Ultimate Day of Luxury

December 28

Golden Triangle, Chang Rai, Thailand

We had such a pampered day today. The hotel is super luxurious. I slept in, or as they say in England, I had a lie-in. Read the paper in bed and nibbled on exotic fruit from the complementary fruit basket in the room. Got some sun by the pool. Lunched on yummy Thai food at the hotel buffet while sitting at a table with a view of the fabulous grounds.

The guys went for a game of squash while the girls took advantage of a complementary spa treatment. We had a coconut body scrub, neck/shoulder/back massage, and a soothing facial. Soft music was playing and we once again were overlooking the view. I'm afraid we both fell asleep for just a bit during our facials. 

We met up with the guys just as they were finishing some strawberry milkshakes. We all freshened up to get ready for the next item on our agenda: a sunset elephant trek.

At 4 pm a jeep took us to the elephant camp located on the hotel grounds. We rode atop two elephants along a path up a hill overlooking the rivers that mark the boundaries of Burma, Laos, and Thailand. Along the way, Ryan and Chris each got to lower down from the seat on the elephant's back and straddle the elephant's neck and "drive". 

We disembarked at a clearing where a platform was ready for us with canapés and drinks. Here we could watch the elephants wander around and forage in the brush while we also watched the sun set.

Time to climb back on the elephants to descend the hill but this time Lexi and I got a turn on the elephant's neck. It was actually a smoother ride on the neck than on the swaying back. 

We were taken to the elephant baby camp for our Dining by Design experience. A private table was set up for us on an elevated torch-lit platform. A multitude of candles were flickering. The table and chairs were dressed with zebra and giraffe prints. We were given sticks of sugar cane to feed the three cute baby elephants. Again we could watch them as they played in their enclosure and we dined on a feast. The cook grilled our meat and prepared our dinner just below us and our waiter would bring up each course to us in turn while also keeping our wine glasses filled.

To top it all off, we were given the large paper lanterns to light and set adrift just like on Christmas Eve. We were told to make a wish as we lifted up each lantern. Spending a day like this with family is the stuff that dreams are made of, what more could I wish for?

Tea Tasting and Hard Hiking

Dec 27

We have made our way to the northern border of Thailand to an area known as the Golden Triangle. This is where three countries come together, separated by two rivers. The countries are Burma, Laos, and Thailand.

On the way here we stopped at a town heavily populated with Chinese people. We were taken to a shop for tea tasting. We sampled Oolong, Sticky Rice, organic Beauty (green), Jasmine, and Ginseng teas. The lady conducting the tasting really pushed the Beauty tea. She said if you drink it every day you will have beauty. We noticed it cost more than the others. None of us cared for the taste. Seeing as how I am the only one in the family that drinks hot tea, I chose the one I liked best: Ginseng. It was the sweetest. The sticky rice tea tasted like the water left after cooking rice. The Jasmine smelled like perfume. 

Our guide then took us on a 3-hour hike through the area. Our guide is a marathon runner and biker. Hiking up and down hills for 3 hours is like taking a stroll for him, but it was definitely a challenge for me. We walked past fields where tea is grown on bushes. There were leaves spread out on cloths drying in the sun.

We actually finished the hike in under 3 hours but the kids pointed out that our guide had mercy on us and cut it about 15 minutes short by having our van meet us further up the path. 

We were rewarded later that afternoon when we checked in to the beautiful Anantara Golden Triangle luxury resort lodge. That night we ate Italian food at the restaurant for a break from all the Thai food we had been eating. 

Bamboo Hotel

December 26

Huai Khum Lahu Resort, Mae Salek

The hills of northern Thailand 

The hotel we are staying in tonight is like deluxe camping. We are in a hut made of bamboo. There are straw mats on the floor. Just about everything is made from natural materials. We do have a comfortable bed and an indoor bathroom with a shower.  There is electricity but no television in the room. The internet signal is very weak.

The place is not fancy but it is cool to listen to insects and frogs through the screened windows (no air conditioning) while drifting off to sleep. We will be awakened by roosters tomorrow morning. We arrived at the hotel by boat as there is just a rough dirt road to get here. It is right on a river. We kayaked down the river for about an hour and then a motorboat brought us back to the hotel so we wouldn't have to paddle upstream. Our guide thinks of everything as he had an ice chest of drinks in the boat for us as well as yummy fresh tangerines and a delicious fruit called mangosteen.

