needles, cliffs, the sea, tennyson & half a dead fox - england day 4

what did i wake up to? a blue sky! so i decided not to go to london after all, because i didn't want to risk missing out on a hike on what might possibly be the only sunny day during this holiday. instead, i took the bus to revisit a couple of places i'd been to in the 90s, starting at alum bay.

alum bay is famous for its multi-coloured sands and the fact that, due to geological folding, you can find vertical layers of rock instead of horizontal layers - younger rocks to the west and older rocks to the east. quite stunningly beautiful. until recently i did not know that guglielmo marconi moved here at the end of the 19th century and experimented with radio, communicating with ships offshore.

i did not go down to the beach, however, but instead walked to the needles battery and the needles viewpoint. the needles are three stacks of chalk rising out of the sea just off the shore at the isle's westernmost point. they don't actually look like needles at all, but that is easily explained: there was actually one shaped like a needle, called lot's wife, but it collapsed ages ago. the name, however, stuck. the needles lighthouse is iconic - just walk into any souvenir shop on the island, and it will greet you a hundred times.

queen victoria may have been the most famous resident on the island, but another VIP, so to speak, spent many, many years here: alfred lord tennyson, poet laureate. he owned a house on the island and was a permanent resident for one and a half decades, before he "fled" from the starstruck tourists who kept pestering him, returning to the island during the quiet winters. it was up the hill named after him (tennyson down) that i walked to the memorial erected in his memory, up on a clifftop 147m above the sea, silently reciting lines from his "lady of shalott". i inwardly groaned when some folks up by the memorial were wondering what the "poet, wasn't he" had written and came up with "i wandered lonely as a cloud" ... call me a snob, but - ouch. poor wordsworth, poor tennyson.

it was so beautiful up there, and though it was quite windy at the top, the more than welcome sun made such a difference! i walked on towards freshwater bay, where i stopped for a hot drink, then walked on along the coastal path towards brook. ah, the sea! if there is one thing i would change about my home country it is the fact that it's landlocked. i have always loved the sea. it has never scared me, always drawn me to it. there's something about it that is healing, comforting. i also love the fact that its mood can change like a person's ... from calm and inviting to turmoil, fury and bleakness. it's as if it reflected a person's emotions, inner life.

i walked past tucked away little bays, among gorse bushes, encountered the first two bumblebeesof the season, saw a lot of smiling faces, took plenty of pictures, enjoyed the views all around, and - almost stumbled over half a dead fox. the first thought was "oh, brilliant!" what does that say about me? ha. it looked quite bizarre - only the front half of the animal was left fairly intact ... the rest ... well ... don't ask. i'll post a picture later.

not far from the fox, a bloody wing. above me, seagulls and crows circling and screeching, riding the currents. life and death.

i got to brook chine much sooner than i'd expected, so i went down and sat on the beach for a bit, soaking up some good sea, sun & sand vibes. at the bus stop i stretched out on the bench, face tilted towards the sun, listening to the crows making a racket in the adjacent field, and i could have fallen asleep there, it was so peaceful!

back in sandown, i once again found that nothing beats a long, hot shower after a 14 or 15 km hike. bliss! i felt like dining out, so i put on some decent clothes for a change, no muddy boots or hiking gear. in celebration of me i even put on lipstick! ;) i went to the indian restaurant for some kadai paneer and tandoori roti, and i actually allowed myself the first half pint of cider in ages.

i barely drink alcohol anymore - i went teetotal in 2007, because i did not want to mix my psychotropic drugs with alcohol. i didn't actually mind all that much. when i went off the pills, i found that wine didn't do me good anymore - unfortunately, because i had always enjoyed a glass of shiraz. wines tend to make me anxious and slightly paranoid now. funnily enough, i am alright with some bailey's or even a small caipirinha now and again. anyway, so i thought i'd see how cider agrees with me these days. i spent an hour eating and reading "being alive", being particularly struck by simon armitage's "Not the Furniture Game".

