Resuming the PW after my rest day proved irksome. Instead of increasing my energy, the day of relative inactivity had sent the wrong message to my legs, which obviously thought the whole daft project was over and that they deserved their pension. The first two miles continued along Hadrian's Wall, following a section which a couple of walkers I'd met the previous evening described as "savage". My legs agreed. To make matters worse, just before leaving the wall, I encountered a particularly intransigent looking herd of bullocks. One was planted next to the stile, shaking his head ominously and daring me to climb over. While I was looking for an alternative route that didn't risk falling off the crags, a party of walkers approached from the opposite direction. The leader shoved the bullock aside as nonchalantly as if it were a piece of furniture and the group passed through. I took advantage of the safe passage while trying to give the impression that I'd simply been waiting for them to cross first out of politeness. Behind this advance party were at least a hundred more, all wearing Hadrian's Wall Trek 2012 T-shirts and evidently raising money for the Help for Heroes charity.
One of the ordinary activities which attracts a different focus on a walking holiday is food. Partly this is because the need, real or imagined, for food is a good excuse to have a break from walking. In my case, walking doesn't seem to burn many calories and after the Coast to Coast I found myself several pounds heavier after overindulgence in hearty dinners so I try to exercise restraint. My diet at home is drawn from a limited but reasonably healthy palette. Breakfast comprises cereal, orange juice and fruit, lunch is a chicken and avocado sandwich accompanied by an apple, dinner finds me eating fish with a baked potato and salad or vegetables. Brussels sprouts are a favourite; living alone I can fart as much as I like. Before bed, I have more fruit, sometimes with a sneaky square or two of chocolate. However staying in B&Bs the pattern changes a bit. I've stuck to the general principle of declining cooked breakfasts, although B&B proprietors are invariably surprised and sometimes offended, taking it as a personal slight on their culinary skills. If it's a long day, I'll eat half a banana mid-morning and the remainder in the afternoon. Many B&Bs offer a packed lunch but I prefer to buy a sandwich from a shop where possible. It's cheaper and also avoids the problem of disposing of the crisps which seem to be a mandatory ingredient of packed lunches. Very few B&Bs provide dinner, although I was invited to join the family for a delicious roast chicken with all the trimmings at Ponden House, so I rely on local hostelries. In the last few years, the phrase "pub food" has ceased to be an oxymoron and my overnight stops have all so far offered at least one decent food venue. I'm always hungriest in the evening and can rarely resist the homemade pates and other goodies offered as starters.
At Once Brewed, I did make an exception to the breakfast rule and had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs to celebrate my rest day. Breakfast is not served until 8.15 so wanting an early start for the walk to Bellingham, I requested an "early bird" takeaway breakfast on the second day. When I opened it, just after leaving the Wall, I saw it comprised two croissants with ham and cheese, a pot of Greek yogurt and an object in a paper bag which at first I took to be a large apricot and then realised was an egg, presumably hard-boiled. Since the packed lunch was a ham sandwich, I rather overdosed on pork that day.
© David Thompson 2012
One of the ordinary activities which attracts a different focus on a walking holiday is food. Partly this is because the need, real or imagined, for food is a good excuse to have a break from walking. In my case, walking doesn't seem to burn many calories and after the Coast to Coast I found myself several pounds heavier after overindulgence in hearty dinners so I try to exercise restraint. My diet at home is drawn from a limited but reasonably healthy palette. Breakfast comprises cereal, orange juice and fruit, lunch is a chicken and avocado sandwich accompanied by an apple, dinner finds me eating fish with a baked potato and salad or vegetables. Brussels sprouts are a favourite; living alone I can fart as much as I like. Before bed, I have more fruit, sometimes with a sneaky square or two of chocolate. However staying in B&Bs the pattern changes a bit. I've stuck to the general principle of declining cooked breakfasts, although B&B proprietors are invariably surprised and sometimes offended, taking it as a personal slight on their culinary skills. If it's a long day, I'll eat half a banana mid-morning and the remainder in the afternoon. Many B&Bs offer a packed lunch but I prefer to buy a sandwich from a shop where possible. It's cheaper and also avoids the problem of disposing of the crisps which seem to be a mandatory ingredient of packed lunches. Very few B&Bs provide dinner, although I was invited to join the family for a delicious roast chicken with all the trimmings at Ponden House, so I rely on local hostelries. In the last few years, the phrase "pub food" has ceased to be an oxymoron and my overnight stops have all so far offered at least one decent food venue. I'm always hungriest in the evening and can rarely resist the homemade pates and other goodies offered as starters.
At Once Brewed, I did make an exception to the breakfast rule and had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs to celebrate my rest day. Breakfast is not served until 8.15 so wanting an early start for the walk to Bellingham, I requested an "early bird" takeaway breakfast on the second day. When I opened it, just after leaving the Wall, I saw it comprised two croissants with ham and cheese, a pot of Greek yogurt and an object in a paper bag which at first I took to be a large apricot and then realised was an egg, presumably hard-boiled. Since the packed lunch was a ham sandwich, I rather overdosed on pork that day.
© David Thompson 2012
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