Britain in the sun - Bristol Day 2, Sunday

Had a very nice breakfast (my hosts had prepared a low carb meal with greek joghurt, fruit and some organic juice!) I walked back down Gloucester Rd and into the city centre to check in at the Backpackers again.
The sun was shining from a blue sky spotted with some clouds and it was warm enough to walk around in t-shirt. By chance this Sunday was one of five per year were parts of the city centre are closed to cars and filled with street performers, food and sports activities instead.  Since the Backpackers is right in that zone I didn't have to walk far.
Passed by The Old Duke pub on King Street to check the schedule for tonight as it is famous for having blues and jazz live music each night. Then went straight to the harbour to have a look at those famous ships there. Since it was past 1pm already stopped by Ostrich Inn at the water front and had a pint of Thatchers and a ceasars salad which wasn't particularly good. Didn't mind since I just sat ouside in the sun, at the waterfront with the noise of the city just being a distant rumble, reading a bit in my Cisco certification guidebook. Can a Sunday be any more relaxed? It's hard to find such a quiet and nice spot in Berlin nowadays.
With such a fine weather I spent most of the day just walking up and down the harbourside watching small boats sailing and marvelling at the houseboats towed here and there. Awwwww.... I want one!!! There were even some places left where I could tow mine, hehe.
Had a coffee on the Old Barge and checked PoF for some company tonight. Found a musician and agreed on meeting up for a chat and drink or two  at the The Old Duke. It's just more fun not going alone. Walked around a bit some more, cried inside when I saw a houseboat for sale and had dinner at the Llandoger Trow pub. Went back to the Backpackers and read some more in my Cisco book before heading over to the Old Duke at 8.30.
Had a pint and a nice talk sitting outside with a blues band playing inside.  It was loud enough with doors open to enjoy it and still be able to talk.
So that was Bristol. Very nice city, not too big and with a lot going on. Beautiful places, cosy pubs, music, art and the sea and hills close by. It's definately worth a visit but two days are too short.

Bristol - Saturday

Arrived as late as 21:40 but it went all so smoothly at the airport - got off the plane, no queue at border control, picked up my luggage as soon as I got to baggage claim and the bus shuttle to the city was just next to the exit and fired up its engine not five minuted after I got on. Then it was only a 10 minute walk to the Backpackers Hostel.
The guy at the reception was really very nice and forthcoming, the hostel is clean where it counts and if you close the windows the noise from the street and partying people is almost completely shut out.
Therfore, slept quite well,  stored my luggage in a separate room and took only my backpack with a few things since I will return on Sunday anyway.

