Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A Long Walk.

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I'm going to start posting out of order and skip forward to this past Friday when I took a day trip to Herne Bay, which is a seaside town about 30 minutes north east of Canterbury. I'll return to the rest of my London posts intermittently, I just don't want to fall too far behind in what's actually happening and the order it's happening in.

Herne Bay is another little city that revs up in the summertime to cater to tourists and show off its lovely pebbly beaches. Since we're well into autumn now, the promenade along the water was mostly empty, and after I walked up the high street, checked out two Alexander McCall Smith books from the Herne Bay library (first time using my Kent library card, what what!), stopped in at a couple charity shops and bought some yarn, I made my way down to the waterfront to enjoy the lovely beach. I'd made myself a list of places around Herne Bay that I wanted to see, after perusing a very helpful Pinterest board. One of them was Reculver Towers, and when I got down to the beach, I looked to my left and looked to my right to determine which way I needed to walk. Now, dear readers, if I could direct your attention back to the first picture, the towers are that little blip on the end of that distant peninsula. Granted, the fog and the photograph make them seem a little smaller and further than my in person view, but dear God, they were far away. And yet, I had the whole day ahead of me; I'd packed my lunch, and I was good to go. So I adjusted my backpack and set off walking. It was a beautiful walk, and as I'd been pining a little for nature and the desire to experience the proper English countryside, I am so very glad I did it. The sun kept coming and going, and every change brought a new color of the water. Way out in the water was a wind farm, and when the sun shined I could see the white wind turbines spinning. I walked along the cliffs and just soaked it all in. When I neared the towers themselves, there was a nice little visitor center, where I learned about the different wildlife in the area, and that the trail I'd just walked was approximately four miles long. And I'd inadvertently walked to another town, seeing as Reculver is its own little village.  Ha. Ha. Ha. All in all, I walked a little under 12 miles on Friday. I'm pretty tough.
The towers themselves were really cool. They're the remains of a medieval church that the villagers disassembled and moved because it was gradually falling into the sea. And the whole thing is built on top of an ancient Roman fort. The towers have long been a characteristic sight on the area's skyline, and for hundreds of years sailors have used them as a point of reference. I puttered around there for awhile and then started my long walk back. At the halfway mark I stopped to eat my sandwich and nutrigrain bar. I sat by the sea and read Romeo and Juliet, looking down the cliffs at the water. It was pretty much the most romantic (Romantic?) place ever. Heck, if this is the kind of stuff we'd do, I'd date me.

3 comments:

  1. I can smell the sea air, feel the wind, and wonder how you ever managed to walk so far!!!

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  2. What I want to know is......who took the photos.....another tourist or you?
    Love the ruins. Feel any spirits around?

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  3. your photos & writing have captured the mood so beautifully :) looks like a very special place, glad you had a good time!
    the hobbit kitchen x

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Happy to hear from you! Let's play word ping pong.