Maria Runs - Maria Runs

A week in the Dordogne

The week leading up to the August Bank holiday was spent in the Dordogne, in France. Although a small bit of it didn’t go quite to plan, it was a lovely relaxing week. Andy had the Friday afternoon off work so we drove to the tunnel (got on an hour earlier which is always good) and then after a quick stop in the supermarket for food, had around a 4 hour drive to our travel lodge style hotel. The next morning we were up early and had around a 7 hour drive to get to our cottage. Lots of podcasts were listened to (Judge John Hodgman is my favourite at the moment).

The cottage gardens and surrounding countryside

Our cottage was gorgeous- it was an old barn that had been renovated by an English couple – and was set in really pretty countryside full of fields of sunflowers and plum orchards. We would head out for a walk in the evening once it was cooler, and even saw some deer one evening by a little reservoir.

I’d packed some running kit with me, aiming to run early in the mornings before it got too hot. However on the first evening whilst out on a walk, I stupidly decided to jump over a ditch (we were walking along the roads which were very quiet, but we saw a path on the other side of the ditch)- anyway, as I landed I jarred my hip/leg, which then made the muscle seize up. For the rest of that evening I couldn’t even sit on a chair as my leg wouldn’t bend at all- that put my running plans back a bit!

On the Sunday we headed to a nearby town as they had a famous Sunday market- the town was bustling and I knew moving would help my leg (so it would not get more stiff) but we didn’t stay too long. We did find a local bakery that sold chocolate almond croissants (the king of the croissant) so that was a good addition to breakfast.

It was hot hot hot until the Friday!

The hammock in the shade, breakfast of fresh fruit + croissant, and the decking area (had to move each time the shadows moved as it was way too hot to be in direct sunlight)

On Monday after chilling out in the morning (lots of reading in the shade) we drove to some gardens on the edge of a cliff (this was fun because I could go downstairs and slopes fine, but as I could not bend my leg in front of me, I had to go up stairs one at a time, and the gardens were at the top of cliff-side stairs). There were beautiful views across the valley to the river and beyond so it was worth it.

They had a really cool beehive with a sort of chimney entrance- apparently bees need free space around the hive so they can fly directly into it, and so the chimney on the top of the hive meant that no people were in the flight path of the bees. It had little flaps you could open and see the various parts of the inner workings which was very interesting too.

There were some amazing clouds in the evening when we headed out for a walk.

On the Tuesday we headed to a nearby town, Bergerac, and had a lovely wander around the streets as well as a walk by the river.

The Wednesday saw us head further afield, visiting some more cliff-side gardens (and as it was the hottest day it was great to find a trail through woodland with lots of paintings hidden in the forest to admire), wandering around a couple of little towns and spending the afternoon at a chateaux.

And then hooray!

On the Thursday my leg felt good enough to try a short run- I could walk up stairs normally and it seemed to be bending OK so I did a very gentle not-quite-3 miles and all was good. Although I did have a panic when I got back to the cottage as there was a dog half way down the drive (something that looked like a husky- big and wolf-like)- I usually stop if I come across a dog, but there was no-one around so it wasn’t like the owner would call it. I slowed down a bit and kept looking back- it walked around the corner and watched me- my hands were shaking a lot and it took a while for me to unlock the door but it didn’t chase me thankfully. After yet more reading in the shade (I managed to read two and a half books in the week we were away) we went to another local medieval town in the afternoon for another wander.

On Friday we got up early to see some caves- there are loads of caves in this part of France, some with amazing rock formations and some with prehistoric paintings. I was very keen to see some paintings, and after a bit of research (some of the caves are replicas because the originals were being damaged by light/ algae or something) we found one, Rouffignac, but there were only a limited amount of tickets per day, as you were shown around by a guide in a little train, so we wanted to be there first thing.

It was much cooler on the Friday so the hour drive wasn’t too bad. We got there at about 8.40am, along with a group of other early birds. I had read stories of people turning up at 10.30 and being given a 4.30pm time slot which we really didn’t want, but we got on the first train. You were not allowed to take photos inside the caves, and although the guide spoke French (some would speak English but it was down to the luck of the draw) you could use a little tablet with information on it. The paintings were fascinating to see, and I was really pleased we had made the effort to get over there.

As it was more overcast, I’d decided to have a run in the afternoon, but as we went out for a walk after lunch it got very hot indeed, so I left it until a bit later in the day. A 4 mile run done (with only a tiny scare when seeing a dog sat at the end of a driveway) and I was pretty pleased with that. I was also excited to get an email from my yoga teacher (Josie) who had put a short video on you tube– I followed it when I got back from my run (and several times since)- it’s only 15 mins long but I have appreciated following along as I just can’t remember all the poses on my own.

