Boog's Blog

27 Sept. Another fine warm day. Getting warmer.

Decided to stay another day in this fine hotel. Walk the castle and then off to North western wales to do a coastal walk in Moelfre.

Conwy is, to our taste, far more interesting than Chester- a very good city. Here, we have mountains, views, a castle, no chain hotels, and a marina.

First a stop at the bank to turn in old British pounds, 20£ notes. No longer legal tender. HSBC bank explained that they usually will not exchange notes if one is not a customer. She made an exception for me, explaining several times that this is just not done.

Clearing up a detail from yesterday. A Welsh Cookie is a scone that has been
griddled and then buttered.

Edward I, grandson of Eleanor of Aquataine, king of england, owner of substantial estates in Aquataine, decided he need some Welsh property. That or he wanted access Welsh food.

He hired an army, paid them well, and after conquest started building the same type of castles as he had built in SW France. Used the same master Mason to build the one here in under four years. Well built as it is still standing.

Off to the coast to walk the shore and some inland fields, stiles, and mud; ended with tea and scones back in Moelfre.

Dinner included duck at the recommendation of Jane, our expert on all things Welsh; went well with local Conwy beer.

Sent from my iPad

Sent from my iPad

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> 26. Sept. Much too warm. According to locals nicest day since mid-August >
> Saving the castle for tomorrow we headed out on climb of Conwy Mountain. Bit challenging walk, often loner than advertised due in part printed directions. >
> Passing the UNESCO site (see graphic) the first turns we took were wrong.
> We passed an important ball of string: smallest house in Britain. The owner apparently toured the country to see if he could find a smaller one; did not.
> There was a small queue as the house only accommodates one person. Great view of the quay. >
> Next a wrong turn but got back to the correct point near the wrought iron railway crossing bridge pictured. Had to ask some locals for directions. At some point I mentioned we were doing country walks and had instructions such as “look for the mold on the rock”. He started to say that mold does not grow …and then realized my American attempt at humor; he smiled broadly when he got it. >
> Then up the side of the mountain. Nice view from the top. After descent with some help from other locals we got directed to an ice cream stand that makes their own vanilla flavor with local cream. Excellent. Two large cups were consumed and good they were as many more miles and hills to go. >
> Directions: where is Grovsfoord? Over the hill there in the next valley. Next person asked, where is Grovsfood? You are in it. Just these three houses. >
> Several mis-turns later arrive back in Conwy just in time for a late tea. Started at 11am and just got in under the 17:00 wire. 16th century building with a real tea shop. Very strong local building code about making changes. The owner said jail. >
> Jail I asked, not civil?
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> No, jail. Very serious about there listed houses.
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> Had Welsh Cakes, similar to pancakes, small like cookies, more flour than pancakes, raisins, served warm and buttered. Fresh scones and a lovely minted pea soup (just sounded too good to pass). Made me think of three of my favorite woman. >
> Mussels are a local speciality. Dinner. Do you have Conwy mussels. No, not until Oct. 1, sorry. Excellent kitchen. Appetizer pictured. Monkfish, salmon and many nice veggies. Of especial note , vanilla mashed potatoes. QB declared the especially good. >
> Pictures in email only. WordPress problems again.
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> Sent from my iPad

Sept. 25. Nice and too warm

Walking the wall of Chester and then off to Wales. Chester’s sites are well covered on many fine web sites. In summary, an excellent walking town, wall, pedestrian area, with several good restaurants. Chester sausages (me) and pancake with roasted vegetables (QB) as well as a plate, assorted, of fine salamis (Bobby) consumed just before a quick dash to the train station for Bob.

Concurrent with this blog are the reports from Spain by Libby, currently checking out Barcelona. This is a good thing as our back up plan might be Barcelona. George believes it is Rick Perry; Gail Collins in the NYT has declared Romney as the anointed one. Shudder.

Now in another foreign tongue land. Basque and Welsh are equally without recognizable cognates. With Catalan we stood a small shot at guessing words.

The link below describes the castle, well worth the visit by URL.
83 conwy castle. http://www.castlewales.com/conwy.html

Pictures: roman garden in Chester, across the bridge to Wales.

24 Sept. Nice day for a walk. One slight drizzle.

Bobby came up from London to join us for the weekend and for walking.

Total we “Little Budworth” pleasant walk with 13 stiles, some of which are pictured on Flickr site.

URL http://Flickr.com/photos/boogskbqb

Had to raise my voice in the overpriced hotel when they wanted 15 pounds for net connectivity. Bob had read the web site and believed it offered free connectivity. They finally saw it my way.

The main reason for the over priced rooms is the sold out city due to this being race day in Chester. Hats and fascinators abound. Smartly dressed folks walking and doing a lot of drinking. Festive.

We had a high end dinner at Abode. Famous two star Michelin chef. Good, very good, but not great. Prices were not London prices.

Chester has the most complete wall in England, we will walk it tomorrow. Also has the second most photographed clock in the UK. Good pic on Flickr.

Sept.23. Sunny and a bit too warm for walking.

Two walks today, both easy ones, links below.

The water park is literally a park filled with recreational water related amusements. Boating, jet skis, fishing, power boats, plus non-water based miniature railroad, biking, etc. The walk was an easier version of the Jordan Lake walk in Acadia. Easy paths, no rocks to scramble over. A very pleasant easy walk.

