http://d2h.net/blog thoughts, observations, diary, rants, stuff the cat dragged in... Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:49:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en a very short night --- we arrived in dubai city at 23:25 last night and got to our ridiculously expensive hotel at 1:10 this morning and i got up at 5:00 to be picked up by the shuttle to our workshop location at 6:00. well, it was supposed to ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/11/16/desert-rain 25.091869662874366 55.14735460281372 23080 i'm sitting in the saddle spot between mount zindelspitz (to the south) and mount rossalplispitz (to the north). half an hour ago, mrs d, i, and fredi, our friend and outdoor guide from blue dimension got here after a climb up from lake wäggital, up through some frozen and snowed ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/10/19/the-most-scary-walk-ever 47.131162415576654 8.747820854187012 23014 this morning i learnt that on monday afternoon my very good friend steve wright died after a motorbike accident in twyford. to say that i'm devastated and sad is an understatement. all day long pictures of steve keep coming up: our first project together for a UK mobile phone operator, working frantically ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/10/15/goodbye-steve 47.131162415576654 8.747820854187012 13106 i wake up early today, not just because of the usual 5:00 bell ringing from the monastary's church tower, today the whole valley around einsiedeln is just drowning in the sound of cow bells and sheep bells --- it's alpabtrieb! every year in the may--june time frame the local farmers ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/09/23/until-the-cows-come-home 47.131162415576654 8.747820854187012 after a nice breakfast at 6 oakfield street where we meet our co-guests as well (two americans, mother & daughter, on a two week tour of the UK), we are off via earls court underground to kew gardens! well, eventually we are off, as we at first board the wrong train :-( but we ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/19/look-there-up-in-the-trees 51.47803351751272 -0.29075145721435547 it's 9:45, our taxi which was supposed to have picked us up at 9:30 is still not there, and our train is due to leave bangor station at 10:18, slowly but surely our adrenalin level is reaching new heights. our landlord phones the taxi company once more and returns with the good news that ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/18/first-class-to-london-a-bohemian-bb-a-distributed-fridge-visiting-victoria-and-albert 51.48574322947225 -0.1852869987487793 after yesterday's fantastic day out on mount snowdon we are eager to see more of snowdonia. the recent snowdon special issue of country walking --- which we brought with us :-) --- has a couple of rather scary walks (scrambles, exposed ridges, and so forth, nothing for me, though mrs d wouldn't mind doing ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/17/a-windy-mountain-pass-a-fantastic-vista-an-underground-walk 53.12117290988976 -4.1262781620025635 good breakfast at 8:15 today, then we are off to catch the S1 sherpa bus from llanberis to pen-y-pass, the starting point for our ascend to the summit of snowdon! the weather forecast for today is fairly good and the bus ride (the bus stop is almost right outside our b&b) is nice and ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/16/mount-snowdon after an early breakfast (7:30) we are picked up by tony's taxi at 8:40 and are taken back to haverfordwest station. rather unexpected but welcome nevertheless there's a newspaper stand open just inside the station, so i take the opportunity and get today's observer for the rather long trip to north wales: funnily enough, ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/15/time-travelling 53.12117290988976 -4.1262781620025635 we get up late today, a rocking 30min later than the days before, and, after breakfast, flip the tourist-bit to the on position and make our way into the city of st davids1: fuelling stop at the local delicatessen (biscuits for the train ride tomorrow, burned sugar likewise) three very nice scarves at the fashion ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/14/shopping-culture-sunshine-cwtch 51.87930367948973 -5.258749723434448 the last leg of our pembrokeshire coast path walks today: again, we take the 9:10 strumble shuttle,1 this time from st davids to strumble head --- a ride of over an hour! again, it's the friendly bus driver we already know from the previous days. the rides through all the nooks and crannies of ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/13/a-lighthouse-an-old-dachshund-a-woollen-mill-another-fantastic-day 51.87930367948973 -5.258749723434448 having "finished" the southern parts of what we wanted to see of the pembrokeshire coast yesterday, we now turn north again and --- due to a breakfast at the earliest possible time (8:00 am) --- manage to catch the 9:10 bus from st david's new street "station" to tregwynt woollen ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/12/an-overestimated-walk-excellent-long-lunch-more-fantastic-coast 51.87930367948973 -5.258749723434448 we pick up where we left off yesterday and take the bus to solva. the coast path picks up on the other side of the harbour and soon starts to climb up again (we are clocking up quite some altitude meters here). the weather is overcast today and we are quite a bit ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/11/cliffs-beach-pebbles-unfriendly-pub 51.87930367948973 -5.258749723434448 day 2 of our pembrokeshire adventures. having figured out the shuttle bus to whitesands bay we can't resist and take it again today --- instead of turning north, though, we turn south to walk past the isle of ramsay, around st david's head, and then all the way to picturesque solva --- to have ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/10/isle-of-ramsay-from-afar-on-the-beach-a-beer-at-solva 51.87930367948973 -5.258749723434448 after a really nice breakfast we don our walking kit (brought our alpine walking boots with us) and head into the village of st davids's. at the tourist information centre (tic) we inquire after the shuttle bus between st david's and whitesands bay, learn that it departs almost right next to the grocer where ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/09/whitesands-bay-to-porthgain-fantastic-weather 51.87930367948973 -5.258749723434448 the train to haverfordwest takes us past little villages (stop on request only), through rolling hills, past the sea with fantastic colours and eventually into haverfordwest: a small station but (!) --- as promised by our b&b landlord and landlady --- a bus station with the next bus leaving at 15:10 for st davids. ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/08/glimpses-of-the-sea-of-rolling-hills-of-green-tunnelsand-of-a-didgeridoo 51.87930367948973 -5.258749723434448 the welsh train network (still operated by arriva wales) has not yet heard of a coordinated train timetable --- the 11:23 train from cardiff arrives at 13:05, the next train towards haverfordwest and milford haven doesn't leave until 14:09 --- but could have left straight away as it's standing all the time at carmathen ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/08/carmathen-we-have-joy-we-have-fun-we-have-seasons-in-the-sun 51.852988 -4.305538 the 60 bus takes us right from our b&b to cardiff central station --- where we find a kind note from arriva trains that, no, they regret, but "due to security concerns" there are no left luggage facilities (in the old days, back then when..., we called it left luggage lockers not "facilities" --- ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/08/cardiff-sightseeingnot-really 51.475747 -3.178903 the pub yesterday night, cayo arms was a decent pub as pubs go. it was even listen in the good beer guide 2007 --- though not really for it's food, which was ok-ish. but the beer was good (and, yes, i did take a local ale and not just my usual guiness ;-) we ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/08/cardiff-sightseeing 51.487545 -3.197955 just about 30min after emerging from the english side of the channel tunnel we are at the new eurostar terminal london st pancras international. it's rather an improvement over weary and tired waterloo international --- all airy, light and pleasant. once out of the eurstar platform we require a moment to take our bearings, ... http://d2h.net/blog/2008/06/07/london-cardiff-scenic-route 51.487545 -3.197955