The hotel is in a beautiful location, so serene. The owner's wife and three kids live here and help out. Meals are cooked and served in an open air pavilion by the river. What a great setup.

Rolling Along

Two more modes of transport have been tried: bicycles and motorbikes (scooters).

December 24

Started with "Mary Poppins" style bicycles. Went about 10 kilometers around a city with ancient ruins. Saw many half destroyed palaces and temples and Buddhas. Burma destroyed the city but Thailand later took it back. The ruins have not been repaired to keep a record of the past. Locals still worship at the sites. 

December 25

I guess we did so well on the bikes that the next day our guide took us out on racing bikes with helmets and gloves. We went twice as far and on hilly terrain. That was quite a workout! Ryan literally pushed me along with his hand on my back to keep me going. Thanks Bud!

December 26

The next day we graduated to scooters but only after about an hour long practice/training session. I was happy to ride on the back of our guide's scooter but the kids and Chris did great on their own motorbikes. We went right out on the highway, through towns and then on hilly, curvy, scenic roads. What an adventure!

We used the scooters to get to our next destination with a van following behind with our luggage. We arrived in a small village and left the scooters inside a gate at a house that the tour company has an arrangement with. We then got in a boat which took us along a river to our third hotel. The boat pulled up at the hotel's pier and we were welcomed with a banana-pineapple drink as we sat on a covered deck right by the water which serves as the lobby and restaurant. The area was so remote and peaceful. Wonderful!

Thai Massage

Our tour package included vouchers for a free 2-hourThai massage in Bangkok. Ryan had never had a massage and Lexi and Chris had only experienced it in Morocco. So we were game to try it out. We were not disappointed.

We first had our feet washed. Then we were given loose-fitting pajama-type clothes to change into. We laid down on flat mattresses on the floor. Starting with our feet and ending with our heads, just about every muscle in our bodies was poked and mashed and kneaded. The ladies doing the massages were right down on the mats with us, using their bodies to twist and pry ours. Sometimes it hurt but mostly it felt good. At one point Chris's lady was standing on his hamstrings. They even pressed their feet into our backs as we sat up. 

After the massage, Chris's lady directed him to the restroom. Somehow she could tell he needed to go. ??? I thought we would be sore the next day but I'm glad to report we weren't. It went so well in fact that two days later we opted for another 2-hour Thai massage. We had just spent over 3 hours riding bicycles on undulating roads and needed to have the knots worked out of our bodies. It really helped!

Christmas in Thailand

Christmas is celebrated to an extent in Thailand but it is not a holiday. The majority of people here are Buddhist. Our guide said they celebrate everything here, including 3 different New Years: Thai, Chinese, and International. They want everyone to be happy here I guess. We saw lots of Christmas decorations including snowmen which seemed funny in the warm weather. It was also odd to see kids going to school on Christmas Day.

Here is how we spent Christmas in Thailand:

Christmas Eve - Flew from the huge city of Bangkok to the northern-most province of Chang Rai.

Buffet dinner at hotel with live band playing Christmas music and lighting and releasing of giant floating lanterns.

Christmas Day - Breakfast buffet on outdoor terrace of hotel.

40 kilometer (about 24 miles) bike ride through villages.

Elephant ride through a river.

Casual lunch at local Chinese restaurant.

2-hour Thai massage for all of us.

Relaxation at hotel pool/riverside/jacuzzi tub.

Dinner at local traditional restaurant in town with live music playing in background.

Shopping in outdoor market. Local school girls interviewed us about Christmas for their school project.

It was not your ordinary Christmas Day and really not an ordinary day at all for us!

Exploring Bangkok

We have explored Bangkok the last two days using almost every form of transportation available.

We have travelled by:

Hotel water taxi - a barge that shuttles guests across the river

Sky train - runs on elevated tracks over the streets

Metro - underground subway

Water taxi - used by locals. Boat pulls up, people climb in over the side all along the length of the boat and sit down on benches. A sheet of plastic canvas gets hoisted up along the sides to prevent splashing inside. When you get to your stop, the canvas goes down and you climb over the side to get out. As the boat is moving, ticket girls walk along the narrow ledge on the outside and lean in to collect the fare. For the four stops we rode, the fare was the equivalent of just 40 cents.

Small "bus" - used by locals. It is just a truck with benches in the back.

