Day 0: To the West Country

Horses: 25

Coos: 4

Geese: 2

Pheasants: 2

Countless sheep and alpacas

Water: a multitude 

Two Queen songs heard on the bus (You're My Best Friend, Radio Gaga)

Due to a slight miscalculation I've had to add a day zero (not to be mixed up with a zero day) to my blog 🤷

The night was freezing! My bed was cold and damp and I had to put my Torrid jacket on to keep warm, I packed everything else last night... And I got cramps in my shins, probably from the cold, so I had to get up and find my magnesium. After a couple of hours (?) the bed felt warmer and eventually I fell asleep and slept fairly well until morning. Just before checkout I found the regulator for the radiator, not that I know if it would have worked anyway.

After my favorite breakfast, Oykos Peach yogurt, I walked to the train station and got on an early train to Penzance. It was a long journey, ~8 hours, 3 trains and a bus, Winchester - Reading - Taunton - St Austell and finally Penzance. I spent the time looking out the window and counting animals. I called Millets in Penzance and they had a small gas canister for me 😀 I wouldn't have to walk around Penzance in search of gas, but could go straight to the hotel.

Crossing River Tamar into Cornwall.

There is souch water everywhere! It has rained very much and from the train I could see waterlogged fields. I hope it dries up before I get back to this area.

Not a lake...

Penzance is a pretty little seaside town, at least what I've seen so far. I started with going to Millets to pick up my gas canister. It looked a bit big, so I wanted to be sure it fit inside my pot. I unpacked everything (I have a lot of food right now and the pack is a little on the full side) and the canister fit. Just. So I walked over to the till to pay, only to find that my wallet was gone. Last time I knew I had it was on the first train this morning. I unpacked everything, but couldn't find it. I walked back to the till again, thinking I would pay with my spare card. And there was my wallet, next to the till. I must have put it down to look at the canister. All's well that ends well!

Day -1: I'm in England!

Last night my plan was to be in bed by 9. I didn't quite make it, but at least I was all packed by 9.30 and in bed by 11.

Today I got up at 3 am to make the plane to Stockholm. I had some time before the plane to London, so I bought a ham and cheese sandwich and walked around the airport. It's been remodeled and there are many new restaurants, cafes and shops.

I borded the next plane, to London Heathrow. The flight was uneventful until we got to central London, where the pilot did an S-turn, which meant that we cold see a lot of the city.

Passing customs and passport control was super fast and I was soon on a bus to Winchester. I checked in to my hotel and went in search of a gas canister and a sim card. A gas canister was not to be found in central Winchester and EE couldn't sell me a sim card since I don't have a British bank account. I finally managed to buy a prepaid sim at Sainsburys, so I now have a working phone. Yay!

Then on to the cathedral. After the death of Alfred the Great in 901 AD England was officially unified in 927 with Winchester as its Capital City, so of course a grand cathedral had to be built. It is beautiful but I visited right before closing, so I couldn't really spend all the time I wanted. Maybe another time!

I was looking for hardware stores hoping to find a gas canister when I overheard someone behind me saying something about a nice jacket. When I didn't react he yelled STOP! I looked around and saw that he had the same kind of jacket on, an EE Torrid. Same colors and all. 

Back to the hotel to repack. I had a bag with everything that was to large (backpack, Siren sleeping pad) or wasn't allowed (walking poles, tent pegs) as carry on. Also all the food. Everything else I carried in a cheapo storage bag, to make sure nothing was lost. 

When I was finally getting ready for bed I realized I hadn't seen my tent pegs. I tried to remember if I'd seen them, but was too tired. My guess was that they were at the bottom of the pack and that I'd missed them, but I had to make sure or I wouldn't be able to get any sleep. So I unpacked everything, found the pegs at the bottom of the pack and repacked.