Stamps

We all have our shells on backpacks like all the other peregrinos. Collected 4 stamps today.

Speaking Spanish

Well we have about 10 words between us and most people speak very little English so it's been a fun day. Ordering lunch was interesting and after a bit of swapping we all ate well.
Photos are typical of the villages we walk through sharing the road with cars and the farmland - mainly apples and grapes. Very beautiful and peaceful.

Buen Camino

The adventure begins. The team at Ponferrada as we leave for our first day. Carol our guide took us out for a fabulous dinner and gave us our orientation packs last night. She walked with us for the first hour.

Marathon time again

Stephen in the start village.
Last mile.
The kiwi runners at the hotel.
Stephen felt the hammy go after 800m so walked for 5 miles. Still sore so decided to run. No worse so kept trucking along and got to the Mall at 4:55:54. Pretty happy with that under the circumstances and feeling good now it's done.
We have said goodbye to Rhyl and Steve and Vhairi :(
Spain here we come :)

All Hallows' by the Tower

Met up with the Bennetts to attend the marathon service at the oldest church in London City. A good C of E service with plenty of 'run the good race' hymns. The 3 vicars wore their race numbers on their robes and promised to wear Lycra for the race. A pub dinner afterwards.

Cruisy Saturday

Had an early start saying goodbye to Britt as she trained back to Peterborough and Ali. Then chilled at the hotel for a bit. Stephen went back to the expo for running overload and a massage while Rhyl and I raced around the hotspots. V&A, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament all admired. We treated ourselves to a cup of tea and ice cream in Trinity Park and then met up with Stephen to watch the Tower bridge.

Tower Hill

Friday morning we had a fun time with Brittney trying on wedding dresses :) no photos for this one. As we left the studio Paula Radcliffe( British runner who holds world womens marathon record) jogged past. She will run her last marathon tomorrow. 

Show time

Thanks to Kere's perseverance we all enjoyed the Lion King at the Lyceum. What a great show with fabulous singing and props. Especially loved Rafiki and Timon and the amazing children who played the mini me Simba and Nala.

Ferrari time

 Walking home from Covent Garden we spotted these. 

Sent from Samsung Mobile

Kensington Palace

Had a wander through the gardens to settle the stomach and a rest on the grass at the Princess Diana memorial fountain which is a lovely arty and peaceful space.
Note on the last post the staff gave Stephen a special marathon good luck ganache- really lovely of them.

Dinner by Heston

Our lovely children shouted us a meal at Dinner - Heston Blumenthals restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental by Hyde Park. It was a fabulous meal with impeccable service. We had a first class view of the kitchen and of Hyde Park. Thanks kids it was awesome :)

Travelling

Thursday we drove back to London via the Cotswolds. Such beautiful countryside we could imagine Bilbo and Frodo enjoying it. The cities are a real contrast. 

Gone Potty

We went around the Burleigh factory in Stoke - they have been making china here for over 150 years. Each piece still passes through 25 pairs of hands from clay to glaze.

Kings Lynn

A trip to Norfolk in the afternoon to have a cuppa with Nick and Annalein and see the canaries. The tea is pretty strong in the UK. Stephen is kindly sharing his video so hope you can view it.

Peterborough Cathedral

This morning we visited the amazing cathedral where Katharine of Aragon is buried. Queen Mary 1 was also here but her son moved her (some time ago now). The first Abbey dates back to 657.

Dry Drayton

After surviving Schipol Airport ( huge and busy) we drove to this wee village where Brittney has traced Thomas Silk back to - 7x great grandfather. The graves were in a very organic state so we didn't find any Silks at all. Still a lovely interlude in the sunshine.
Now safely with Britt and Ali in Peterborough.

Impressions

Fashion: Double denim is in. So are ugg boots, tiny dogs( Poppy would love this lifestyle) and groovy spectacle frames.

Recycling: Great innovations seen at the markets. Supermarkets make it easy to recycle everything - even light bulbs and batteries.

Public Transport: Awesome in every place we've been. So frequent, clean, polite, fast and easy to use. Dense population sure helps.

Food: Great service and variety. Loved shopping in the supermarkets even tho the labels were so hard to read.

Language: Europeans have been so lovely with our inept skills in this department.

Locals: Super friendly and helpful to the lost tourists.

Contrasts: Anne Frank, Flanders tour, Red Light district a huge contrast to the tulip gardens, marathon start- so many people with a common purpose not thinking about their differences, very refreshing.

Neighbourhoods: have felt very safe travelling and living in the neighbourhoods - Stephens meticulous planning helped. 

Smoking: No better :(

Bicycles: Love it. Everyone, any age, any outfit, any purpose on a single speed bike. Happy as.