back in my room, i had another video chat with heinz. i had felt hot and my eyes had hurt after my hike, but i'd put it down to the sun, wind and exercise. however, by about 10:30 i was convinced something was wrong. well, 38°C body temperature, that's what was wrong with me. aaaaarghhhh! so, off to bed. i went from burning up to teeth chattering cold until i eventually fell asleep.

here are some photos!


view of the needles



gorse - south england's light



alum bay



freshwater bay



tennyson memorial



half a dead fox



reflective bird


song of the day: the lady of shalott by loreena mckennitt, based on the poem by alfred lord tennyson.

of marshes, detours & clotted cream tea - england day 3

not so windy in the morning, a hint of sun. i set out towards brading by bus, then attempted to walk towards the coast ... due to a lack of signposts in some crucial spots that was a bit more hit and miss than i'd expected. i walked across marshes, encountered several chattering but shy geese, and emerged on the other side looking like a piggy, at least my feet to well above my ankles did! instead of being some place near bembridge down, i ended up in yaverland, not all that far from sandown, where i'm staying. ah well.

up the first ascent towards culver cliff. bunnies galore, snow flurries again, and the wind had picked up, too. and then, of course, the path was closed. i was greeted by a red DO NOT ENTER sign. sigh. back again. diversion number 1. along the road, too, and no idea how long it would take. but i marched on. eventually ended up back on the coastal path. i enjoyed the views as i hiked on uphill towards culver cliff and the earl of yarborough monument. up there the wind was definitely an issue, so i had a hot drink before descending towards whitecliff bay. fields, some wooded areas - those were nice, as they meant shelter from the wind. happy hiker girl, until ... diversion number 2. path closed again. there had been no notice of that part being closed back at yaverland, or i would have found some other walking tour. double sigh.

again, country roads, then across the village, on to foreland, by the sea. there the wind jumped at me like some icy beast that wouldn't let go of me again. as there was no way i would have made it all the way to ryde as planned, and i dreaded more detours, i ventured to the nearest bus stop - and i was really lucky in that the bus showed up about three minutes later. back to sandown then. with all the detours, i have no ideas how many kilometres i walked, but certainly no less than 13.

which meant, i really deserved some clotted cream tea, right? right. after a stop at the co-op, i sat happily munching my scone with cream and strawberry jam - and actually drinking tea the english way! it had been my hot drink of choice for many, many years, until i heard that caffeine was not good for me when i started having panic attacks in 2007. so i went cold turkey back then and didn't drink any tea with milk for nearly five and a half years. and i'm only having a few cuppas while here in england. because, well, it's all part of the experience, eh?

here's a pic of dotty trying to pinch my scone:.


dotty-d cream tea ;)

speaking of the UK - there are some things i really love about it:

so many houses have names here. that's so neat. if i had a house in austria, i'd name it, too.

even in the new millennium, people still queue up. i often wish austrians had more of a queuing culture - especially at tichy's ice cream shop on a hot summer day. ;)

passengers thank the bus driver when getting off the bus. and the bus drivers thank the passengers.

friendly and helpful bus drivers who shout out your stop.

salt & vinegar crisps. to. die. for.

strongbow cider.

original source tea tree & mint shower gel

galaxy bars.

clotted cream teas.

the light.

but this time around i am also shocked at the number of people who are not only badly / inappropriately, but also shabbily dressed: faded colours; jumpers that have gone baggy with age, overstretched wristbands; tracksuits that have seen much better days; worn-out trainers, or even only slippers that look like they were intended for indoors. along with that goes unwashed hair and a general impression of negligence. i'm not saying this does not exist in austria, but it really strikes me here this year. sign of the times, i suppose.

some photos:


two geese



low tide



view of sandown bay



knock knock! - who's there?



twisted



blackbird scanning the sky for sun?


song of the day: on my own from "les misérables" by original london cast.

time-out

no, the carinthian mountain spirits have not whisked me away, nor have i emigrated to some lonely hut high up in the alps, but i did stay with my family longer than i had planned, from monday till sunday last week. the weather was wonderful, and i was actually able to relax and leave work behind me for most of the days, although i did sit down to translate a little every night.


