Do I miss the miles?

I don't have a definitive answer yet but its possible that I may actually miss doing the miles that I used to do. Back in the olden days, (roughly three and a half months ago) I used to class a two hour journey as an easy day and it had to be at least three hours each way before it was worth commenting on. Nowadays my normal journeys are less than an hour and though I do enjoy the additional home time and the increased chance of a before-work swim, it's possible that I may miss some parts of what went before.

 

Last week I drove up to Newcastle and back (1hr, 35 mins each way) and today I drove to Keighley and back (1hr, 20 mins each way). It was long enough to get comfy in the seat, to listen to a few podcasts and relax into the journey. In short, it was nice! Most likely it is novelty value that makes me think this way, but I have to admit I wouldn't mind too much if my journeys were a little longer. Suppose I could go with the simple option and just get more customers in Scarborough!

Another holiday

Looking back through the old posts I see that is not long since I was last on holiday but I suspect that might be because new job meant for less time writing a blog and less posts. Either way, a couple of weeks ago I spent ten days on holiday again and managed to bag another couple of countries as part of it.

 

Normally in the summer months we try and spend a week on a cruise ship somewhere nice and warm. This year we thought we would do something different and together with a couple of friends we hired the top two floors of a house in Obernberg am Brenner, Austria. buried in a quiet valley on the bottom edge of the Tirol, we were five miles from the Italian border and firmly ensconced in the Alps. Normally people go to the Alps for some skiing but I am of the mind-set that I like my legs whole, and feet unattached to planks of wood so we go in the summer months and see all the green, and boy does Austria do green. The forests are tall and wide and the valley bottoms are green and peaceful. The weather is (mostly) sunshine and when its clear you can climb a mountain and see for miles. Unfortunately on two out of the three days that we climbed a mountain the clouds climbed with us as well and all we could see for miles was a large quantity of white and not of the snow like fluffy kind. On the third day though we decided to take the car and drove in a giant loop up across the Alps and into Italy. I think I may have been higher up a hill then I have even been and views were spectacular. Go that high and you can even find some snow and though it felt a little off at the time, having a snowball fight in shorts and sandals is a very entertaining experience. Definitely worth doing.

On one of the other days we went to Liechtenstein. Never been to Liechtenstein before don't even think I know anyone who knows anyone who has been Liechtenstein before but not I can say I have been. Its an odd little place squashed in a valley between Switzerland and Austria but very quaint and very clean. possibly one of the prettiest capital cities I have known but that might be simply because its so small. Did have a castle on a hill though which is always a good start.

Talking of castles on a hill we also took a day trip into Bavaria. Some more big hills and at the top of one is a castle that as far as I understand was built by a very odd man. the story goes that daddy had a very nice castle on the side of a hill and everyone liked it. Allegedly son had some major issues and decided he could do better. Neuschwanstein Castle was built and despite the peculiar stories it is the perfect fairy tale castle.

So nine countries done so far this year. England, Wales, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany. Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Italy. Wonderful if I will manage double figures, never done that before.