On the Saturday we checked out and drove to Orleans for an overnight stop en route to the tunnel. The city was a great place to stop, right on the river with lots of little streets to wander around. Then on Sunday it was another long drive to the tunnel and home (in the pouring rain I might add).

Did you have a good Bank Holiday weekend?

Tring parkrun round 2, tea and tidying the garden

*For some reason some of the photos are upside down in this- no idea why and I will have a go at sorting them out! Sorry!

Tring parkrun was the 10th parkrun venue that I visited, not long after discovering the joys of parkrun tourism and around the time that I decided to try and run all of the parkruns in Hertfordshire. We are so lucky in Herts that we have so many stunning and varied courses but Tring was always mentioned when we spoke to locals because of the amazing views. It is right by the Chiltern hills and although it’s a hilly one, the views were meant to be worth the effort. I went with my dad in October 2016, and it was a super foggy day, so although we loved the route, we didn’t get the sweeping dramatic views so we always said we would go back. This summer I was only around for a couple of weekends, and as Dad been cycling across The Ridgeway ( a trail crossing the Chilterns) for a few days we decided to keep with the theme of the Chilterns and head to Tring on the 11th August. Thankfully the weather in August had no fog in store for us!

The course had changed a tiny bit since we were last there- starting on the field next to the avenue of trees (last time we ran through the avenue of trees at the start) but on the whole it was the same- run up a hill, run into some woods and keep going up, then go up a bit more, run along the ridge and enjoy the views, run down, across some fields and near the finish before a little bit more of an uphill.

My brother came too, and the three of us started together but within a few metres Dad was heading off ahead so we all ended up being spread out. It was very enjoyable- breath taking hills and breathtaking scenery. I did walk up a few of the steepest bits as I felt I was sort of comedy running and really going more slowly.

I finished slightly slower than my last visit, but with the heat that wasn’t a surprise, and the point was to enjoy it (which I did).

After we finished it was back home for Mum’s pancakes- always a fab start to the weekend. I walked into town in the afternoon and one of my knees was pretty sore- I think the steep downhills had taken their toll.

The holidays have been going by so fast- I’ve been enjoying running first thing in the morning, and going out on lots of walks. I spotted loads of blackberries on a run, so returned there on a walk later armed with some bags to collect them- I should have also taken something to wipe my hands with as I had very sticky hands for the walk home!

I finally signed up to the Bird and Blend (formerly Bluebird Tea co- I keep forgetting they have changed their name) tea club where you get a small selection of teas each month.

This month the theme was honey, but they were all vegan teas (I signed up to the veggie/vegan one anyway, although I am sure they were sorting it out so that all of their teas were veggie- not containing cochineal and so on).

The three teas have all been delicious, but “Honey, I’m Comb” has to be my favourite- black tea with cacao nibs. I was also very excited to get some Red Velvet tea in the sales- they had sold out on the first day and I was too slow in ordering, but then it was back in stock so I left them a note on the confirm order page, and they replied in their shipping note which was a lovely touch.

I’m not opening it until I have finished the tea club teas though, otherwise the tea cupboard gets too confusing.

Time on my hands at home has meant that loads of jobs have been ticked off the list too- from going through all of my clothes and sorting out a bag for charity, tidying the utility room (I found things still wrapped in bubble wrap from when we moved house over 2 years ago!) and finding a few things at home to sell on ebay, it’s all been therapeutic. Tidying the garden is the most enjoyable one. We have been adding plants, and although the hot weather meant the ground was rock hard and impossible to dig or weed, a few days of rain sorted it and I’ve been out there plenty of times.

One problem we keep encountering is the vast amount of junk buried just below the surface of the soil- I was trying to plant a little blackcurrant bush and when I dug down I found this huge paving slab. We also have a mountain of lumps of concrete- some I dug out of the ground a while back, and some were just left in a pile behind the shed (from the people who lived here before us). My dad keeps doing tip runs for us as he has a big people carrier and can take the seats out. We had arranged one morning for him and mum to come over, have coffee and a walk in Panshanger park, and then load up the car. However, it was pelting with rain so we opted to stay inside and hope it would ease off. It slowed, but didn’t stop, so in the end we spent a good hour carting the blocks of concrete to the car. I didn’t take a “before” photo, but there were three layers of concrete lumps in the car before we put any of the other junk (wood with nails in it, an old rusty chiminea thing) on top. My arms were aching the next day, and poor Dad had to then unload it all at the tip when he got there. It made a huge difference, but Dad was a bit annoyed that he didn’t manage to clear it all, so when we saw them on the Bank holiday he told me he would be over at 2 the next day to clear the rest of it away.