Not tired out we headed to Polesworth, second link. More interesting. Fresh blackberries off the bushes. Smaller than Whole Foods and far better taste. Walking along the canal tow path we got to chat with the barges moving along at our speed. As the water was low the barges could not go their full 4 miles per hour.

One owner, on the canal for half a year, balance at home, mentioned the expense of 3000 pounds for mooring, license etc. His boat was spotless and perfectly painted. We then noticed that almost all the boats were clean, polished and attractively painted. A few minutes later we saw a woman waving upriver. I asked, jokingly, you the spotter? Well, yes. There are three other boats near us and they are cleaning and polishing their boats, do not wish to compete, spotting a spot for us to moor away from the others.

Some pictures of Coombe Abbey gardens and the building here and on our Flickr site. Flickr pics not fully loaded or sorted.

Leek and potato soup, chicken tikka marsala for dinner. The Abbey has a first rate kitchen. Had trio of pork last evening while QB had halibut.

Kingsburywater park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsbury_Water_Park

manor and abby at polesworth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polesworth_Abbey

some pictures of the day

22 Sept. Nice day, pretty good for walking.

Overslept, must have been jet-lag. Before retiring QB said:
“it is vacation. It is not fun. Get up early. ” So much for intentions or instructions.

Off to Stowe for a walk over field and landscaped gardens, fresh scones and pots of teas at the national trust tea house.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-stowegardens/
Stowe house and gardens near Chackmore

Pictured is an 18th century bridge, and a wild?? Pig encountered along with other livestock.

Then, after an adventure with the NHS and Boots- a story best left for another telling, all worked out well, and a stroll around the perfectly ordinary, in a good way,English small city of Coventry we headed towards Coombe and a hotel called Coombe Abbey.

Coombe Abbey is now a semi-modern hotel. Was an Abby in the 12th century and remained so until HenryVIII dissolved them for his greater good. In 1925 became a private house but not before Hearst moved moved of the stonework and some of the interior to San Simeon. Many gentle readers will have seen more of the original abbey than we have.

Lovely place. Good kitchen too.

21 September.  Cloudy very slight drizzle
Milton Keynes,MK, is a new city.  Mid-century, 20th, not medieval but….. So rectlinear and concrete based that one wonders about the famous collection of architecs that were engaged.  See wikipedia for more details. 

Highlight of arrival was the immediate entry on the M25 with a right hand drive manual shift. Does have an automatic choak unlike last time.

Tomorrow we start walking. Tonight mostly sleeping. 

The next adventure mostly worked out.

Walk Hadrian’s Wall and then down East Anglia to Canterbury.

Boogs sack England. BSE.

8 November Intermittent rain

The Camino walk ended yesterday. This blog, at least the Busca portion, ends today.

First some stats:

Distance walked or biked from the GPS: 1789 kilometers, a bit over a 1000 miles

Climbed 15200 meters or just shy of ten miles.

Title earned: C2-QB When one completes the Hegira their legal name is prefixed by Haj. KB has now bestowed the appellation C2 to the QB. Completo Camino.

Camino Ditty composed, to the tune of “Tipperary”

It’s a long way to Santiago,
From Le Puy through Spain,
It’s a long way to Santiago,
With the blisters, rocks and pain.

Goodby Palo Alto,
Farewell Union Square,
It’s been a long long way to Santiago,
And now we are there.

Santiago’s cathedral looks like a sandcastle; just so many spires and crevices and points, each appropriately weathered.

We visited today for several purposes. Sharon wanted to light a candle for Mary, no real candles anymore, only electric ones, where one puts in euro coins of sufficient quantity and a candle lights up. With many sections available C2-QB chose a prayer from Saint Anthony.

KB wanted to hear the Organ and the singing. As we picked a noon time Mass both were well heard and worth hearing. I just like the big organs. A woman led the singing and her voice, the acustics, and the sound system combined to produce wonderful sounds.

Did a standard, translate as big, Spanish lunch. Paella and Percepes. The latter are found only in Portugal and Galicia according to Bob. They are barnacles that one sucks out of their tubes. Taste a bit like clams. Good, expensive, but not outstanding to my taste. Bob’s view differs.

Percepes

We made it

With a little help from Bob.

6 November partly cloudy to very cloudy, nice temp for walking or riding

First, yesterday’s post got messed up due to conductivity problems. None of the pics added by me were added. Pilgrimages are like this.

Today Bob walked with QB. They walked together for the full route and seem to have enjoyed the walk and experience. KB rode the Camino but today it was really a mountain bike trail, many rocks of many sizes almost the whole way – will take the road tomorrow.

Overall a nice autumn walk on a path that was, for walkers, one of the easiest of the trip.

QB mentioned the feeling of relaxation from the ending of the walk.

Not much on the way today except rocks and dirt. No architectural works – guess we are too close to Santiago to invest in the ‘burbs’.

Of note: clean socks and other sundries for Santiago. The place we are staying has a laundry.

Did see a current use for the orrio, see picture.

The local news has been on all day in all the bars and hotels. The O Papa arrived around 11:30, amid much security, kissing of ring, protocol and then did two masses, both in Latin. Full choir, maybe several, full orchestra, four soloists, and a packed cathedral for one mass and outside in the square for the second. Broadcast on TV and with Jumbotrons in the square.

Spoke to quite a few persons on the pilgrimage about the visit of O Papa. Only one was trying to get to Santiago to be part of the experience. Most or all others either scorned the crowds or this Pope. He clearly is not popular in Europe.

Now with Bobby