Sintra

Using our Lisboa card, we took the train to Sintra. We departed from a station originally designed for the Orient Express and thus decorated with beautiful tiles.

After arriving in Sintra, we began our steep ascent into town, passing sculptures of interest to distract us from the efforts of our climb.

After a thorough history lecture by Anna, we climbed even higher to reach Quinta da Regaleria. Carvalho Monteiro purchased this estate in 1892. He proceeded to add grottos, a chapel, tunnels, fountains, lakes and all sorts of bits to reflect his particular spiritual beliefs. Wandering around the estate and discovering something fascinating to ponder every few minutes was delightful.

It was nice to descend back into town for coffee and pastries before our tour of Palácio Nacional de Sintra. This ornately tiled and decorated room was the highlight.

Now it was time to take the bus to the top of the mountain to visit the Palace de Pena. While the guys bought tickets to the gardens and headed for the beverage kiosk and tables, Heather and I opted to visit the palace. It was another long steep climb to the palace and a very long queue to tour the interior (no photos of course). The views of the surrounding forest and to the sea were fantastic.

Day in Ghent

Ghent is a medieval city with more listed buildings than any other city in Belgium. Wandering (remember to look UP) and cruising yield surprises................................................

Ghent River Hotel

Lady Luck

War Memorial

Cobblestone Alley in Patershol Demolition from the Inside

Doorway Ship Sculpture

Early Morning Artist

Bathing Birds (but, are they getting any cleaner?)
Broken Dishes Turned into Doorway Art
Kraanlei 79 De Fluitspeler

Thames: The Source to Cricklade ------- The Finish!!

It was a dodgy start. The nice taxi lady pointed out the Thames Head pub and railroad tracks before dropping us (Carrie, Kris, Kris's childhood pal Rangu) off at a public footpath. She assured us it led directly to the Thames Path and was the shortest walk to The Source (she knew I did not want to walk a centimeter more than necessary). We soon got to a fork and of course turned left instead of right. We crossed the tracks and reached the same Thames Head pub the taxi driver had so kindly pointed out earlier. We were told to go back the way we came and take the other path.

We were so happy to finally reach The Source marker and "spring", no matter how unimpressive they were. We took pictures of other hikers and they took pictures of us. We were now on our way to walking the last 12 miles of our 200+ mile journey (depending on what source you use).

It was quite a long stretch of dry bed and we were well past Kemble before we saw our first signs of water.
We passed through picturesque and historic villages.

Although the Thames often resembled a small tributary or a lily pad pond, we did pass through many sizable lakes enjoyed by water skiers and birders.

At long last, we reached the lovely town of Cricklade.

We were grateful to be lodging at the Red Lion pub with a GREAT assortment of ales, lagers, bitters, porters. We all slept long and well that night.

AWC Hastings to Rye

This was one tough hike courtesy of Time Out Country Walks Book 2. I left Kew at 8:30 am and did not return until 9:30 pm. Some of the directions were confusing and we got to see the windmill on the pre-hike that we did not get to see on the "real" hike. But the weather and views made it all worth it. I will let these pictures speak for themselves.