Image may contain: plant and outdoor

(Top right at some of the lumps of concrete that I had previously dug out of the ground). I’d been on a run in the morning and then pottered around at home, and we then spent just under 2 hours loading yet more concrete lumps into the car. Some of them were too big to lift, so Dad hammered them into chunks. He took the rest of the big logs, and again the back of the car was completely full when he left. I am so annoyed that I didn’t do a before and after pic, because it has made a huge difference, and now there are only a few remaining lumps (plus an open bag of concrete which filled with rainwater and then went solid). More therapeutic activities anyway.

Which parkruns would you like to go back to the most?

Have you signed up to any mail subscription services? Years ago I used to get a weekly Graze box but it seems like you can get their snacks in lots of shops now.

Amsterdam

I love travelling by train- I find it much less stressful than flying (no need to worry about the size of your bags or liquids, no need to turn up several hours before), and you can just sit and watch the scenery. Plus when you arrive you are usually where you need to be instead of 30 miles away in an airport. Anyway, the Eurostar now goes to Amsterdam (although sadly you can’t get it directly back yet) and that’s how we travelled on a Thursday evening.

Just like everywhere else in Europe, it was baking hot, particularly on the Friday.

We were staying a 5 min train ride from the city centre but as the public transport was fairly expensive we went out for the day and once in the centre, walked everywhere. It was a lovely city to wander around, but it was so busy (and so hot) that after a few hours of admiring the various canals and pretty buildings (which reminded me of the famous brown stones in New York, and then I was informed that it used to be called New Amsterdam- you learn something every day) we headed to the park to find some shade and cool down for a bit. We’d seen a few rainbow flags about and didn’t think much of it until we went into the main square and saw a stage being build- it was Pride for the weekend (which also explains why the hotels were all so booked up!).

We passed a Starbucks so decided to share a drink and I took a photo as I was so impressed with the calligraphy-style handwriting on the cup.

Coincidentally one of my friends was also there and she recommended a pancake place to us- there are a lot of pancake places but the one we went to was called the Pancake Bakery and all the toppings were baked into the batter. There was a huge menu but in the end I went for a pineapple one and it was really tasty (but personally I felt it was expensive- 9 Euros for a pancake seems a lot to me).

We had booked tickets for Anne Frank’s house and must have spent about an hour and a half in there in the end. It was done very well- you had a little handheld speaker and each room had a little receiver, so once you had pointed it at the receiver you could then listen to the information. I know these things are important, but I don’t think I could ever visit a concentration camp, and I was a bit worried that it would be really awful, but in fact it was interesting and although it didn’t avoid any of the horrors, it was focused more on their life in hiding.

On the Saturday we headed to the most amazing place for brunch- Bakers and Roasters– run by a couple from New Zealand and Brazil. They had a very clever system where they took your phone number and gave you an estimated time of your table being ready (45 min wait for us) and they would then text you when it was ready, so we walked around a market while we waited. It is not often that I really have trouble deciding from a menu, but there were so many good things on the menu. I did have my eye on the banana-nut French toast, but it came with bacon and on the menu it said any alterations would cost 2 Euros (and I didn’t want to pay more for less food!), so in the end went for an acai bowl which was perfect for the hot weather. They did make awesome looking cakes to take away, but we were both too full to even think about cake- next time maybe!

Then we walked around the centre, taking in the tail end of the Pride parade which had taken place on the canals. The paths were totally rammed and I just marvelled at the boats totally loaded with people dancing and drinking- I was very worried that we would see people fall off into the water!

We had booked tickets for the Van Gogh museum and again probably spent around 90 minutes in there. Again, it was well done, with information about his life as well as his paintings. I am not hugely into art, but when I did art GSCE I did a project on him, but there was still loads I didn’t know (or had forgotten). I really liked that it emphasised how much work he put into his art, practising over and over again- so often these days we see people with natural talent, but don’t get shown the work behind it.

We went to a burger place for dinner in the end- everywhere was totally chock-full due to the festival, and although I’d seen a lovely sounding beetroot veggie burger on the menu, we were given the Pride menu which had only about 6 things on it (I think they must do this to speed up service a bit) so I had to go for the normal veggie burger. It was nice enough, but again fairly expensive (the burger Andy bought in Copenhagen the previous weekend was cheaper) for what it was. In walking back to the tram stop we saw an ice cream parlour so shared a cup with a scoop of hazelnut and a scoop of almond cookie which was delicious.

