Today I set off from London to head north to the country home of two more friends from my walk on the Camino de Santiago — Keith and Lynn. We first met in the train station in Bayonne, France, enroute to St Jean Pied de Port, and as this was before I was an old hand at public transport I was a bit nervous about the train to a bus connection, so I was quite relieved when Lynn asked if I was heading out to walk the Camino too. They were die hard pilgrims — ready to take on the albergues and carrying their gear for the next 38 days. I recall being somewhat mortified by my large suitcase. They were kind (and British), and didn’t give me any grief about it, so I knew it would be the beginning of a special friendship. I’ve kept up with the Joneses (yes, that is their name) as they’ve walked the Portuguese route, and travelled through Alaska and headed off on various adventures. And now I’m here at their lovely house in the Staffordshire countryside, just on the edge of the Peaks District National Park.
The countryside is beautiful. More shades of green than even the largest box of crayons, and hillsides dotted with dairy cows and black-faced merino sheep. There are huge outcroppings of rocks along the narrow lanes, and lots of what we might consider typical English stone cottages. It’s a quiet spot, and a lovely afternoon was spent catching up and watching the finches and blackbirds, blue tits and woodpeckers fight for spots on the feeder. The garden is bursting with gooseberries (made into a delicious crisp), and onions and potatoes and zucchini plants.
London seems a distant memory already. We will visit some sights in the nearby villages in the next few days, take another walk (as we did today) through the paths in the hillsides, and detox from city life for a bit. Simply lovely.
Shame it is so ugly and your hosts seem like vicious curs. Grin. So awesome.