travel

The Marble Quarries of Carrara

There is a rock quarry where we can climb not too far away. The rock is different so easier to climb. I don’t think climbing on marble would be a good climbing experience. What is interesting about this image is the scale of the quarry. This is Luna Marble. The huge marble quarries of Carrara, Italy were first opened by the Romans in the 2nd century BC, their highly prized stone used to create many of Rome’s grandest monuments.

Reading About The Camino De Santiago

Leslie - Jan 3, 2022 These long walks.treks fascinate me as well. I’m not at all religious, but I think the experience of walking for days, stopping in small hotels/B&Bs along the way, connecting with other walkers, would be wonderful. Someday, someday! The easiest walk to do is the Via Alpina route that starts in Liechtenstein and ends in Montreux. A train ride to the start, and then walk back towards “home”.

Reading About The Camino De Santiago

Over the last month or so I have been reading Le Camino Seule, ou enfin presque and it is one of my favourite hiking books. It might simply be because it was written in French, by a french woman rather than in English by Brits or Americans but it made me feel more than other books. She often references Sylvain Tesson’s book Forêt de Sibérie, a book I read a few years ago.

Pretending To Be The Invisible Man

If you’re wearing a mask, glasses, a hat, and have a fleece that covers your neck you look like the invisible man. I have been thinking about that recently, as I look at my reflection. Imagine if I was completely transparent. Pandemic times would be an excellent moment to hide that we’ve had an accident in a lab that made us invisible. Of course we are not invisible. We are just dressed for the weather, and the risk of being contaminated by Delta or Omicron, or the next variant of interest, whenever that may be.

Bookcrossing and A November Walk

richard - Nov 1, 2021 With the right people designing the interface it should be simpler to do things sustainably today. I think that a QR code that we can print out and add to a book with the same sticky things as for photo albums might be the best solution. A QR code takes seconds to scan and add a comment to. I should suggest that to them. I should study how to implement it.

Bookcrossing and A November Walk

Today I went for a slight variant and came across a book dating back to 1930 so of course I picked it up. I like the look and feel of old books. I also like that they carry history. The book is 91, almost 92 years old and it has been passed on from generation to generation for almost six generations. I looked in the book and at first I just ignored the scribbles at the front of the book, not thinking much of it.

From A Spanish to A Swiss Autumn

When I left for Spain Switzerland was just starting to turn Autumnal. Today, when I looked around I could see that Autumn has arrived properly in Switzerland. In Spain the sun is still warm enough for t-shirt wearing and swimming. The sun is still strong enough to change our chrominance. Yesterday I drove for around 11 and a half hours, with just one stop to refuel. I usually stop three or four times on that route but I felt like trying to do it in a single hop.

A Walk By The Mediterranean

We can’t all head to the mountains and the slopes that lack snow. Some of us head south to the coast. The weather is good and the air is warm enough. It is warm enough for me, not just to consider swimming but to actually do it. A rocky outcrop The sea is blue and green as usual with waves breaking. I saw a few orange buoys but I am unsure about whether they are for diving boats or swimmers.

The Arches

If you are looking for a sport easy walk with a little scrambling, walk to the rock arches. Two holes have been eroded into the rock providing two natural arches. You can walk up to both arches but it’s better to go on a quiet day. This place is not a good place for big groups. Children could enjoy the opportunity to see geography in action. Children should be supervised on this walk, especially along two sections of the path, and at the arch itself.

Spain During A Pandemic

People wear masks as they walk and do waiters. This is nice. It’s nice to see people wearing masks during a pandemic. It’s nice not to feel like an outlier. It’s nice not to feel eccentric for mask wearing. I went for my first swim in at least two years. I didn’t go in the sea but in a pool. I haven’t forgotten how to swim despite not swimming for years.