We walked to a small bar in a pedestrian square not far from the hotel for a baguette and a few beers. Drinkable non-alcoholic beer seems to be widely available here, and doesn’t taste that much different to the ‘proper’ stuff!
All very pleasant, and lovely watching the sunset in the warm.
There is an exhibition of engineering in the city soon, and various bits of machinery are being ‘installed’ in public spaces
This is a lorry for working on railway catenary and other high structures.
Our tour finished in a local restaurant, deep underground in the old wine cellar:
An excellent tapas meal!
After lunch, we explored the area on our own, including some local markets serving a wide variety of food and drink!
And some gardens:
Finally it was time to wander back to our hotel and cool down. Despite being overcast today (quite a blessing for what we were doing), the temperature is still in the mid twenties.
A nice relaxed start this morning, which made a pleasant change!
The breakfast in the hotel was good (once you had worked out where everything was). There was even a kettle and teapots to make a proper cup of tea – a rarity outside the UK…
We had a coach tour of Madrid with a talkative local guide, stopping briefly at the bullring,which was very impressive architecturally.
We then had a walking tour of the central area, including the Royal Palace.
Once we’d settled in the hotel, we wandered out to explore the area around the hotel. First thing was to get a beer though, which came with a welcome plate of olives.
There was a large park nearby, very busy with people, but nice paths and lots of shade…
And a nice lake:
And various ornamental bits:
We managed to find a geocache as well, which was a bonus, especially given the number of people around!
An interesting arch:
Then time for more beer and supper. We found a cafe table in a very busy square nearby – but at least we were away from the traffic.
After an excellent salad, we headed back to the hotel via a busy pedestrian street, coming across this fantastic green wall on the way.
You can just see Tina in the photo…
We had a rather early start this morning with a coach trip over the border to San Sebastian (in Spain).
Unfortunately, we got dropped off at the wrong station, but realised before the coach had left, so we got back on the coach and were (just) able to catch our train to Madrid.
It was a journey of contrasts – 13° and drizzle at San Sebastian, 34° and sunshine in Madrid.
We’re now at our hotel, ready to explore Madrid…
A good journey through France to Biarriz (near to the Spanish border) – a lovely seaside town on the Atlantic coast…
Good meal in a local restaurant as well – this is a beautifully decorated apple tart:
I had forgotten about this charming grotto in the High Leigh grounds, on the way to the lake. I also saw a fox, and walked into Hoddesdon via Barclay Park. A very pleasant hour’s exercise!
This afternoon we had a break of a couple of hours between sessions, so I went for a short walk to Barclay Park. This is Pulham Bridge.
I also found a small patch of woodland, and saw rabbits and a small furry creature running across my path.
There were some benches commemorating the first world war, which are new since last time.
A small, select band set off for a walk this morning. We went out along the railway, then back by the river. A dull but dry day, and a refreshing walk
I returned by train to Enfield Lock station to start the next section of the Loop. The route starts by following Turkey Brook again:
After nearly a mile, pretty Enfield Lock (on the River Lea) itself is reached:
The route then follows the ‘River Lea Navigation’:
and crosses the River Lea itself:
This leads to Sewardstone Marsh Nature Reserve:
and the path up the hill to Sewardstone itself:
The woods at the top were full of Wild Garlic:
and have good views over the Lea Valley and King George’s Reservoir (though I doubt that he actually built it himself):
This is a really nice section of the London Loop, hard to believe that East London is so close!
A section of road walking followed, then the entrance to Gilwell Park (home of the Scout Association) was reached:
I’ve camped here many times in years gone by – my main memory is of cooking breakfast in a tent when the canvas blew off and I of course continued, this time with extensive views of King George’s Reservoir!
The route then heads through Epping Forest to Chingford:
The large ‘tree’ in this photo is a disguised mobile phone mast on the edge of Chingford Plain:
Chingford Plain is the start of the section 19:
Eventually, the forest leads to the suburbia of Buckhurst Hill, albeit with a nice path:
The Central Line to Epping is then crossed:
Next is Roding Valley, with a nice lake and park:
and a good path along the River Roding:
All too soon, the M11 needs to be crossed:
and then it’s a long walk down a busy road to Chigwell Station and the train home:
9 miles of London Loop walking today and 2 Geocaches found.
London Loop Walk 20 and 21 – Chigwell to Harold Wood
For more information on the London Loop, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Outer_Orbital_Path and https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/loop-walk