For those of you who don't live in London and therefore have not had the delight over the last few months of constant reminders to carefully plan your travel during the Olympics - including by the Mayor himself, Boris Johnson, via recorded audio messages that surprise you on the underground - this is a witty inversion of the web address set up to help with this planning, GetAheadOfTheGames.com. We have followed this advice and carefully planned an Olympic Escape - in fact I am writing this on the train, as it speeds out of London, heading to the North West of England. Carlisle, to be specific, from where we will be starting our Great Walk of Hadrian's Wall.
We're starting our holiday by travelling in the height of luxury - First Class on the train (due to the vagaries of the British rail network sometimes it only costs a little bit more than Second Class!) and the first couple of nights in a quite-nice-looking hotel near the Cathedral. The level of luxury will decrease quite quickly - in a few nights we'll be youth hostelling in a place that provides no meals!
This afternoon's post-arrival plans are to see the Castle & Cathedral and have a nice dinner! Early tomorrow morning we will get a bus to the western-most point of the wall, and walk back along the Solway Firth. After that it's rucksacks hoisted and the proper walking begins. I'm a little nervous, as it's pretty much my first walking holiday since going to Iceland on an A-level Geography field trip about 20 years ago, and the rucksacks are pretty heavy... But excited too, to see Hadrian's Wall and all the Romano-British archaeology along there, as well as the amazing landscape. I'm especially looking forward to spending time outside and taking exercise, because it feels like I have been locked up inside chained to my desk for the whole of this year so far, and much of last year!
Our reward at the end of the walk - which we have planned to take about 9 days - is to spend a few days chilling out on the Northumbrian coast with some friends who have a cottage up there. I am also looking forward to getting some good use out of our English Heritage and National Trust memberships!!
I don't plan to spend any time looking at emails or really keeping in touch with the outside world, though I may be moved to blog as we have our adventures along the Wall. In case I don't, enjoy the Games!
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2 comments:
Good luck Max! Remember, it's the wall in Cumbria, not China, so it's the short one, though I'm sure it'll seem long sometimes. But it'll be an experience you'll never forget.
That's 'Cumbria and stations east', or course...
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