The Cotswolds deserve their reputation. Everything you've heard about them is probably true, even the cliche's! Yes they are quintessentially English, they are post card picturesque, they are the playground for the well to do and the 'Champagne Charlies' from the cities, the are quaint, charming and really quite beguiling and yes every village does serve cream teas, pork pies, fish and chips, pasties (which they pronounce nothing like we don't!) and ice-creams but not all at once! From Chipping Campden via Stow on the Wold, Long Compton and Little Compton, Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter to Bourton on the Water Even the place names are enchanting! Apart from not being able to see over the hedgerows for half the journey the drive is delightful. We keep off the main arterial roads which means frequent 'disorientations' ... read more

Delightful brekkie in Abergavenny. Often convincing our host that a cooked breakfast is a bit much for us is difficult but this one caught on quickly and substituted fresh fruit salad and yoghurt much to our pleasure. I'll try to get a photo of the breakfast table as it was quite attractive and quite well done. We asked for an instant replay tomorrow so that should be possible. Then it's drive time. Off to the Welsh Museum of Natural History (wake up, it is in fact pretty good). The museum spans several acres around and near a splendid castle and has exhibits that have been bought in and reconstructed from all over Wales and from various periods in history. Houses, barns, mills, a school, shops and the like span a period of more than 500 years ... read more

Back to England. Somerset near Taunton in a little spot named Simonsbath. It's rained all day and the skies are a dull, thick grey but it doesn't matter as the KLW is now ancient history. From Fussen on the train to Munich, from Munich to the Flughaften (the airport) on the S8, to England, Manchester thanks to Luftansa and then train to Birmingham and to Taunton where Lee and Francis were there to collect me and take me to my new home. Historically we have flown to Manchester (close to my original walk, the Coast to Coast) and despite the fact it's a 4 hour train trip I booked to Manchester again much to the protest of everyone here who thinks any 4 hour journey by train is impossibly long and incredibly silly. Well I like ... read more

Julie and I have 3 nights here in the Hotel Sonne. Very comfortable with a fantastic breakfast buffet that is comprehensive and indeed as complete as we have encountered anywhere. The service is terrific from desk to wait staff in the hotel (pretty good outside in the beer garden) but the place is quirky. A couple of the photos show period costume mannequins and to put it bluntly they are a little spooky. They lurk around corners in the passage and really all over the place. There's one that guards our door! The hotel is known for its art and its idiosyncratic decorating styles and well it probably should be. There's a paper wedding dress in the 'romantic' dining room, there's grass carpet on the walls of the lift, there are very non German paintings all ... read more

We're here. But really nobody wants to know that because around here it's all about Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle. We walked to the castles, through the car park and ticket centre and past the castles. We left about 1000 people behind and will rejoin the throng on Monday where we will have to be up early to get in front of at least the majority of them. Booking is so heavy that we could not book on the internet despite trying a week or so ago. Tours operate from 8 till 5 seven days a week so it will give you some idea of how many people go through these castles. walking to and from them is a good introduction to them as they seem to magically appear, disappear and reappear as our walking track ... read more