A Sign of the Times

If there is one thing British people love more than queuing, it’s road signs.  However, to the American tourist, they can be quite confusing.  Here’s my translation for some of the signs I have come across so far:

  Caution: Drunk Driver Ahead

 Stunt Team At Work

Horses must also obey the speed limit

Tipping of Cows is taken very seriously over here

Pedophile in residence: Police take note

and finally, my personal favorite

Area known to be frequented by elderly pickpockets

or

Caution: Handsy Elderly People Ahead

I Sea Wood

Well, after the world's worst travel day, I finally arrived in Ulverston for the first time since the beginning of December. (I note this because there has only been one blog entry since December, as Kevin was left in charge of the blog...) Since I had such a stressful day traveling Sunday/Monday, I decided to stay close to Ulverston on my first day back. On one of my prior trips, Kevin and I visited Birkrigg Stone Circle, which is located near Bardsea, just on the outskirts of town. When we visited the stone circle, we parked in an area that was posted as "Sea Wood". When I did a little research online, I found out that Sea Wood is a 58 acrea area of woods located along the sea (hence the name) owned by Woodland Trust. One thing you don't see a lot of in England is heavily wooded areas, so I decided the woods would be interesting to visit.

Also appealing to my love of British History, the property was once owned by Lady Jane Grey who, if memory serves me correctly, was England's shortest reigning Queen. She managed to last 9 days as Queen before being beheaded in 1554. Even in his death, Henry VIII was responsible for the beheading of another young Queen. Jane Grey was the great-niece of Henry VIII, and was convinced by her family to assume the throne after Henry's only son, Edward, died. Her reign lasted 9 short days, all of which she was confined to the Tower of London before she was executed due to her father's involvement in the Wyatt rebellion against Queen Mary. Talk about having bad parents!

Sea Wood is a little over 3 miles from Kevin's flat by way of the Coast Road. Since I am a champion walker and the sun was shining, I decided to head out on foot. The Coast Road is a scenic drive to Barrow along the Morcambe Bay, so the walk along the ocean and past farm land was quite enjoyable.


However, the walk quickly became very horrible when I past a farm that was literally spraying manure on the field. It smelled worse than hockey equipment in a hot car, chicken poop and Roo after she eats peppers combined. I literally almost vomited. However, a pair of bicyclists found my exclamation of "OH Dear Lord, what is that horrible smell!!!" while I started running very amusing. At least I entertained someone...

If you ever see a truck spraying something out the back, RUN!

The walk to Sea Wood takes you past Holy Trinity Church in Bardsea, which I had admired from the road many times and never gotten a chance to photograph.

When I finally arrived at Sea Wood, I was glad that I had made the trek out there. The woods were beautiful and peaceful and I hit the perfect time of year as all the flowers were in bloom. It looked exactly like the kind of place Mumsy would enjoy, and if I lived her all the time, I think I would frequent the area with a book in hand. As I am a world-class nerd, the woods immediately brought to mind Lothlorien as I pictured fair-haired elves.

Instead of walking back the same way, I took part of the Cumbrian Coastal Way, a series of footpaths leading along the coast from Silverdale to Gretna on the Scottish Boarder. The stretch of the Coastal Way from Bardsea to Ulverston is especially pretty as it winds along Morcambe Bay and passes farm land and Conished Priory.

Mayrhofen Austria

 

Sorry for the long delay on new posts to the blog.  To be honest I am horrible at writing them and without Amanda here to do it it has been a lost cause.  I figured that I should at least make an attempt at a new post about my ski trip this past February to Mayrhofen Austria.

 

A while back my friend Pete and I had been talking about a ski trip this past winter.  He had been to Austria before loved it.  So, we decided to go back to the area that he had visited because there was so much to see and a great deal of terrain to explore on the mountains.  Mayrhofen is located about an hours drive South East  from Innsbruck Austria.  The town is surrounded by the Alps and there are at least 8 ski areas in a short distance from it.

Mayrhofen in the Winter

Pete booked the trip and we were set to go in the beginning of February.   Our friends Jen and Nate joined us for the trip.  We flew form Gatwick, UK to Innsbruck, Austria and then got on a bus that took us to our ski chalet, the Birkenhof.

Nate and Jen at the Birkenhof

This was a two star ski chalet with shared bathrooms and a ski storage area, with boot drying racks, in the basement.  It was nothing fancy but for a week of skiing all you really need is a place to crash after beating yourself up all day.

 

The next day we got up early, ate some breakfast and headed out on the slopes.  There is a large number of choices when it comes to where to skiing and boarding.  We stayed in the areas directly linked to Mayrhofen and at Zell Am Ziller, which is a short train ride away (the train was free with the lift pass).  The best part was that one 6 day ticket was good for all the areas within the valley.

Mayrhofen Trail Map 

Zell AM Ziller Trail Map

We skied for six days and it was amazing.  There was fresh snow a couple times and that added to the fun by refreshing the off piste areas.  I would have to say that this is definitely in my top 5 ski trips. 

 

Here are some pictures from the fun:

View of the Mountains 

The Universal Sign For: Don’t Ski This Way or You May Fall Off a Cliff!

Serious Nate

Jen

Pete Doing His Thing

Great View

The town was a great place to unwind after long days of skiing.  We ate all sorts of great Austrian food and indulged in a few of the local brews each evening  before heading to bed to do it all again the next day.

Mmm Meat and Potatoes With an Egg on Top and a Cabbage Salad on the Side…Classic Austrian Cuisine.

We became friends with some English guys who were staying in the same Chalet as us that had been to this area many times.  Along with sharing a great deal of knowledge about the off piste terrain that was available in the area they had brought along there guitars and managed to get themselves a gig for the week at one of the local restaurants.  Pete even got to play a few songs one of the nights.

Pete playing Guitar at a Restaurant in Austria

It was a great six days and I can’t wait to get back there to explore more of the mountains that we did not get a chance to see.

 

To see all the pictures from the trip go here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149145&id=536058549&l=aa0c1bfb87

 

Edit:  Oh, Amanda wanted to know if the “Hills were alive with the sound of music.”  Yes, yes they were :)