Journey back to England

I hadn't made any arrangements for the journey from Italy back to England and was beginning to realise that it could be a mistake. If you book a ticket on a low cost airline you need to print the boarding pass or pay an additional amount - usually more than the price of the ticket.

I had brought a map of Switzerland from home - that was a country I would like to visit. Mark, Stephen and Dana were catching the train to Munich, Jeanne was going south via Verona to the Genoa area and Julian and Wendy were heading for Venice. I can't recall where Tony and Virginia were going.

On our last morning I woke up early and decided on the spur of the moment to catch the early bus from Campitello to Vigo Di Fassa (1.80€) and from there to Bolzano (6€). I asked Jeanne to say goodbye to the others on my behalf and walked up the road for the 6h45 bus.






Farewell to the stunning Dolomites!
There was a short walk from the bus station to the railway station in Bolzano Bozen and a train was leaving at 9h00 for the Brenner Pass on the Austrian border. I bought a ticket for €13.50 and we were soon heading north.
The scenery was not as stunning as I had expected - possibly since it was summer and there was no snow.
By this time I had decided to head for Zurich via Innsbruck and then to catch a coach to London via Brussels.

When we arrived at Brenner we were all ushered onto a bus, I still don't know why. It took us all the way to Innsbruck station where I bought a ticket on the 11h57 train to Zurich arriving at 15h21. This turned out to be a luxurious train with free wifi and a power point run by OBB Railjet.
In each carriage a display showed useful electronic information - coach no, speed, stations and times and a map. It showed expected arrival time compared to scheduled time.


The ticket cost 62.80€ and we arrived bang on time.

Again we saw no snow, we passed railway trucks loaded with timber.



The free wireless lasted whilst we were within Austria and then didn't work in Liechtenstein or Switzerland. I expected to see stunning scenery as we neared Chur but again it was mostly green pastures in a valley.

On arrival in Zurich I went immediately to the nearby coach station to the Eurostar ticket office and bought my ticket for the 19h30 coach to Brussels for 80€. The ticket seller was not able to sell me a ticket all the way to London so I still had to worry about getting on the London coach in Brussels.

I had 3 hours to kill and there was nowhere to leave my suitcase so I went back to the railway station and put my case in a coin operated left luggage locker and went to explore. I walked up the main shopping street and decided to look for a black cashmere cardigan for Claire. In the end I was unsuccessful but managed to find one for Myriam.
I was surprised to find many people smoking in the streets! Also the currency was Swiss Francs although they did take payment in Euros. There were many flags on display.










I bought some cheese and chocolate for the journey, collected my case and made my way back to the coach station.

From Zurich the coach headed up the A1 to Basel about 60 km to the north west. I expected us to head into Germany but although we ran alongside the Rhine we actually crossed into France and headed for Mulhouse.
It soon became dark but we could make out distant hills to the west. At around 23h00 we stopped at a huge fuel station called E. Leclerc. We were heading for Strasbourg and passed through an area where every church was lit up. Road signs were not lit and difficult to read as we flew past. I think we passed through Luxembourg heading for Liege and then arrived at a very wet Brussels at around 6am.


At the coach station I needed to buy another ticket for €39 to London. The bus left at 7h10 and made its way up Leopold II Street. Ahead in the distance was a large domed building.
From Brussels we stopped at Lille which had many very modern buildings close to the Gare Lille. There were clearly marked cycle tracks everywhere. On the road to Calais and Dunkirk we became embroiled in rush hour traffic before heading out to the country which has many farms, fields of white flowers, wind farms and solar panels.
At Calais we got off the coach and went through both French and English border controls. The coach drove onto a train which was not much wider than the coach. As it parked roller doors came down in front and behind us, apparently they are safety doors. Once we were on board the rest of the train soon filled up with cars and we were on our way to England.





We headed towards London on the Sidcup Road and via Peckham and Shooters Hill. We followed Greenwich South Street passed New Cross Station, Southwark Town Hall, the Kennington Oval and Vauxhall station before crossing the Thames and heading into Victoria Coach Station.