Amsterdam Magnum

Finished our day with the best icecream shop ever. Choose your chocolate dip and 3 toppings, finish with a chocolate drizzle and you've built your own magnum. Toppings included rose petals and licorice hail as well as nuts etc. Stephen wanted to go back and try out all 3 chocolate dips, I quote "if I can't run I may as well enjoy getting fat"

Park day

After a busy Saturday - we went through the Anne Frank house last night after our canoe trip and then had a yummy Ethiopian dinner - we had a lovely cruisy day. Started with a wander through the amazing Vonelpaark a wonderful space in the middle of the city. Heaps of runners and families out and about. Then to a market (another pressie for G) before our trip to Keukenhoff. 

Keukenhoff

Had a fabulous afternoon wandering around this amazing garden. Although these don't look like it there were thousands of people there.

Floating

The island where we stopped for picnic lunch is really just a large piece of floating peat.

Watergang

Stephen, Rhyl and Wendy spent a few hours out of the city canoeing in a Wetland Nature Reserve. As it is spring the birdlife was amazing including heron, lapwing, godwit, oyster catchers, ducks, geese, harriers. We also saw lambs and goats. Too early for calves.
It is SO flat. The wee windmills pump water from one canal to another to keep the levels in check.

Congratulations!

What better place to buy diamonds ...

Brittney and Ali got engaged yesterday :)

Amsterdam

Britt took this during our tour. Plenty of history here. 

The traffic is interesting. Cars, trams, buses , bicycles and scooters all at speed. Bicycles often have a wooden basket with all the kids in at the front and scooters use the bike lane. And all from the right. Quite terrifying when crossing the road. 

Goodbye Belgium

This morning we say goodbye to Tom. We have loved staying with him. His house has the red door- dining room on the right, Rhyl's bedroom above and ours up the top.
We head to Amsterdam to meet up with Brittney and Ali :)
Today also marks 2 days in a row of limited walking!!! We must have been doing 10-20km a day until now. Great Camino training I guess.

Ieper ( Ypres)

One of the many cemeteries in Flanders countryside and the Ieper Cloth Hall. Originally a 12th century trading building it was reconstructed after WW1. The entire city was destroyed by artillery fire.

Brugge

Travelled to Brugge and met up with 22 other tourists for our Flanders tour. It was a great day-so much history. Very sobering. The Belgians have a great deal of compassion for the Allies even after 100 years.

The jigsaw puzzle photo of Ghent

Taken from the bridge by our BnB at sunrise. Much colder today.

Bruxelles

Today was all about food. After a yummy breakfast at Tom's we trained to Brussels. Tried out the waffles mmmm and then the Silks drank beer on the Grand Place with the locals while Rhyl shoe shopped. It is Belgium after all.
Later we had a traditional Flemish stew (pork cheeks) for tea. Rhyl is having fun trying out creme brûlée in every country.

Tintin street art and another shell...

Our host Tom told us this morning that his best friend Hank walked the Camino last year. Hank started at Sint Jacobskerk ( St Jacques church) here in Gent. There is a shell on the church. Not this one tho, I found this on the footpath in Brussels.

The Grand Place

One of the original arcades in Europe and City Hall.

Spreading out

We are now spread across Europe. Kere and Andrew are driving to Mont St Michel and then heading to England via Lille. Jacqui and Andrew are in Avignon,  Montpellier and Carcassonne then to Spain. Vhairi and Steve are touring England and Scotland in a speedy rental. Jane and Robin are heading to Provence via Paris having been in the Netherlands. Robyn and Ron are still at home packing to begin their journey to London via the USA. 

We will have collected plenty of travel stories for amusement on the Camino by the time we get together again :)

More....

Parts of Ghent resemble Venice with the buildings right down to the water - most have a promenade between.

Too much Wow

So many amazing buildings to see here. A castle, churches, every house and shop...The streets are all cobbled and yet the locals ride bicycles everywhere. So many people sitting on terraces enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. We cruised the river on a boat with a hilarious guide telling centuries of history in a very dry fashion. Tried out the freitzen, icecream and bought some chocolate. Mmmmm.

Bed in Ghent

Great BnB with the tiniest steepest staircase to the bedrooms.. Just as well the knee is having a good day.

Ghent

You know you're in Belgium when the rail station has a bicycle park instead of a car park.

Tour de Saint Jacques

Discovered this beautiful gothic bell tower   The church was destroyed during the revolution. It has been the starting point for many pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela. It is restored and sits in a lovely park on Rue de Rivoli. We were too late to go in. Many buildings are lit at night and look magical. 

Tour Montparnasse

Vi

Views from the 59th floor of the tallest building in Paris. Didn't buy the €15 per glass champagne.