak gate entrances. It was a nice promenade to help us digest our evening meal.

July 10, Fowey

This is the view from our room. Lovely, isn’t it? It was a bit cool for me during the night; I will add the silk liner to my bag tonight. We decided to take a “zero” day (only walking into town.) There, we tried to make lodging reservations because the sections from here to Falmouth do not have many accommodations. Since we could not find any, we changed our plans. We will take the train to Salisbury. We will visit Stonehenge and Amesbury (after hearing Andy talk about it a few days ago). After that, we will head to London.

The British are very humorous. At the right is a sample of their humor. There are many whimsical signs such as this. Also, they like to tease. I am really enjoying them.