This week's sleep: Noctus interruptus. It's been a difficult time for sleeping over the past week. Last Friday night it was Eid fireworks at 11.30pm, followed by a helicopter hovering for an hour at 3.30am; Saturday night there was some kind of altercation further down our street and a window was smashed, with more arguing… Continue reading 32.20 – the heat goes on
Tag: Travel
How far the distance?
Distance is relative. You can fly from London to Australia in 24 hours, but that doesn't take too much effort. You get to an airport, you sit down for 12 hours, change planes and sit down for another 12 hours. It's a long distance but not in terms of efforts required to cover that distance.… Continue reading How far the distance?
There and back again by train
There is a difference between going away and coming home. London to Glasgow by train. I have my own little rituals around train travel. I like to get on the train with a coffee. And I like to listen to Tears for Fears Elemental album, as it was one of the few cassettes (yes it… Continue reading There and back again by train
Walk the Lines (5 or 28 or The Final)
The day after our Heathrow walk dawned fine, and our legs were not particularly sore or achy. We had discussed it the day before but all the signs combined correctly to confirm it. "Let's do this," we agreed. "Let's walk the last stretch today and finish this thing." And so it was, around 9 a.m.… Continue reading Walk the Lines (5 or 28 or The Final)
Walk the Lines (4 or 27)
The last of our long walks and it's a strange one: we are walking out to Heathrow airport.Yes you read that right. Walking. To. An. Airport. However before we see the hallowed halls of Heathrow terminal 4, we have to start somewhere more familiar, like Acton Town. But this time we are not partaking of… Continue reading Walk the Lines (4 or 27)
Walk the Lines (3 or 26)
Three more walks to go and we're done. We really want to get this finished so a week after our long hot nightmare walk to Uxbridge, we are up early again and riding the Tube out to Watford to finish the Met line. Watford station I always think of the Tube as something very London;… Continue reading Walk the Lines (3 or 26)
Walk the Lines (2 or 25)
We've walked the lines in many different weathers (the worst being our last walk of the District line, in darkness and pouring rain for an hour and a half, during which I discovered my waterproof jacket was actually not waterproof). But this was the hottest walking day we have ever had, with temperatures predicted to… Continue reading Walk the Lines (2 or 25)
Walk the Lines
We started walking the tube lines some years ago, after I read Mark Mason's book Walk the Lines. At that time I was doing long hours at work and on weekends I needed some exercise out in the open air to kick away the long stationary days. We started well in 2014, knocking off three… Continue reading Walk the Lines
Top tips for a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine
If you're planning a trip to Kyiv, here are some tips I hope will help you on your journey. Arriving / departing: Travelling with Ryanair? Then you'll be arriving/departing from the old Borispol F terminal that has not much in the way of facilities. At the time I was there for departure (June 2019) there was limited… Continue reading Top tips for a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine
A week in Kyiv – Day 7
Our last full day in Kyiv! Where did the time go? We should have been more rigorous with our mornings and done less sitting around the apartment. Oh well, you can't travel back in time, but you can travel to Pochaina metro to visit Petrivka market. Petrivka market is mostly about books; literature, scholastic, stationery,… Continue reading A week in Kyiv – Day 7