The a tube from Victoria to Earls Court, West Brompton and finally Kensington Olympia. The journey had cost around €205 and had taken 31 hours.

Location:Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium and on to London...

London's East End

My niece, Tilly, goes to a day school in Richmond so Ian, Claire and I dropped her off and went for a long walk in Richmond Park. It was quite chilly for June and threatening rain.

There were many deer grazing.



It was great to see the reindeer with antlers which are unlike any of the types of buck that we see in South Africa.






Apparently they can become aggressive during the breeding season from May to July.
A park gardener told us about the invasion of Oak Processionary Moths which was spreading and badly affecting the oak trees in the park.




The caterpillars cluster in groups and damage the trees - you can see some at the top right corner of the next photo, on the trunk of an oak tree.




Claire is organizing the end of school year picnic for form 8 in the park next week.


After a coffee we headed back home, Claire was going to a luncheon and Ian and I were off to see the Olympic stadium and the Emirates cable car which had opened yesterday.

We caught the overground train from Kensington Olympia station 2 minutes from their house and headed in a big sweep towards the east and Stratford station. As we drew closer we could see the main Olympic stadium and the piece of iron sculpture that we later found was known as the viewing platform. With about 3 weeks to go before the start of the Games we found that the tours had been discontinued for security reasons and were directed to a viewing platform on the 3rd floor in John Lewis at the new shopping centre.









In John Lewis the memorabilia reflected both the Royal Jubilee and the Olympics.
The picture of the Queen below was made out of jelly beans:



We walked across the new bridge towards the transport hub seeing the sculpture of fish.






And the new bus station...



We caught the DLR to Royal Victoria. The Docklands Light Railway runs using unmanned carriages.

The Emirates Airline sponsored cable way had opened the previous day but there were no queues. We used our oyster cards to get on and were soon suspended above London with our car swaying a little in the strong winds.




Great views of the O2 arena ....











Ian had been invited to a cocktail party at the Design Centre so our intention was to walk from the cable car to the centre which is close to Tower Bridge.

Well what a long walk it turned out to be. With the loops of the river and the many construction projects interrupting the pathway I think we must have walked 12 miles.

The strangest thing about the walk was that we kept seeing the same landmarks as we meandered, especially the Dome, the Greenwich Naval College and the HSBC building on the Isle of Dogs. It was almost as if we were walking in circles.

The Thames walkway constantly detoured inland around private property and the many new buildings that were being constructed along the banks of the river.

The walk to Tower Bridge should have been 6 miles.
Anyway it was interesting to visit a part of London that I had never been to before.
The Greenwich Meridian..


The dome (again)


Greenwich Naval College


The Cutty Sark





We bought some lunch and sat and ate opposite the ship on the wide wall along with many other tourists.

Then off we set again. We kept seeing the rubber ducks powering down the river and the many boat tours.

At yet another deviation a set of steps lured us down to the river and Ian decided that we should walk along and find a way up further along.
We climbed down the mossy steps.



To me it looked as if the river was getting higher as the tide came in. Every time a large boat went past the wake was making larger waves in the wind.

I struggled womanfully along the pebbles in my cheap flowery Morecambe plimsolls, not to be outdone by my brother.



After half a mile or so it became obvious that the river reached the wall ahead and there was no way to walk through without swimming.
Ian decided to go up iron rungs on the wall and see where they led to.



My newly conquered fear of heights didn't quite stretch to negotiating the metre of wall at the top where the ladder was missing, so there was no way I was following.

Luckily Ian saw sense and came back down saying that it probably ascended to a highly secure factory area from which there would be no escape!

So we walked back!

I was missing my hiking boots and my legs were beginning to ache when Ian said we could stop in a cafe and have a hot chocolate. A blissful respite.



We continued past Southwark docks, an incredible bridge and floating gardens.






Soon around a bend in the Thames we could see the welcoming sight of Tower Bridge with its Olympic Rings. The almost completed "Shard" to the south and the "Gherkin" to the north.



