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Yep, its just a day until i set off on my Weihnachtsmarkt adventure!
The weather this week has so far been 'seasonal', that means cool but essentially dry, weather you can do stuff in without being over encumbered with waterproofs etc. So on Monday i took a walk along the local river, i've been doing this fairly regularly, there are various tweeks to extend / shorten the route and a kiosk selling hot food and drinks - always a winner for me. This time it stretched to 6km - nothing major but a decent work out even if it is still quite urban. For most of my life i've lived just a couple of hundred metres from open fields, here in Brizzle its best part of two km to the river, closer to five for open fields so without hopping a bus or other motorised transport, country walks are not so easy to do. Anyhow, i enjoyed the walk, enjoyed the pork sandwich and felt satisfied with the exercise.
Yesterday, Tuesday was to be my first ride of December and my last ride pre Germany, the forecast looked okay so i set off for one of my regular food stops at Chippenham. Going clockwise you do most of the day's climbing in the first 20km which is how i started the day, making my way onto the Cotswold massif before taking the lanes eastward to the opposite side. The stop provided sausage an' chips (well fries really) and a cuppa then i set off for the return hoping to double the 50km outward distance.
Conscious of the limited daylight i didn't want to head too far around but more lanes took me south before i started the westward leg towards Bath and the 'safety' of the bike path. It's not that traffic really bothers me but its not enjoyable mixing it with drivers intent on getting home or on the school run so if i can avoid it i will. Anyhow the timing worked out well and i finished the ride with 101km recorded although the 660m of up was a little disappointing.
And so to today, another day with similar conditions, cool but dry but with a dampness to the air. Not sure what i'm doing really, other than getting ready for my trip although i probably won't finalise packing until the morning! Whilst taking my case, i'll be travelling quite light, i don't need fancy stuff for restaurants, no its mainly about keeping warm and dry, clothing wise the case is excessive but i do expect to buy stuff so its capacity won't be wasted on the return!
As its not an organised excursion, its split into three legs, Brizzle to London by coach which i do tomorrow afternoon, then its London to Aachen on another bus with a ferry crossing arriving at @ 9.00am Friday. I'll get some breakfast, fruhstuck, then take a train across to Dusseldorf where i'll be based until Tuesday when i'll start the return journey. Why not get the bus all the way i hear no one ask? Well whilst that would have been nice it would have involved a bus change in Brussels, Amsterdam or Paris (go figure), taken a lot longer in part due to multi hour waits for said changeovers - you do not want to be hanging about for several hours in the cold, in the middle of the night at an interchange with limited facilities, oh and it would have cost more too!
I have fine tuned my plans a little more now so i can get as much as possible into the trip, not just the markets and shops but a couple of 'museums' too for some variety. Not sure what interweb i'll have but i won't be able to post Gaby on Sunday as i'll be on my phone (i'm not lumping the laptop about!)
Well that's it for now, so until next time,
Tschussie,
Mads.
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Comments
I'll look for you!
I leave Sunday for a trip to the Christmas Markts from Frankfurt down the Rhine to Amsterdam. It's bound to be fun, and I'll buy you a Gluwein if I see you. Not that odds are in our favor, of course!
Steve
clearly
the tour providers need to take some geography lessons as neither Frankfurt nor Amsterdam are on the Rhein!
Have a good trip (the forecast looks a bit damp), go easy on the gluhwein, it can be quite potent, i usually swap out for Heiße Schokolade, on one trip i got back in the evening and realised that i'd had 6 gluhweins - no wonder i was feeling wobbly!
Make sure your wallet is safe too, pick pockets are at work, especially at the busier markets like Koeln. I've never had a problem but my parents both fell foul on different trips - i'll be taking extra care for certain.
I will probably be in Koeln on Monday before starting my return on Tuesday so yeah, i guess i'll miss that gluhwein!
Mads
Madeline Anafrid Bell
What's the Distinction...
...between chips and fries?
Eric
ah
its quite simple really, without getting too deep, fries are the things that fast food chains chuck out, thin sticks that cook really fast. Chips on the other hand are generally at least 4x as thick, take longer to cook but have identifiable potato inside, in the US i think they would be 'home fries'.
Proper chips are actually healthier than fries as less potato is in direct contact with the fat whilst cooking.
So endeth the lesson - lol
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Can I also add..
That chips bought "out" in a chippy need to be wrapped in newspaper? Ideally with salt and vinegar lashed all over.
I guess it's a Northern Girl thing.
Lucy xx
"Lately it occurs to me..
what a long strange trip its been."
Not a 'Northern Girl' thing
Far from it.
Sadly the days of wrapping in yesterday's newspaper are long gone. The Hinder and Stop people have got involved and now it is all 'Hygene Ratings', clean paper and polystyrene trays.
The Chips are crap as well. How long since they were fried in Beef Dripping?
On the plus side, I cooked some chips in the air-fryer yesterday and they came out very crispy.
Yes, I'm getting old...
Samantha
I'll stick to moules-frites
The frites double-dipped of course.