On Sunday we were flying home so we headed to the airport after breakfast. Our flight was delayed and we finally got back to Luton airport at around 5pm- we both agreed that we should have just come home on the train as although we would have had to get two trains (one to Brussels and then the Eurostar) that is a lot less hassle and way more relaxed than flying.

Have you been to Amsterdam? What sort of food do you look forward to on holidays? Do you like going to museums? There are loads in Amsterdam but I think one a day was enough for me!

Cream teas, cinnamon rolls and sorting by colour

I am now in the glorious part of the summer holidays where I am not sure what the day is any more- my google calendar is making sure I don’t miss anything!

First up, much to my excitement, the parkrun show podcast is back!! It’s now called “With me now”, but still hosted by Danny and Nicola (fun fact- Danny’s parents both volunteer at Ellenbrook Fields parkrun pretty much every week). I used to listen to the old one, and when it finished I found the parkrun adventurers, which is an Australian one. I’ve quite enjoyed the official one (Free, Weekly, Timed) although that is more for maybe new parkrunners, whereas the others are maybe more for the parkrun obsessive.

So, what have I been up to these past couple of weeks since getting back from Copenhagen?

The garden has been keeping my busy, although with the heat it’s been restricted to late evening when it’s cooler. I finally moved the pots off the drive (they were creating a buffer zone between the leak and the house, but now the leak has been stopped temporarily they didn’t need to be there)- they add a bit of colour to our front garden.

After an 8 mile run in the morning I met up with some friends from work for a cream tea at Bill’s.

Although that turned into a bit of a panic as I had booked one local to me (because St Albans had no availability), and they phoned a few hours before saying they had no water so had to cancel. After a few messages back and forth on whatsapp, we decided to risk the St Albans one- it turned out they don’t take bookings for the afternoon so there was loads of space! I was planning on walking into town anyway, so I drove to the edge of St Albans and walked in- 24,000 steps by the end of the day wasn’t too shabby!

On the Tuesday I went into work and organised my new classroom (all the furniture was moved to one part of the room as the floors get cleaned)- I took some time out to put all my story books in colour order. You have no idea how much this pleases me to look at!

On the Wednesday I did a 4.5 mile run and then a bit of yoga when I got back. Later I walked to town and enjoyed my free Starbucks, taking the time to sit in the cafe and watch the world go by. I then walked in again in the afternoon because I had ordered a new phone and it was ready to collect, so I ended up doing just over 22,000 steps and the second walk was not so enjoyable as it was just boiling.

We did cool down in the evening by going to the cinema to see the Skyscraper film which was fairly easy going and quite funny in places, although I can’t watch any of the bits where people dangle off buildings.

I heart my new phone case

On Thursday I did a 5 mile run in the morning, and then we were off to catch the Eurostar to Amsterdam in the evening (I’ll do a separate post about that at some point)- we got back on Sunday.

As I didn’t run over the weekend, I went out for 10 miles on Monday morning.

When I got back I made myself French toast for breakfast and watched the birds in the garden.

On Tuesday I met a friend at the Rickmansworth Aquadrome (a bit like a lake or reservoir) for a walk, before heading to Cinnamon Square for what she informed me were amazing cinnamon rolls. I was not disappointed- these were so good. I took home one cinnamon square and one sticky bun (covered in pecans) for us to share at a later date. Andy could not wait and had his half of the cinnamon bun before I could even take a photo!

Later we popped over to see our niece and nephew as he was turning 1.

On Wednesday I did a 5 mile run first thing and then I met my parents, sister and niece at Shenley tea rooms where we had a cream tea before having a bit of a walk. When I got home I spent a while in the garden, clearing away more dead branches (we still have things left from the autumn) and cutting back a few plants that were struggling with the heat. I also started to sort out a bag of clothes for the charity shop- I need to go through the wardrobe and finish this as I only managed to finish a couple of drawers.

On Thursday after seeing some family (we went to the park in the rain for a bit) I went a bit stir crazy at home with all the rain (not helped by our internet being down, so I couldn’t do any work, and could not watch any of the things I’ve been saving on netflix for said rainy day…)I worked by way through a pile of magazines, had many cups of tea and in the end I went out on a walk and got rather drenched, and then tried to make jam (I say tried, because even though the bit I tested was fine, the stuff in jars didn’t set so I ended up doing it again on Friday- more on that another time as that could be an essay in itself!).

Which podcasts do you enjoy? Do you like to organise things by colour or any other ways? How do you occupy yourself on rainy days?