We were both glad to arrive at the Design Centre and celebrated by joining in with a Ceilidh.

Location:Olympic Stadium to Tower Bridge, not forgetting Richmond Park

Day 7 Marmolada Glacier

Monday, our final day of walking and a choice of what to do.
We all decided to go to the Marmolada glacier which was a short bus ride away and then a walk or ride up the mountain.

The bus dropped us off and we walked across the dam wall of Lake Fedaia.


We had a look around the museum recalling the First World War and were interested to see how the troops had built a camp inside the glacier.

Before the ascent the party split into two groups with one walking up and the other taking the Funivia.









It didn't look very far but it must have taken us 2 hours to climb up to the hut at the foot of the glacier.






It was quite chilly and windy and as we descended back down the hundred meters or so to the Funivia station we all put on our fleeces.
The Funivia is a glorified basket which can hold one or two people or as I noticed, a box of vegetables for the cafe.


You walk into it as it slows down and the guy closes the gate behind you.
Yet again I wasn't going to wait around and expire from nerves. I grabbed the first one and off I went.





The journey down must have taken twenty minutes and had spectacular views. The baskets swayed a bit but you could relax and look around, feeling quite safe. That is until the cable stopped, everything went quiet and we all hung there in splendid isolation not knowing what was happening. Luckily only for a couple of minutes and off we went again, descending back towards the lake. What a great ride and a fitting way to end our week of hiking,

Location:Dolomites

Day 6 - Excitement under the ridge

A long walk of about 21km was planned from Colfosco along the Sella mountains to Campitello di Fassa where we would spend our final 2 nights at the Hotel Crepes de Sela.
We headed up through the trees with views back over the village, constantly winding upwards.


We came to the foot of a long steep ski slope with a safety net down one side to prevent people skiing over the edge.



Our route was to take us westwards below the cliffs and above the forests.







Coming across a ski lift that was not closed for maintenance we decided to use it as we had a long day ahead of us. I had never been on a ski lift so I was given some quick instructions. Luckily we went in in pairs and Wendy pulled down the bar to secure us.





She then took a close up photo - I think I look pretty relaxed considering?
Last year's Canopy Tour in the Drakensburg mountains had definitely lessened my fear of heights. I can still recall the day when I froze at the top of the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria and couldn't move for several minutes, eventually crawling down the steps on my backside!

The route ahead looked scary, the path wound along a steep scree slope at the foot of the cliffs. In parts the slope appeared to be convex with plunging drops.

I was eager to get started instead of standing looking and worrying.
It wasn't as bad as it appeared, the path was well worn. The worst parts occurred where snow drifts had blocked the path and we had to skirt around through the loose scree. In one section we squeezed through a tight snow filled gap between the cliff and rocks below.


We followed the red and white markers for route 626.


Even up here there were still signposts and we passed a via ferrata, one of the iron staircases used to ascend the mountain during the great war.


Across the valley we could see the Marmolada glacier and bad weather building up in the east.


Mark spotted one of the elusive chamois and it stopped running and posed for a Kodak moment.


We ate lunch on the slope admiring the views across the valley.



After a couple of hours we started our descent following the route of a cable car down from Sas Pordoi to Passo Pordoi. How DO they string those cables across??


Below we could see that the cycle race was still in progress.








We stopped for beer and ice creams and waited for the rest of the party to catch up.
Although it was already mid afternoon we still had a long way to go to reach the hotel. We set off down towards Canazei and looking back could see where we had been walking.


The descent took us across a route that had been used for a mountain bike race over the weekend. We passed through a field of marmets who didn't seem bothered by the intrusion.








Luckily there was a gondola down to Canazei which saved us another hour's descent.











Once in Canazei it was still quite a walk through the village to Campitello. We passed Sunday crowds enjoying an umpah band.



We eventually arrived at the Hotel Crepes de Sela with just enough time to shower and get ready for supper in the hotel dining room.

Location:Dolomites