Tuk-tuk taxi - motorcycle  converted to hold driver and 3 passengers on a bench seat behind him. Named for the tuk-tuk sound it makes. It was fun to zip around traffic in it.

Longtail boat - this appears to be only for tourists. You hire it to take you along the canals. There was a James Bond movie filmed in Bangkok where he uses the long tail fin of the boat as a weapon. Will have to rent that movie when we get back. The motor is a car engine inside the back of the boat with a long shaft extending into the water holding the propeller. Seems to be overkill to have a car engine powering a boat.

Car taxi - bright pink. Road traffic is crazy and the driver honks to tell other cars or scooters to get out of the way.

Foot - We walked through various areas including Arab Town and China Town where we had dinner one night. I had guava juice with my meal while the guys ordered beer and two huge quart-size bottles of Singha beer appeared. Chris and Ryan were not able to make it dis-appear as quickly!

There are so many shops and market stalls and food carts. It's nice that the vendors aren't overly obnoxious in pushing their wares. We walked through some seedy areas right past ladies of the night and even a "lady-boy". Pungent smells abound from all the food being cooked right there in the streets on carts. Bicycles are fitted out with counters holding raw meat sitting on ice and a tabletop grill to freshly cook it up for you. We stopped for some fresh coconut milk from a man that used a machete to chop open the coconut and put a straw in it for us. Ryan wasn't too keen on the coconut milk as it brought back memories of a college trip in Mexico and something about coconuts with rum. :-) 

Our guide took us all over Bangkok with the idea of showing us how the locals live. We saw Buddhist temples and palaces and people placing offerings to Buddha at Spirit Houses. We saw the largest flower market in Bangkok. There is a tremendous demand for flowers that people place as offerings.

We noticed that we haven't seen any of the British people that came on the flight from London with us. They probably headed straight down to the beach area of Thailand to soak up some sun. We will do that towards the end of our trip. For now we are enjoying our exploring.

The Tailor Delivered

As a follow-up to my previous post on Visiting the Tailor, we had lunch afterwards, took naps, and went back for the first fitting. Sure enough, in just the 8 or so (sew?) hours since we had left the tailor, they had produced Ryan's two shirts, and a shirt, trousers, and start of a jacket for Chris to try on. So (sew?) not only is the tailor's work inexpensive and high quality, it is also fast.

For some reason, the waist on Chris's pants were a little snug. We decided it was a combination of  him sucking in his gut during the measure-taking plus the large burger he ate at lunch. Good thing they check the fit before finishing the final product. 

About 24 hours after the fitting, the final products were delivered to our hotel. Chris tried the suit on and luckily it fit. I'm sure the tailor would've made more adjustments had they been needed. The clothes look great and now our guys are the proud owners of custom sewn garments from Thailand. 

Visiting the Tailor

Apparently the thing to do when visiting Bangkok is to make a visit to a tailor for a custom-fitted suit or dress.

We arrived in Bangkok this morning at 6 am local time after an overnight 11-hour flight from London. We will only be in the city of Bangkok for 3 days so our first stop after checking in at the hotel was to a tailor. Our guide escorted us on the sky train which was full of locals heading out for a Saturday of shopping. Mr. T, as our guide is called, showed us how to navigate the train system in case we want to go out on our own. I guess we could manage it now but I'm not sure I'd want to try it. At least all the signs are in both English and Thai. The stops are also announced in both English and Thai so that helps.

We enter the tailor shop and immediately are seated on comfortable sofas and offered cold drinks. They are happy to see us and look at us with dollar signs in their eyes. Chris has decided to get a couple of dress shirts and suits. Ryan, who will soon be entering the career work force, will have some shirts made as well. We are handed catalogs to look through to see what we want. Our obvious question is pricing but there is no straight-forward answer when going the custom route as it depends on what quality of cloth is chosen. There is also the confusion of pricing in the local currency. Thirty Thai Bhat equals about one US dollar so we are looking at spending thousands of Bhats. Yikes.

Ryan is whisked away to select the colors for his shirts from among the bolts of fabric lining the walls. He decides on one white and one blue. Meanwhile, Chris is having a tape measure placed in precarious positions all over his body to be fitted for his suit. A quantity discount deal is offered and 2 silk ties are thrown in for "free". We've never had custom tailored clothing made so we hope we are getting a good deal. The shop will send a car to pick us up from our hotel later this afternoon to go back for the first fitting. That sure seems fast. I'll keep you "posted" on how it goes....