A long weekend in Copenhagen

On the Thursday my dad kindly drove us to Heathrow, where we stayed overnight in a hotel as our flight was at 7am, which even staying in the airport meant a lovely 4.45am wake up. Once we landed, we got the train to the station by our hotel (the 2 day ticket we had bought in advance covered the airport too) and amazingly could check in (we thought we would be dropping off our bags and coming back later), so we put on sun cream and then headed out to explore. (This was also a relief to me because in my infinite wisdom I had packed the charging anchor thing but only with the continental plug, forgetting that we were in a UK hotel on the Thursday night, and this would usually be OK but I wanted to listen to some podcasts on the plane and also needed my phone for the text message train ticket- as soon as I realised I turned it off but I’d used it lots in the day for podcasts/ phone calls, and it kept on crashing anyway which used more battery to turn back on again so it meant I could charge it a bit in the hotel before we went out).

It was baking hot. I don’t want to sound like a broken record here, but like the rest of Europe it was having a bit of a heatwave.

We had to go about 4 stops on the metro (no AC on there of course as this weather is rather unusual) to the centre, where we walked around, saw the pretty colourful houses by the water (and then the same ones in the Lego store).

The centre is very easily walkable, although you can hire bikes too. We found a shop by Tivoli gardens selling amazing looking vegan ice creams, so I had the most refreshing raspberry ice cream covered in dark chocolate (on a stick, like a magnum, which turned into a race against time as it melted very quickly!).

After looking at the impressive buildings/ palaces (including seeing the poor guards marching back and forwards looking blisteringly lot) we walked out to see the Little Mermaid statue. The last time we were in Copenhagen was several years ago in December where it was the total opposite- lots of rain, freezing cold and getting dark early. This time the sea breeze was lovely and cooling so we stayed there for a while, being amused by the lengths some people were going to to get their selfie by her.

I opted for a photo from the path instead- much safer!

To escape the heat we found a lovely park to sit in for a while, and then headed back to the centre. We had re-watched the Copenhagen Travel Man episode, and had put the Round Tower on our list of things to do, but we thought we would be closer to it on the Saturday. However, we got to the end of a street and it was right in front of us, so we went up it. It was built in the 17th century as an observatory, and according to Travel Man, has a sloping spiral floor instead of steps so the king could ride his horse to the top. It only cost 25K (around £3 each), and as well as stunning views across the city, had an art gallery inside.

After that it was time to head back to the hotel- 28,000 steps isn’t bad for a day of sightseeing! We did try and see the blood moon, but it was too low in the sky.

By the lift in the hotel it had this table with mini towels and also lemon iced water, although sadly when I got back from parkrun the water had run out…

On Saturday after I did the parkrun, we went out for a breakfast of cinnamon rolls before heading into the centre again, this time heading towards the botanical gardens. It was even hotter than Friday, so we spent a while sitting in the shade, people and duck watching.

After walking around some more of the palaces and big buildings, we headed to a big park (the King’s garden)- full of hen parties and people chilling out in the shade.

Then we walked back to Tivoli gardens- we didn’t go in there as we went last time, but outside was a new sort of food court (much nicer than a shopping centre one) with all sorts of food stalls- pizza places, salad bars, bakeries, bars- you could then sit outside with views into Tivoli gardens. I must have spent half an hour wandering around choosing what to have as there were so many options.

In the end the need for something salty won over, so I opted for a grilled avocado and black bean sandwich, and I didn’t even know it came with pickles! The best bit of a veggie burger is the pickles so I was very excited to see this big pile. Andy got a burger and some salt and vinegar chips for us to share, and we sat outside enjoying the atmosphere. We’d seen a tasty looking cake in one of the bakeries, and after wondering whether we should get it as a take away decided it wouldn’t hold up to the heat, so shared a slice- it was some sort of raspberry open tart with dark chocolate and marzipan crumbles, served cold from the fridge which sounds weird but it was perfect.

Slightly less walking with 29,000 steps in total (which included my parkrun).

On Sunday we had to be at the airport early in the afternoon, so we walked up to the park near our hotel (the one that I had been to for parkrun) and walked around there for a while.

During parkrun I had seen a fenced off area with those special gates that are on a lean so always close, and wondered what was inside. My question was answered as we came across some Highland coos!

We also found a lake/reservoir, and sat for a while watching a heron catch some fish. It was all very peaceful.

It was such a great place to revisit in the summer with so many parks. The metro system was easy to navigate (even for me), the city is so clean and everyone is so helpful there. Of course parkrun was a bit of a bonus too, but it has reminded me how much I love this part of the world- Scandinavia/ Iceland…

Did you see the blood moon? Where do you like to go on weekend breaks? Do you like to watch Travel Man?