Had a mediorce English breakfast around the corner and a big mug of great cappucino before I had a look at St. Nicholas market not quite five minutes away from the hostel. Most of the stalls are inside so I could void the rain had set in. Had a very nice chat with a lady selling jewelry and bought two sets of earrings. Very nice. Got myself a big package of rich organic drinking chocolate from a chocolate shop and walked south and east to the Bristol cathedral. I have absolutely nothing to do with religion but I love being in churches marvelling at the architecture with its symetric structures, high ceilings and intricate carvings. I like especially the British churches and the Bristol cathedral is a very typical British one, worth a visit.
Despite the rainy weather with mild rain setting in time and again I climbed Brandon Hill and the Cabot Tower on top to have a look at the city from probably the highest point. As I got out of the tower I saw a man leaving who had just fed some pigeons and squirrels. Though he was gone creatures lingered on fighting over the last crumbs and I stood a while watching those cute little hectic squirrels. Awwwwwwwww.
Walked along the waterfront to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, then back into the city centre, passing by the museums and the crowded shopping area. As I was wondering if there was a Cotsworld shop in Bristol I just saw the sign for one. Yeah! The famous Cotsworld outdoor shops. Spend a while in there checking on some backpacks that I'm interested in but not being sold in Germany. It's always god to have a look at the size and fitting. My old favourite Osprey Talon 33 made it back to position 1 on my wishlist after having a good look at it. Also wanted to see some ice axes but they were displayed behind the cash counter and I didn't really want to end up in a talk with a shop assistant and then buying one after in the end without really having the money to afford it at this point.
Wanted to have a look at St. Peter's Church nearby but the place was occupied by some open air reggae festival. Went straight to St Mary Redcliffe next and really loved it. With the nave being a bit narrow compared to the cathedral the ceiling seemed to be even higher. A very beautiful gothic church with marvellous carvings.
Queen Square was next which was... well... a square covered in grass. Hm. Checked out The Apple next, a famous cider bar on a boat. I LOVE cider. Geeeee... this is my place! Ordered a Red Cheddar draught and the guy at the bar asked me if I wanted to taste it first cause it's quite "rough". Uh huh... dunno what's rough about it and got my pint, haha. Got a Weston's Wyld Wood next. I think I've had Weston's before.  Very tasty. Stopped by the PMT music shop on my way to my accomodation for tonight to check out their accoustic guitar section very nice! Taylors, Martins, Gibsons and Larivees. Will go there tomorrow and see if they let me play some, hehe.
Walked up Cheltenham and then Gloucester Road closing in to my accomodation looking out for a nice pub to have some food. Couldn't pass by the Hobgoblin. Whenever I read "Hobgoblin" I have to think of "Baldur's Gate", haha. Had some Thatchers draught cider and a Mestopholis burger before I continued to walk to my accomodation.
Took me only a few minutes since the house was in a small road off Gloucester Rd. The hosting family was very very nice and I retired to my lovely room immediately being very tired. Watched some tv and just fell asleep pretty soon.

Recommendations from day 1:

Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill
St Mary Redcliffe
The Apple if you like cider
The Hobgoblin - pub with amazing food
Staying with Sonia and her family (37 Eur incl breakfast, Manor Rd, book via AirBnB.com)

And another one - Bristol

It just seems to be a year of endless travels. I've basically just come back from my trip in Saxony (Sorry for the delayed posts, but power to charge my devices was really an issue on that trip.) Now I'm on the road again on a very spontaneous trip to Bristol over the weekend. Bristol seems to be a very popular place in Britain since it was hard to find budget accomodation with vacancies on short notice. So I'm going to change places. Will spend Friday and Sunday night at the Backpackers and have booked a private room via AirBnB for Saturday night.
I'm really looking forward to exploring the city. Got some advice what I should not miss and where I might want to go. There's said to be a nice harbour area with some old ships, some nice churches, museums, pubs and street art and shops of course. So I'll just be roaming the city with a few places to go to as a general guide.
Checked in at the Backpackers right in the center. Not going to head out tonight since I'm just too exhausted. Will just read a bit and hope I can sleep with the noise from outside.

Strenuous Finish

Day 5 - Monday
27km

Had to be back in Pirna - where I had started this trail - by 7pm. So I set off early since I was a bit unsure about my physical condition and the difficulty of the trail ahead. I just hoped there were no more steep climbs. Again my legs and knees were stiff at first and I was somehow missing some stability from my knees. It's hard to explain, but it felt like the ligiaments in my knees were worn so much that they couldn't support me like they should anymore. I've had that feeling before back then in Ireland after that strenuous first week. So I was quite happy to be on my last stage now and I was going to be careful when walking down stairs which hopefully wouldn't be neccessary at all.