Going to Asia

I am going to Asia for the first time. It will be the fourth continent I have had the pleasure of being on. (North America, Europe, Africa, Asia) We are heading to Thailand for Christmas. It is already a different experience just being on the Thai Airways flight. The flight attendants are dressed in silky long garments and wearing fresh orchids. They all smile so sweetly and are very polite. Some even greeted us on the plane with a slight bow, hands together. Our drinks are handed to us on a tray. Fresh orchids in the bathroom is a nice touch. We received hot towels to clean our hands before we ate. And this was even in economy class!

Health and Safety??

I think England goes overboard with Health and Safety laws sometimes. 

My latest encounter was with an electrician who had worked too many hours the day before.

Our house is full of recessed spotlight fixtures that are constantly shorting out.

In these "100 days of darkness" of dreary, short winter days, having enough lighting in the house is very important.

I was doing my time waiting in the FIVE-hour time slot I was given for the electrician to come fix the wiring in two of these light sockets.

Two hours into my "sentence" I received a call saying the electrician could not come out as he had worked late the day before and Health and Safety regulations required him to rest today.

I'm thinking "You're kidding, right?"

He was not kidding.

This is the same country that doesn't require bicycle riders to wear helmets but allows them in the same lanes as cars.

Strange.

Special Treats

When you live in another country you adapt and do some things a little differently. What once seemed mundane becomes a special treat. For example, our daughter was thrilled to be surprised on her birthday with a wake-up visit from friends bringing.... Frozen Waffles! To find frozen waffles in England you either have to be able to shop on an American base or at the wholesale warehouse store of Costco. We don't have a Costco membership so it's nice to have friends that do and who are kind enough to share with us their American treasures.

Sometimes it's the little things that we miss (frozen waffles). Other times we are blessed to be able to experience normal activities in special places. I celebrated my birthday last year with a nice dinner and a play at a theatre in the West End of London.

This year my birthday falls on the day of the American Women in Surrey Holiday Homes Tour. Seven beautifully decorated homes are open for visitors to see and proceeds from the ticket sales goes to charity. Some of the homes are historic, one was built in 1740, another is a 120-year old cottage. Touring the homes with friends will be a special treat on my birthday.

Even attending a Christmas Carol concert turns into a special treat when it is held in the historic Kensington Palace in London. Kensington was the home of the British royal family before Queen Victoria moved into the current royal residence of Buckingham Palace.

As I sat in the dimly lit intimate space of the King's Gallery of The King's State Apartments, listening to the Choir from Hampton Court Palace Chapel Royal, I reflected on the history that gallery has seen. The room looks as it did when it was decorated for King George I in 1727. We were surrounded by marvelous paintings on every wall. One painting near where we were sitting depicted the Nativity scene, so appropriate for the Christmas carols we were listening to. I imagined the room being lit by candlelight as it surely must've been before the electric lights were installed. Royalty had been in that very space and now here we were in modern times still enjoying it.

Here is a picture taken at the concert:

Christmas Concert at Kensington Palace

This is what the Gallery looks like during the day:

The King's Gallery

Painting of Nativity Scene

Special moments in special places yield special feelings: Special Treats!

International Thanksgiving

The only Thanksgiving decoration I could find here

We shared our Thanksgiving celebration this year with families from four countries: England, Trinidad, Spain, and United States. It was our fourth and final Thanksgiving that we will celebrate in England.

Our friends were anxious to partake of the feast they had heard about and they were not disappointed. The cajun-fried turkey is always a success. Using cornbread mix and mini-marshmallows brought back from America, I was able to make the traditional cornbread dressing and sweet potato casserole. Pumpkin pie is something our guests were anxious to try as they don't associate pumpkin with dessert. To them it is a vegetable. They liked it.

Three years ago it was difficult to find canned pumpkin in the stores here but that is no longer the case. I have since learned that the stores even carry refrigerated rolled-out pie crust, canned evaporated milk, and bottled whip cream. I'm sure they had those ingredients when we first moved here, I just didn't know where to find them in the store or even what to call them. If you ask a store clerk where the "pie crust" is, they have no clue. You have to use the proper term: "shortcrust pastry". They also look at you funny if you ask for green onions, known as "spring onions" here.