on our balcony


on tuesday we did a rather short hike from weissensee's eastern end. that lake is just soooo beautiful, no matter how many times i have seen it, i am still in love with it. sad news: a 68 year old german fell down a 50m drop and hit a rock with his head. passengers on a passing boat saw the accident and came to the rescue together with a local fisherman. they reanimated the german and took him to the nearest pier where a helicopter picked him up a while later. he died in hospital two days later though. and here is the spooky thing - i am pretty sure i have a picture of the guy. the description fits, and the picture was taken before the steepest part about ten minutes before the accident ...




here grow cows


on wednesday, we drove to kölnbreinsperre (a dam) and from there hiked along the reservoir to osnabrücker hütte, another easy tour. it was gorgeous. the marmots were noisy, and we even saw a few, already fattened up pretty well for winter. it was rather hot, and on the way back my mom and i bathed our tired feet in icy water (and i mean icy, not just cold) - aaaah!






since my mom had to work on thursday, my dad and i went off alone, taking the chairlift to blutige alm (innerkrems). it was incredibly windy on the lift, but it got quite warm on our way to the little lakes called anderleseen, though it looked rather dark in the direction we took. once we were at the lakes, the wind really picked up and it got so cold that my hands were freezing.


baby donkey (1 month old) at blutige alm


not very nice conditions for a cosy picnic, so we did not stop for long and walked down to willihütte where it was calm and actually quite hot. ah, bliss! sitting in the sunshine, quiet all around, only bees buzzing and birds singing ...


lunch break for butterflies


my mom also works fridays, so it was a father & daughter tour again that day: from thomannbaueralm (innernöring) we reached our first peak of the day: rabenkofel.



it was lovely and warm, but the higher we got, the windier it was, and by the time we reached the second peak, stileck, the wind was almost as strong as the previous day and it was way too cold and windy to sit down and eat up there. we found a sheltered spot a little further down on the way to langnock and rested for a while. langnock was the third peak and from there it was all downhill - though only as far as our path was concerned; the sun was out again, and it wasn't as windy anymore. the cows eyed us suspiciously, the butterflies danced and the bees buzzed, the ants kept themselves busy and the birds chirped happily. dad and i took a lot of photos on the way to lamprechthütte, where we had some of their delicious reindling (a traditional carinthian cake)


healthy carinthian meal


and talked to the owners for a while before our last half hour walk back to the car.



hungry pig munching on my dad's apple & frothing at the mouth



rude austrian cow


saturday was my lazy day - chatting with my brother and my granny, enjoying the sunshine, and just a small dose of work.

for more pics, see my flickr album.


back in vienna, i went back to my job-coaching classes in the afternoons, things are very quiet there. i was relieved to hear that it was okay for me to teach the most advanced english class starting on the 22nd instead of the beginners class starting on the 15th, because it gives me more time for the translation. speaking of which - we still have not received the electronic file, but i am nearly done with the translation of the text (only 10 pages to go now, then the footnotes for which the electronic file would be very handy) anyway!

autumn has arrived: it was hot until thursday, a little cooler on friday, and yesterday it was obvious that while it might still be warm until well into october, there will be no more heat. the light is getting more beautiful by the day and i look forward to some picture-hunting whenever time permits.


song of the day: water to sky by thea gilmore.

where, what, who ...

where i've been:

hiking with my dad in the nockberge area of carinthia - blutige alm (bloody pasture) & anderleseen (anderle lakes):





hiking with mom, dad, and my brother martin in the nockberge area - königstuhl, windebensee:









in my hometown, spittal:



in klagenfurt's planetarium & minimundus, with birgit:



who i've met:





what i've seen:









who i've kissed:



what i've said goodbye to -
the backyard, our beautiful garden, the house where my great aunt greti used to live, and surrounding buildings as well as the cobblestone street i think of every time i look at my knees - because i learned to ride my bike there. all that will be gone soon, replaced by a supermarket:









more photos on flickr sooooon (i hope).

song of the day: capri calling by yello.