After last night's rain the sky was still hung with dark clouds but only a few drops made it to Earth's surface. In the end I've been very lucky with the weather on my journey. No real rain, mostly just the dark clouds. Walked back to were we had left the trail the day before and continued to follow the markers. I was led along a broad path with the wood to my left and fields to my right with a nice view back to Gohrisch.

looking back

 Passed a tiny village and could already see another one of those mountainous pillars up ahead - the Pfaffenstein. Oh no. When I passed a sign pointing to famous Königstein I pondered for a moment. The trail would most certainly lead me up - and more fatally - also down that steep one over there. I could skip it easily by going directly to Königstein which I was supposed to pass anyway right after climbing Pfaffenstein.
I decided to take the shortcut. I normally don't like cheating, but it was still not even mid day and I had a long walk ahead of me that I HAD to fnish no matter what. So skipping that hard part which I was sure wouldn't do anything to improve the "knee-situation" was the better choice having the greater goal in mind.
The shortcut also saved me at least one hour walking as well and I arrived in Königstein around 10am. Despite the early hour on a Monday morning it was clearly visible that Königstein was one of the big tourist attractions in the area along with the eponymous castle up on a rock nearby. Didn't linger long and started going up mentioned rock. Didn't have to go all the way up and kind of lost the track as there were no more signs but found it again with the help of my GPS and a woman I asked.

Fortress Königstein

Walked through woods, along empty fields and passed small villages until I arrived at the next obstacle - the Rauenstein. Hopefully that was going to be the last one. Upon arriving at its foot I immediatley had a deja-vú. I've been here. Exactly here! When I was with that group for a weekend of rock climbing earlier this year this spot was were we started on Saturday. Yeah! So I walked up the same path with some stairs and easily recognised the place were we had left it to abseil down 30 meters. Cool.

Up on the top I found a restaurant which also ment I had found a place to relieve myself. A very unpleasant side effect of my overstrained knees was that I couldn't squat down. Not at all. So as a woman it was basically impossible to get rid of the stuff my body didn't need anymore. At least not without collateral damage. A smile crept onto my face upon leaving the bathroom, ordered a soljanka soup again and left shortly after 12pm. I had come quite far already and was sure to make it to my train in time.

playground

Walked around on the top of the adjoining rocks until the path led down again luckily no more stairs. It followed then the bend of the river Elbe high through some trees with some boggy parts in between before the final steps led me down. Those were the hardest! Luckily no one was watching me or coming up. That would've been embarassing... me trying to get down without bending my knees, haha.
The last 5km nearly killed me as they had to be done on a small tarmac road. Tarmac or concrete is poison to your locomotor system especially when you've already done some walking carrying a heavy backpack. I had to make several short breaks but in the end I reached my final destination. The Pirna tourist information right in the center of that scenic town. Yeah!!! I did it! And I had plenty of time left but I just didn't want to walk anymore which is a shame since Pirna is like I said a very beautiful place. I didn't even have the energy to take some pictures while I was walking to the train station.
Got the next S-Bahn to Dresden, dragged myself through the inner city there looking for food, had a salad at Subways then and spend two hours at Starbucks reading before getting into my train back to Berlin. Unfortunately I wasn't alone in my compartment so no comfy stretching out. Too bad.

Arrived at home around 11pm totally knackerd but happy. I had walked the "Malerweg" within five days instead of eight. Had underestimated the amount of stairs. That was the only problem for me. The weather was okay, the scenery very nice - at times even spectacular - andI enjoyed it a lot. Was assured that I'm in a good shape since no one passed me by from behind except for one couple with no backpacks at all. Still I need to train harder for the likes of Kilimanjaro, Mera Peak or Aconcagua.