Just as on the first Thanksgiving when the Pilgrims and Native Americans learned from each other and celebrated their harvest in a shared feast, we learned a few things from our Thanksgiving guests and they in turn from us. Okay that's a bit of a stretch, but I just can't help indulging my overactive sense of drama so play along with me...

We learned:

• that the English expect "custard" sauce on their apple pie, not whipped cream or ice cream.
• the proper way to prepare and present after-dinner tea using a teapot.
• "Time for Pud-Pud!" means it's dessert time (pudding).

Our guests learned:

• Pumpkin pie is not made from Jack-O-Lantern type pumpkins but from smaller baking pumpkins, or better yet from canned pumpkin.
• Turkeys can be deep-fried in about 45 minutes.
• the joy of one special day to give thanks with family and friends in a traditional feast.

Exciting that the card shops here sell Thanksgiving cards

Hollywood Comes to London

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for all the blessings in my life: friends, family, health.

I am also thankful for the excitement and opportunities that living near London brings.

Last week some friends and I saw an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum entitled "Hollywood Costume".

Appropriately, it was someone in America who told my friend about the exhibition. I'm so glad she did.

Imagine seeing the actual iconic costumes worn in movies such as:

Wizard of Oz

Titanic

Gone With the Wind

Saturday Night Fever

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Pirates of the Caribbean

Harry Potter

Superman

and so many more.

There was the dress Marilyn Monroe wore standing over the subway grate in "The Seven Year Itch".

Marilyn Monroe's "subway dress"

There was Dorothy's blue gingham dress from "The Wizard of Oz".

Dorothy

The actual ruby-red slippers were the grand finale. This was the first time they have left the United States. They were on loan for only a limited time. We got to see the faded real ones before they were replaced by bright red replicas.

Wizard of Oz red slippers with dress in background

Remember Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds"? I loved watching that scary movie with my sisters when I was young. We saw the green suit worn by Tippi Hedren. I liked how the mannequin was posed as if falling backwards from being attacked by birds.

Costume from "The Birds"

The creators of the exhibit did a good job with the presentation and with educating the audience on the important role of costume designers. Hollywood-themed music played in the background. Actors' faces were put with the costume, sometimes a still photo, sometimes a moving video of the face.

Costumes from "The Addams Family"

Do you recognize any of these?

This assortment of characters share a gun theme:

I'm so glad I could experience the magic of Hollywood all the way over here in England.

Autumn Color... For Free!

Painshill Park, Cobham

Today I spent a total of 4 hours driving in the car. Not all at one time, just many trips here and there: taking Lexi to school, picking her up, driving a friend to the hospital with a badly sprained ankle, then back and forth to soccer training. I had plenty of time to add up the hours as I sat in traffic.

In between all that driving, I took advantage of the beautiful sunny Autumn day we had today. I headed to nearby Painshill Park for a nice hike through the colorful trees. This time of year the days can be dark and dreary. On a day when we are blessed with sunshine, it's practically a sin to be inside. The choice of Painshill Park was perfect, lots of color to brighten my mood, hilly paths to get my heart rate up and stress level down, and on top of that, it was free today. It is normally 6 pounds (about $9) to enter, but Wednesdays in November there is no admission fee.

You may wonder why there is a charge to go into a park, but this is a historic 18th century English landscape park. The entrance fee goes towards the restoration of the historical features of the park. Many of the trees and shrubs were sent from Philadelphia between 1738 and 1773. The park was visited by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. You gotta love the American connection!

The Gothic Temple

Now I'll be quiet and let you enjoy some of the magnificent scenery I was fortunate enough to partake in today (when I wasn't on the road!)

A Year of Milestones

While Skyping our son last night and discussing Lexi's upcoming birthday, we realized that 2012 is a year of milestones for all of us. Ryan turned 21, Lexi is turning 18, and Chris and I are both 50 now.

It's interesting that these markers on the road we call "life" have converged in this year. Lots of changes are getting ready to happen in all our lives. Both kids are now of legal drinking age in the countries they live in. Both kids will graduate from either high school or college at the end of the school year. Both kids can now vote.

This time next year we will all be living different lives in different places. We don't know where we will end up, just that it will be different. Ryan will have a job somewhere with some company. Lexi will be at some school studying something. Chris and I will move back to the USA living somewhere in the Houston area. All of this is God-willing of course. So many questions. Will it be a different job assignment for Chris? What the heck will I do as an empty-nester? About all we know for certain is that change is coming.

