Up early, drove with Anton (pictured below), Anna and Baby Klauds to the wonderful old village of Alfriston in East Sussex. Anna took the car back and Anton and me commenced walking to Eastbourne along the South Downs way.
The day was utterly beautiful, cold, with some wind on the tops of hills, but a perfect blue sky and lots of sun. Clambered up some steep hills and Anton and me overcame two phobias... I get a horrible exposed agoraphobic feeling every now and again. The conditions that spark this are mostly empty flat fields and standing on the tops of bald hills. It harks back to when I was four or five and was convinced I was going to fall into the sky. Meanwhile Anton takes against sheer drops. Yomping up a path carved into the treeless top of Ditchling Beacon (with the Long Man carved into it) was a ghastly challenge for both of us. Somehow, after cringing by a gate to eat the fortifying sausage sandwiches that Anton had packed for us, we decided to press on and got throught the ghastly bit and ended up having a really nice walk for the next six miles or so till we reached Eastbourne.
Felt really good to be doing something healthy outside, and of course it gave Anton the chance to accessorise, so that he had new: special socks, layers of clothes, maps, a special compass, an anorak, hat, gloves, rucksack, vacuum flasks, special trousers with special map holding pockets and zips so they turn into shorts and socks.
Really good thing to have done, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather be clinging to the side of a sheer drop with. We both felt really pleased with ourselves in the last stretch as we walked down the almost-parkland slope down into Eastbourne.
In Eastbourne, where I phoned my baby and Anton called Anna. We had a fast beer in a dodgy pub there and then headed home on the train to Brighton, glimpsing the Long Man from the train. Paused again at the Battle of Trafalgar, what with Guildford Road being so steep and all, for another pint of Harveys. Anna had been cooking and we had a lovely meal of roast beef, yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and various vegetables, followed by Anna's signature treacle pudding. Yum. Very English day, what with our pints of bitter and hearty rib-sticking English grub.
Klaudia being the most adorable two year old on the planet. Asking for me to come upstairs as she was going to bed and having to watch her brush her teeth.
Here are a few snaps of the great (well only 8 miles on the South Downs Way) trek...
The day was utterly beautiful, cold, with some wind on the tops of hills, but a perfect blue sky and lots of sun. Clambered up some steep hills and Anton and me overcame two phobias... I get a horrible exposed agoraphobic feeling every now and again. The conditions that spark this are mostly empty flat fields and standing on the tops of bald hills. It harks back to when I was four or five and was convinced I was going to fall into the sky. Meanwhile Anton takes against sheer drops. Yomping up a path carved into the treeless top of Ditchling Beacon (with the Long Man carved into it) was a ghastly challenge for both of us. Somehow, after cringing by a gate to eat the fortifying sausage sandwiches that Anton had packed for us, we decided to press on and got throught the ghastly bit and ended up having a really nice walk for the next six miles or so till we reached Eastbourne.
Felt really good to be doing something healthy outside, and of course it gave Anton the chance to accessorise, so that he had new: special socks, layers of clothes, maps, a special compass, an anorak, hat, gloves, rucksack, vacuum flasks, special trousers with special map holding pockets and zips so they turn into shorts and socks.
Really good thing to have done, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather be clinging to the side of a sheer drop with. We both felt really pleased with ourselves in the last stretch as we walked down the almost-parkland slope down into Eastbourne.
In Eastbourne, where I phoned my baby and Anton called Anna. We had a fast beer in a dodgy pub there and then headed home on the train to Brighton, glimpsing the Long Man from the train. Paused again at the Battle of Trafalgar, what with Guildford Road being so steep and all, for another pint of Harveys. Anna had been cooking and we had a lovely meal of roast beef, yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and various vegetables, followed by Anna's signature treacle pudding. Yum. Very English day, what with our pints of bitter and hearty rib-sticking English grub.
Klaudia being the most adorable two year old on the planet. Asking for me to come upstairs as she was going to bed and having to watch her brush her teeth.
Here are a few snaps of the great (well only 8 miles on the South Downs Way) trek...
Comments