lambs | Traveling Times

We moved our breakfast time up to 8:00 because today is our longest walk. We will be walking 14.4k so around 9 miles.

First, of course, packing, which at this point is fairly easy: everything has its spot and I mostly remember where those spots are.

Breakfast was quite nice. I took no photos of that, but I did take a photo of the stairs we had to deal with with our luggage, and a photo of said luggage waiting for pick up.

Then it was time to walk and off we went, first through Winchcombe and then on to Puck Pit Lane.

Jan graciously and gracefully demonstrated a new kind of gate we had to use at times.

We had, of course, gorgeous landscapes.

I shot this plant to try and identify it. According to my phone it’s broad bean. I know, not exactly a thrilling close up photo of the plant, but the fields were impressive.

Then it was back to a grain that the iPhone said was “bread wheat”.

We arrived in Hailes and Greg and Jan kindly posed for me. There was also the ruins of the Hailes Abbey. And there are to be no detectorists in the field by the abbey. You’ve been warned

We checked out the Hailes church, which included frescoes which I found interesting as I hadn’t realized any churches here had those.

Then it was back to fields and meadows, and of course gates. Ah, the gates … or stiles … or kissing gates. So many have different ways of opening and closing. It’s like an intelligence test, and I think I mostly score a B or C, but the one with a chain was easy to figure out. I give myself an A (because I do not believe in A+ as I frequently mention to Dan).

We passed by Wood Stanway Farmhouse and then entered Stanway. I had thought that might be a place to stop for a rest or whatever but there wasn’t anywhere near our path that looked like a possibility.

So on we marched. We passed sheep, and continued on through a bit of a lush “tunnel” (it felt like it, anyway), until we reached a road we had to cross.

Then it was more on the path, which wasn’t always smooth. I had to remember to lift her feet so I wouldn’t take another spill!

Oh … and I made a video during the above portion of the walk.

We passed by the Stanway House. I don’t know if people ever get to visit, but it and the church by it were locked tight.

From there we entered the Cotswold Way trail. (There are a number of trails in the Cotswolds.)

There was a huge beautiful tree that I had to shoot to see if it could be identified. The iPhone said “European Beech” and when Greg reached us he said it was a beech, but had a different name (in German) for it.

We went through more meadows.

Finally we were in Stanton. We were weary and ready for a rest and maybe some lunch. I had noted in my research that there was The Mount Inn where we could get a bite. Well gee, it was a big climb to get there. Ah … I get it: “Mount Inn” as in mountain. Cute. Or not. None of us were all that keen on the hike up. We ordered our food and drinks and were surprised by the amount of food we had. I forgot to take any photos of the food (I blame the climb), and only have one shot of part of the room we were in.

Then we had the last leg of our walk. I thought it was two miles. I was wrong: it was a bit longer. First we walked back down the hill in Stanton.

While Jan and Greg went ahead I told Jan I would go back to find Dan as he wasn’t with us. Since I found him near the Church of St. Michael & All Angels we went inside.

Then it was (surprise!) more meadows. And sheep. Some were the spotted sheep we had been told we might find. (Confession: I thought they’d be spotted on their wool. Heh. No … spotted faces.)

There was one very large climb. I had feared it might be there, but Dan had suggested it wouldn’t be a big one. Gee, I was right! So up up up we climbed. But climbs don’t look like climbs in photos so never mind that. Just know we made it up to the top.

And then there were the cows with one beige stripe. We saw those in Scotland too. I’d never seen them prior to this trip.

More walking. More meadows. More lovely views. And a new kind of gate … but not really a gate.

Finally we arrived! Our longest day was done. And hello Broadway! Now they say the neon lights are bright but I didn’t see even one neon light here. Be forewarned. We checked into our hotel and our room is lovely.

We met Jan and Greg again for dinner, which we had right at the hotel. You get no photos of dinner. But it was good and I’m tired and there you go. But here, have some photos of only a few of the stairs we had to take to get to our rooms.

Now it may be only 8:50 here, but I’m pretty darn tired and hoping I will sleep after that long walk. Goodnight!

26,207 steps, 10.26 miles, 7 flights climbed

This morning after breakfast we headed off for the Talisker Whisky Distillery. Yeah, in the morning. I’d have preferred later afternoon, but the only available time when I made the reservation a few months ago was the 10:20 AM time slot. So be it.

Starting off on our single lane road we saw a lot of sheep. I noticed a group of lambs playing around. Truly, they looked like little children on a playground, having gobs of fun! It was adorable, and Dan decided to pull over and I had time to make a video. By that time they had dispersed a bit, but still you could see some together. And oh the sounds! I hope the video does it justice.

We continued on our way, stopping once for a lovely scenic moment.

We arrived at Talisker just at about the right time. “Just about” meaning a bit late for my comfort and a bit early for Dan’s! The reservation said to arrive “at least 15 minutes early”. We were about 10 minutes early. Obviously it was no problem at all, as we saw, but I just have this thing about time!

The tour was nice, and did include whisky tastings. Three of them, which we both sipped a wee bit, but they provide tiny bottles so we could pour most of the whiskies into those for a later time.

We didn’t investigate the area around the distillery, but I took a quick shot and of course where there are flowers …!

Then we had to figure out what was next. Finally, after studying the map a while, we opted to head further south to Elgol. As we drove there we saw lots of cars parking in a lot and groups of people milling about. Turns out it was to see the Sligachan Old Bridge. We parked and I quickly walked over as Dan was setting his gear up. By the time he reached me I was ready to get warm in the car as the 45° temperature, combined with the wind, was rather chilly and I hadn’t put on my hat or puffer. Dan handed me the car keys and I assured him I wouldn’t lose them. Heh. I knew he was going to make some goofy comment after the fiasco of his bag last night so I wanted to beat him to the punch!

Getting to the car I pulled out the iPad and started this blog entry.

After I got comfortably warm I donned my hat and jacket and went back out. Just in time to meet Dan coming back. So never mind … back to the car I went.

We pulled off a few times for views, but I only did a few shots.

We took the turn for Elgol, coming across old church ruins. And sheep and lambs. (You’ve figured that out about me by now, yes?)

We stopped as well at a food truck, not for food but for the view.

When we reached Elgol we stopped at a cafe and had coffee and sweet stuff — cake for me and some sort of shortbread with chocolate and caramel for Dan. We enjoyed chatting with one of the women who worked there.

Moving on, we retraced our steps and going further we landed at Dunvegan, where I’d read about a place for dinner. Fish ‘n Chips it was.

Lastly, we wanted to get to Neist Point. On the way I did take two more photos. Gee, might there be sheep?

We reached the point. It was windy and cold, so I bundled up and headed out. When we got to one spot we could see some crazy person out on, I suppose, a zip line or some such thing. I don’t know if you can spot the person in the photos, but look carefully. (I couldn’t look for long!) We did a short walk so we could see the lighthouse as well.