Author Archives: BarryH

Travels in Greece by bus: planning a gorgeous time.

Posted on April 17, 2013 by BarryH

As I rambled on about in the last post on the blog, the first part of the plan for the coming summer in Greece is to spend Easter on Kalymnos, one of the larger islands in the Dodecanese. Apart from … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Mountains | Tagged Areopoli, Athens, bus, Crete, Diakopto, Easter, Greece, Greek buses, Kalamata, Kalavryta, Kalymnos, Messinia, Patras, Polilimnio Gorge, rack-and-pinion railway, Samarian Gorge, The Mani, Viros Gorge, Vouraikos Gorge | Leave a comment

Easter in Greece: the joys of time travel

Posted on April 11, 2013 by BarryH

We had the last overnight frost Sunday-Monday but temperatures are still stuck in single figures. Wednesday evening we settled into a grey, wet weather pattern again. Dismal! Not surprising therefore that my thoughts are increasingly turning to the summer’s activities … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Health and humour, Reflections | Tagged 1752, Easter, GPS, Gregorian Calendar, Julian Calendar, Kalymnos, leap seconds, Leap years, time travel | Leave a comment

Welsh Winter Walking: reflections on pioneering

Posted on April 5, 2013 by BarryH

Some years ago I was making tired but still rapid progress between High Spy and Catbells, the final leg of a non-stop 7-hour walk in the Lake District from Langdale to Keswick on the side of Derwent Water (for aficionados, … Continue reading →

Posted in Mountains, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, British Summer Time, Catbells, Coity Mountain, Exposure, first tracks, Garn Lakes, High Spy, Lake District, Maiden Moor, pioneering, snow, snow conditions, snow drifts, south wales coalfield | Leave a comment

Welsh Winter Walking: effects of Spring deferred

Posted on April 1, 2013 by BarryH

With overnight temperature yet again down to minus 4oC and afternoon highs still well short of double figures, the last day of March, Easter Sunday and, coincidentally, the first day of British Summer Time saw no real signs of Spring … Continue reading →

Posted in Mountains, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, Bristol Channel, Easter Sunday, midday sun, Mynydd Varteg, newborn lambs, snow, snow drifts, spring, winter, winter gloom, winter walking | Leave a comment

Welsh Winter Walking: Forward planning and contingencies

Posted on March 28, 2013 by BarryH

Sometimes things just don’t turn out as planned. Wednesday I had a day free of commitments so planned to take a bus up to the watershed between two of the South Wales valleys and walk back home via a couple … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, buses, contingency planning, forward planning, hiking, ice, icicles, Pontypool, snow, snow drifts, Wales, walking, winter walking | 1 Comment

Spring surprise

Posted on March 24, 2013 by BarryH

After dismal weather since I got back from Canada my plans for summer travels in Greece are starting to take shape. Flights booked and looking forward to Easter on Kalymnos, then another trip by bus and train from Athens around … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Mountains, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Winter | Tagged daffodils, equinox, Pontypool Folly Tower, siskins, snow, snowing on the mountain, spring, trees, winter | 1 Comment

Sport, politics, history: when the underdog gets revenge

Posted on March 19, 2013 by BarryH

I don’t watch sport of any kind either on TV or in the flesh. For a start I found that I was getting too-uptight but more importantly I decided a long time ago that I preferred to be doing something … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Greece, Reflections, Wales | Tagged basketball, England, european cup soccer, history, ice hockey, politics, rugby, soccer, sport, underdogs, Wales, Welsh history, Welsh language, welsh rugby team, world basketball championship | 1 Comment

Thirty minutes on top of a mountain: a duvet day

Posted on March 12, 2013 by BarryH

The day started very grey and minus 2oC so I did the ball-achingly boring chores which are repetitively necessary in the house – cleaning the loo, clearing the detritus in the kitchen, hoovering the hall …… But not for long. … Continue reading →

Posted in Mountains, Pontypool, Winter | Tagged chill factor, cold winter winds, duvets, Garn Wen, Pontypool, snow, snow clouds, snow storm, winter | Leave a comment

Grey Britain, Canada, Greece: a philosophy of travel

Posted on March 4, 2013 by BarryH

It is widely believed that in the UK when the weather is dominated by high pressure the sky is blue and the sun shines, luxuriatingly hot in the summer, icy cold and exhilarating in winter. It can be but is … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Greece, Grey Britain, Grumpy Old Men, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged ash tree, banff canada, bus routes, buses, button holes, Canada, grandchildren, Greece, Greek Islands, Mani, south wales coalfield, travel writing | 1 Comment

Deadlines and procrastination from uhtceare to lychnobios

Posted on February 24, 2013 by BarryH

Sometime ago I commented in my Ramblings on a book I was reading called ‘The Etymologicon’ by Mark Forsyth. For someone like me who is fascinated by the origins and obscure connexions of words it was a goldmine, and like … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Reflections | Tagged bus routes, deadlines, eleftheromania, freedom, lychnobios, Mark Forsyth, perendinate, procrastinate, The Horologicon, uhtceare, writing | 3 Comments