What an amazing month August was! After
finishing up a road trip with Sarah in Ireland, I’ve been traipsing through
Wales and southern England. I haven’t run since Ireland, but I’ve been doing
lots of walking. First up was an ascent of Mt Snowdon with my English walking
buddies, Tony and Jo. Phil and their dog George have now joined our intrepid
threesome. While Tony and I were driving from Shropshire for our meet-up on the
Friday, the others were doing a practice ascent in dismal weather. (Jo is about
to do the Three Peaks Challenge – climbing the highest peaks in Wales, England
and Scotland one after the other in one weekend – as a charity walk.) Luckily,
the conditions were perfect on the Saturday, giving us great views over the
valleys and to the coast. I didn’t find it too hard, and managed not to slip on
the loose surface and stones on the descent, which had been my fear.
To Stratford-upon-Avon for the night at
Jo’s mum’s place, where I got to meet their wacky new dog, Wolfie, then
on to Cheltenham on Sunday to stay with Peter and Amanda. (We go back to the
late 1980s in Hong Kong, but now catch up fairly regularly.) Jo and Phil drove
me over from Stratford for the handover. We took a walk up on the hillside
behind the house, and had dinner with three of their kids at an Asian
restaurant. A great catch-up before they dropped me at Reading station.
Wendy and Chris met my train. (We met in
late 2008 in Kathmandu.) We did a big walk around the town, some of which we
had done a couple of years ago and all of which was beautiful. Afternoon tea of
scones, clotted cream and jam at a grand country house called Avington Park.
The next morning, Wendy and I set off for a
two-day holiday on the Dorset coast. On the Tuesday, we did a 12-mile walk along
the coastal path that hugs the cliff-tops on what’s known as the Jurassic Coast.
Absolutely spectacular views and a perfect day. We stayed with friends in an
amazing house not far from Corfe Castle, where we had breakfast the next
morning before hanging out on a nudist beach at Studland Bay for a couple of
hours. The weirdest thing was watching the men who stand among the low grasses
in the small dunes that line the back of the beach looking for action. I’m
reading Paul Theroux’s book, Kingdom by
the Sea, about his trip around the coast of the UK in 1982, and he mentions
that this was a phenomenon on this beach even then. I got sunburned, which
wasn’t something I ever expected to happen in England, even in August!
A fabulous week in the Welsh and English
countryside with old friends, after which I felt in need of a home base and a recharge
for a week.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see Suzie (a
friend from Hong Kong) on my way to London. We couldn’t get our schedules to
match after I decided to go straight to London. I stayed at a small hotel near
Hyde Park and within walking distance of Oxford Street. My room was so small, I
felt almost claustrophobic, but room to swing a cat comes at too great a price
in London.
I spent the next week working, checking out
exhibitions and a couple of films (“Alan Partridge” and “What Maisie Knew”,
both featuring Steve Coogan), and seeing friends who live in or near, or were
visiting, London. Lauren and Bill are friends from New York who have relocated
to the UK for a few years. We run for the same team in New York, the Hudson
Dusters, and were in competing teams in a 24-hour relay in Vermont in 2009. We
had pizza in Islington and took a walk along the canal towpath. I used to live
nearby in 1983 and never saw that part of London!
On Friday I caught up with Michael and
Eddie in Hanover Street, where their antiques business is located. Michael was
formerly an author of mine, but he has reinvented himself as a high-end dealer
of gold and silver antiques from mainly Asia (far and near) and Africa. His showrooms
are like Aladdin’s cave. They took me to dinner at the Cinnamon Club, near
Carnaby Street. Fabulous modern Indian food. And I took them for gelato. Michael
is always a hoot.
Saturday morning was a fun DRS (Dead
Runners Society) encounter: a meetup with Jon, a Dead Runner from near London,
with his partner Jennifer and a niece, Paola; and Nangel, from Portland, Oregon, with
Mark and the two boys. Jon, Jennifer, Nangel, Mark and I were all in Austin,
Texas for the 2012 DRS World Conference, and Nangel and I ran the Hippie
Chick half marathon near Portland that May. Last weekend we met up
at the site of the 2012 London Olympics on a dreary, wet London day. I couldn’t
stay for the tour of the Olympic Stadium, as I was due to meet Linda back in
town, but it was great to see everyone.
Linda was the first friend I made in Hong
Kong, in 1985. She now runs a cosy retreat for couples and others at her
converted barn and farm buildings in Cornwall. I stayed with her family there
in 2007. She came up to London for a day and a night so that we could catch up on
all our news in person. I last saw her, and her sister Pam, in 2010 in
Exeter. We also squeezed in “What Maisie Knew” at the Curzon. After breakfast
on Sunday, when we bounced all sorts of ideas around in our usual way, we said
our goodbyes and I got the train to Oxford to see Gordon and Jo.
I met Gordon and Joanna in Albury, Oz a few
years ago (2008?), when I was looking for an illustrator to work with me on a
book idea. A friend suggested Gordon, and he and Jo and I have been friends
ever since. They moved back to the UK a couple of years ago with their Westie,
Jock, but are thinking of moving on again. Jo is a dentist, if anyone knows of
a position going somewhere nice! Gordon is a writer, so (like me) he can work
from anywhere. Jock isn’t fussed about where he hangs his leash. We walked for
a couple of hours around Oxford after having lunch in a restaurant by the
river. A beautiful day, and it was great to see them.
My last catch-up was at Paddington station
before I got the train to Heathrow. Sallie and I worked together in the 1980s
in Hong Kong for a travel guide publisher. I don’t think we’ve seen each other
since 1989, when I stayed with her and Thomas in London before I headed for the
Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. (That was the furthest place on the planet from
Hong Kong, and that’s where I wanted to be at that time.) It was like we had
just stepped straight back into comfort and ease and fun together.
I am really very fortunate in having the friends
I do. They are such a support to me, even when I don’t see
them for years. I never take them for granted.
So, now I’m in Eastern Europe for a month
for a rest!
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