A Stroll With Friends

Day 4 - Sunday
24km

I wanted to meet up today with my two friends again and walk the next stage together. Since I didn't make it to the other shore of the Elbe and into Schöna yesterday we agreed to meet at the ferry.
I still felt very stiff and aching when I got up. Even the two meters from my bed to the bathroom were hard labour. Managed to get to the room where breakfast was served just to have a look and maybe get an egg and some fruit. I didn't expect much. What I got was one of the best budget accomodation breakfast buffets ever that could easily keep up with good hotel buffets. The room was very comfortable and the buffet was laid out in a cupboard and on a side table, very nice idea if you lack space. For me as a low carber there was plenty of choice from a big bowl of eggs, fruit, organic joghurt to cheese, salami and homemade saxon cheese salad. Wow!
Stuffed in as much as I could and snug out an apple for later before I left the B&B and headed over to the ferry. The man operating the 90-year-old ship was quite unique with his scarred face and strange remarks, but I suppose working for years on a ferry going back and forth just a few dozen meters to the other shore all day long  makes you a little weird.
Decided to start going straight away and meet my friends on the way. Of course there was a steep climb with a lot of steps immeditely getting the sweat running again. Knees and legs felt okay as soon as I was rolling again.
Met my friends at the top of the climb and told them just what I had spared them by my head start. Walked through deserted Schöna and along some fields before we had a beer and a Soljanka outside a nice restaurant near a stream. The path kept on going through some woods and along more fields. My friends had brought a friend who wanted to carry my backpack just to see how that felt since her and the others were equipped with daypacks. Gladly I gave it to her! Maybe that's cheating but how could I turn down that offer, hehe.

 

no view

Until afternoon the going was quite okay with just minor climbs. Quite a difference to he day before. I deemed myself lucky right when we had to get to the top of another one of those huge sandrock pillars. My backpack was then taken over by the guy in our group, hehe. Up we went, enjoyed the almost non-existent view due to heavy fog and climbed down again. Had a picknick on a bench and then left the trail to walk into Gohrisch.
As soon as I had said goodbye to my friends rain set in and I headed over to the campingsite. Out of the few I've seen within the last days this one was easily the best and I can only recommend it. With 10 Euros not the cheapest but the ground was level and spaces were divided by bushes, there was a pool, a playground and a restaurant. Pitched my tent, had a nice short, hot shower and headed over to the restaurant to finally have the Schnitzel I've been craving for all day and that was denied to me yesterday.
Hit the sack quite early after reading for a bit since I wanted to get going as soons as 8am tomorrow for my final stage of the trail.

Ups And Downs

Day 3  - Saturday
38km

Wow. What a day! Left the campsite at 8:30 since today I had the longest stage of the trail ahead of me. 32km! It's not soooo much more than the last two days but the 30km mark is still something notable when walking. Especially when walking with a real backpack and let's say a demanding track. When checking out the woman at the counter asked me twice if I was really going to Schöna since that would be twice as much as yesterday's tour. Hm. Had I miscalculated again? 40+ km of walking up and down would really be hard.
Anyway, the path rose through a dense wood at first and immediately I was sweating and panting again. Great. Passed more rocks and quite a few signs for climbing spots. Going slightly up and down I made good speed and my body felt very much okay today.
Today's adventure really started when I reached the "Schrammstein Tor"  where you climb on steep steps, ladders and rock up beteen two of those pillars. It's very impressive and feels a little bit like via ferrata with handrails and such. Only it's easy enough so you don't need a harness. With a heavy backpack it still makes for some adventure... and great fun!!! Fantastic view from the top.

steep

The path leads over that rock there. Seriously!

Down and up and down I went with my heavy load. Walked through a seemingly popular part of the national reserve on a broad gravel road reaching one of a handfull of old mills at noon. I was really aching for a break then cause I was on my feet for almost 4 hours trying to walk as fast as I could. There were a lot of people out on a Saturday stroll with such a fine weather today. I came across a resturant just when I wanted to occupy the next bench. Perfect! Only I fled inside pretty soon after gulfing down my Soljanka. The beergarden was infested with wasps and I wanted to finish my alc-free beer without fishing one of those critters out of  the glass time and again.

Another steep climb later I arrived at the top of another rock which attracted more tourists because of the interesting natural dome of rock called "Kuhstall" (cowshed) and another nice view. Didn't linger long and because I didn't really fancy all those people.

For hours I dragged myself up and down and up again. Sweat was running down my back and face time and again when I had to climb up again, at some point I just didn't care anymore.
Apart from one couple with no backpacks who walked up from behind no one was overtaking me. On the contrary. While people where huffing and puffing I literally raced past them and was gone around the next bend before long.

