Wanderlust and Words

Betrayed – by my Body This has been a long winter A “things often went wrong” winter A “you must be strong” winter One I’d care not to repeat (Connie Kaldor, Love is a Truck) My body betrayed me this past winter. I was angry and frustrated – but most of all I was scared. I came home tired from holidays with a pain in my leg that limited my walking, stopped me from doing tai chi, and left me looking at flights of stairs with trepidation and fear. And I was so, so, so tired. My blood pressure soared, and my head ached unbearably day and night. I worked hard to get better. I took time off work, and my family delivered groceries and ran errands for me. The doctor told me I was anemic, and I became an iron fanatic – I knew the iron content of every food I ate. I knew stress was part of my problem so I quit my job and found another one. I found out I had arthritis in my back; physiotherapy helped. I took extra holidays over Christmas and got lots of rest. I was back at work; I was only mod...

I am not particularly fond of churches full of gold and glitter such as those in Prague. I much prefer the simple majesty of tall stone pillars, curving arches, and the imaginative stone carving found in France and England. Some of the carvings, such as these from Amiens Cathedral , the tallest Gothic church and largest cathedral in France, tell a story. Others have a more humorous slant, such as this one of a man being bitten by a dog, from the exterior of Salisbury Cathedral . Others depict the Green Man from primitive religion or devils. Here is one from the exterior of St. Mary's Church in Beverley, Yorkshire. Inside this church is a carving of a pilgrim rabbit, thought to be the inspiration for the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland as well as a lovely painted carving of a group of musicians donated by the Northern Guild of Musicians when the church had to be rebuilt in 1520. Sometimes all that is left of a church or religious building are the ruins. There is something hau...

If you are travelling in Europe, there are two restaurant chains that I would highly recommend. Pizza Express is a British chain of Italian pizza restaurants. Much more upscale than Pizza Hut, they serve fresh, tasty food in pleasant surroundings and have lots of vegetarian options. I also enjoyed my Italian beer - Peroni Nastro Azzuro . My favourite place for breakfast in Lille was Le Pain Quotidien in Place Rihour. A Belgian chain, begun in the 1980s, the restaurant prides itself on high-quality organic bread. My breakfast consisted of apple or pear juice, a small pot of yogurt, a basket of wholewheat bread, and a variety of jams, including chocolate spreads. All the food was organic and delicious. They also offered a wide range of loose teas and delicious patisseries for afternoon tea. They serve a variety of open-face sandwiches for lunch or dinner. The chain has now spread to 10 countries worldwide but is still centred in Belgium and northern France. If you like good bread and ...

Salisbury I have been visiting Salisbury, England for a number of years. One of my favourite walks is across the Water Meadows that stretch from Salisbury to Harnham. In the early 1600s, the local farmers created a series of irrigation ditches so that they could flood the meadows depositing silt and preventing frost so that the grass grew more quickly in the spring and the soil was richer, hence more crops and larger flocks of sheep. It is still a peaceful place to walk, and there is a lovely view of Salisbury Cathedral made famous by John Constable . The meadows are also home to a wide variety of birds and animals. I was fortunate enough to see a water vole nibbling on some greenery in the middle of the stream. Ratty, in the Wind in the Willows , was actually a water vole. At the far end of the water meadows is the Harnham Mill . It was a paper mill from 1550 onwards, although it is now a hotel and a pleasant place to have a beer and a sandwich. The earliest parts of the building d...