castles, cathedrals, the north sea and more

its been a long time.. as a friend politely reminded me .. since i've blogged.

i returned from my trip to england.. and i have to say it was one of the best holidays i can ever remember. it was great to see markus and malcolm again.. its been one full year since we've been together.

this time two new people joined us for some of the outings.. paul and jon. it was great meeting them.

malcolm made sure i saw some castles :) some in ruins and some that were nicely restored. markus documented every single second of our week.. even the parts where we weren't feeling very photogenic

paul put up with us for 3 days.. then went back to work to recover.. and met with us again on thursday night for curry night at the pub.. and friday night for an evening of touring the local pub scene in consett, and on saturday he cooked us an amazing meal in his home.

jon was able to stay the first 3 days.. and had to leave to go back to work.

i stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast called the knitsley mill. it was exactly what you'd expect from a quaint english bed and breakfast. the farmhouse i stayed in was over 100 years old and malcolm insisted that it was haunted. it may have been.. but i was so exhausted at the end of each day that even the ghosts couldn't wake me up.

the pictures in this blog were taken by markus... cuz he ALWAYS had his camera :) thanks markus. the images i took haven't even been sorted thru yet... but i will post them as i get to them

this picture was taken while driving to the lake district.... yes.. its me.. yes i'm sleeping .. apparently i didn't miss much scenery tho.. because markus found it more fun to take pictures of me sleeping than of the countryside ;)

the last time my friends saw me i looked a bit different than i do now.... but the greatest thing about good friends is that they like you no matter what you look like... thanks guys :)

i noticed a difference in the way i felt this time.. after losing some weight. the last time i went to durham (2 years ago) climbing the cathedral stairs to the top nearly killed me... approx 365 steps i think.. this time.. i was the first one up :) and never had to stop to rest. i couldn't believe how quickly i got to the top...

i still have a way to go before i'm fit enough to climb the mountains in austria.. but at least i think i will have a good chance making the summit next time :)

anyway.. just wanted everyone to know i'm alive and well.. and dreaming of england.