The view was worth the labour.

My GPS counted 25+ km so far and there was still a long way ahead when I came upon another restaurant in the middle of the woods some time after 4pm. Decided to have my second longer break here and ordered a cappucino and a bowl of ice ceam. 20 minutes later I was back on the trail again with another very steep ascend to master that took me half an hour. Reached the 30km mark soon afterwards and somehow some kind of determination - exhilaration even - set in and I decided to walk until I drop. After reaching the top of the "Grosser Winterberg" I knew I had only to go down now to Schmilka.
My knees were complaining like grown ups throwning all kinds of swearwords at me because the way down was almost completely done on steps. ARG! I was so sick of steps by then.
Reached Schmilka at 6pm. 38km on the GPS, wow! But my destination Schöna was still some 5km away. I decided to call the B&B I wanted to stay at in Schöna and if they had vacancies I would've walked another hour to get there. Turned out they didn't so I decided to stay here and went on hunting for a bed. I was knackered and my legs couldn't go much further anyway. Found a nice one after several owners had turned me down and settled in before I went out again to find some food.

Settled on a bench already occupied by three nice guys at a tuck shop who invited me to sit with them and spent the better part of two hours drinking beer and chatting until it was really getting cold in the dark.

Hobbled back to my B&B with stiff legs and knees and just slumped on the bed watching some tv before I fell asleep.

A short easy walk?

Day 2 - Friday
23 km

 

Since I had to walk only 13km today I set off as late as 10am leisurely strolling back to where I had left the trail yesterday. I had not really slept well with a headache setting in in the middle of the night so I was looking forward to a day of relaxed walking. Things didn't go quite so easy.
The first hour I walked all alone on a broad path through the woods with towering rocks on my left. Again in the silence and the morning mist it was quite magical and I had the urge to scale a few of those rocks. They looked so inviting! Sigh. Had my first break at noon when I discovered a very nice spot a few metres off the track with a great view over a valley covered with trees and some of the rocks sticking out of it. At the rim where I sat it was going down at least 300 metres straight. Cool.

Not long after I came across another very nice viewpoint called "Brand" with a restaurant and a terrace, but everything was wet from the rain of last night so I just kept on going.

View from Brand

 
Thought I was almost at today's destination Ostrau but infact I had not even accomplished half of it. Huh? Should I trust my GPS device or the track description from the internet? Nevertheless, I quickened my pace, went through countless woods and up and down endless stairs, getting drenched several times when I was ascending steep slopes panting.

Steps, steps, steps... not the last

Generally had a great time and loved the scents of wood and grass. But after yesterdays 27km I just wanted to be done with it at a certain point. I was finally closing in at 4pm when I spotted a sign pointing directly to the campsite, the sign for "Malerweg" pointing to another direction. A shortcut? After 20km today instead of 13 I pondered for a second there and then decided to pull this through. I'm not going to cheat here I'm going to walk this trail completely not missing any bit of it.
20 minutes later I stood at a dead end. The sign pointed right but there was a red-white do-not-cross line and honestly there WAS no trail beyond that line. It looked like a there had been a landslide lately. So what now? Went back a few minutes to the spot where the path had forked and tried my luck going the other direction only to arrive at another dead end. Alright. Got it. Should've taken the short cut earlier.

Dead end

Went back all the way taking the "short cut" realizing that this had cost me a lot of time and energy. Finally arrived at the campsite at 5pm, checked in, pitched my tent and charged the batteries of my cellphone. I still had no accomodation for tomorrow night and I needed to phone some people if they had vacancies.
Last night's camping ground was very quiet and had only a few people with caravans. Tonight's campsite was a lot busier. Seemed to be a popular spot. I can't say I liked that. But they had a restaurant so I met up with my friends living nearby and had some food and drinks and a very nice chat.