It's a good time to stop and take stock of where we are and acknowledge the milestones in our lives as we also look forward to the future and wonder what is in store for all of us.

Box Hill

The Friday morning country hikes just get better each time. Our latest trek was a climb up Box Hill. This was the area where the Olympic Cycling event was held this summer. The Olympic men cyclists rode around the trail 9 times but the women were smart enough to get the job done in just two loops.  :-)

Carefully going down a hill

We were warned that this hike would be a challenge as it had a lot of ups and downs and slippery steps. I was almost scared away especially as Friday morning started out bleak and rainy. But the weather cleared up and I found my courage and decided to go for it. It was just under 6 miles and we completed it in about two hours. That makes it sound like we crawled along at a snail's pace of just 3 miles an hour. It sure seemed like we were going faster than that. We had several breaks to take in the scenery and let people catch up and most importantly to catch our breath!

The leaders of the hikes do a great job in planning out the paths and pre-walking them earlier in the week. They point out interesting sights as we go along which is good. Otherwise I would spend the entire time looking down watching my step.

There was a flock of sheep grazing in this meadow beside us. The sign says "Public Bridleway".

Grazing sheep

I wish my pictures had come out better. I traveled light and didn't bring my camera so these photos were taken on my small cell phone.

Huge yew tree

Apparently, I only snapped pictures on the paths where we were heading downwards. I guess I was too out of breath to consider taking pictures as we climbed upwards.

Coming down slippery steps

Our climbing was rewarded with a magnificent view at the top.

At one junction we were given a choice of an easier path taking a bridge over a creek or the more adventurous path of stepping stones right through the creek. Before I could change my mind I opted for adventure and was so happy I did.

Proud to say I crossed the creek on these step stones

We ended the walk with a delightful lunch at The Running Horses Pub.

Across the street from the pub is this lovely old church which can trace its history to at least the year 1180:

St. Michael's Church, Mickleham 

At lunch I found out that the wife of Mohamed Al-Fayed had been on the hike with us. He is the father of Dodi Al-Fayed who was killed in the car crash with Princess Diana. He used to own Harrods department store in London. He now owns the Fulham Football (soccer) club. My husband is a fan of Fulham and received an Al-Fayed gnome for his birthday. His wife is from Finland and is a former model and Miss Viking pageant winner. I didn't even realize I was so close to a celebrity. Her driver brings her to the walks and then picks her up afterwards. I wonder what she would think if she knew I have a gnome figure of her husband in my house?

Al-Fayed Fulham gnome

And on that strange note I will end this posting....

Exploring England

On a hike

Last week I took a day trip to Dover Castle and then the next day I hiked four miles through the Surrey Hills. After that I came home and napped!

Our Fourth and Final year of living in England has commenced and the clock is counting down the time we have left here. I feel the need to get out and explore before it's time to go home.

The "American Women in Surrey" organization that I am a member of is helping me with the exploring. This year I joined the "English Experience" subgroup as well as the "Country Hikes" group.

English Experience

English Experience alternates lectures on English history with visits to where the history was made. Salisbury was our first trip, it is a cute little historical town with a huge amazing cathedral. Our guide through the town was an older lady that walked so fast we could hardly keep up with her. She had so much she wanted to show us in so little time and she did a great job of it.

Salisbury

Salisbury Cathedral

After learning about the Norman Conquest of 1066, we journeyed to Dover, as in the "White Cliffs of Dover", to tour the castle there. Our guide, Dr. Marc Morris, is a TV presenter on the Discovery History channel. He has hosted a series called Castle. He was able to give us great insight while also making the tour fun. He grew up near Dover and enjoyed exploring the castle grounds as a young boy. Now he gets paid to share his passion with others, what a dream job he has!

Lighthouse and Chapel at Dover Castle

Dover Cliffs

Walking through one of the arches at Dover Castle

View from top of Dover Castle looking across the English Channel to France

Country Hikes

To take a break from educating myself on English history, I joined the "Country Hikes" group to enhance my physical well-being. Each Friday morning a group of about 40 women goes on walks averaging 6 miles. In order to complete the walk in around 2 hours, the leader sets a fast pace. We go through some lovely countryside but with not much time to stop and take photos. I snapped a few quick shots last time on my camera phone.

We walked right past these horses.

As we climbed over a fence one by one, I had a chance to snap this.

Passing by Denbies Vineyards.

I am looking forward to more tours and walks and possibly more material for my blog!