We're over halfway across!

We are in Reeth, a little over halfway through the Wainwright Coast-to-Coast Walk through northern England. We finally found a pub in Reeth that allows patrons to use the Internet computer beside the bar for £1.50 a half-hour. They don't let you plug your camera into the computer, so you will have to wait till we get somewhere else before you can see our photos. We have taken about a million so far.

Some of the highlights, just to sum up the last ten days of hiking, not necessarily in order, are:

• the Irish sea coastline along St. Bees Head
• riding a train for the first time and talking with a couple of 70-ish British cyclists
• walking through the Priory Church of St. Bees, the main columns and arches of whose sanctuary were constructed in 1160 and are still standing and in use, though ultramodern additions were made in later years, up through Elizabethan times
• meeting a nice group of fellow walkers who have become friends--two Canadians, four Australians who were formerly two Irishpersons and two Manchesterians
• hiking across cold, windy moors
• getting called "love" by shopkeepers
• "public footpaths" through meadows, towns, farms, moors, forests, bridges, almost everywhere (we should do this more in the USA)
• walking through the English countryside... meadows of buttercups, blooming hawthorn trees, cuckoos in the woods, medieval stone walls still keeping the sheep in the irregularly-shaped pastures (and people out), stepping over stiles, all the beautiful flower gardens people keep around their homes, unrecognized flora and fauna

When we have time at another computer (hard to arrange on this walking tour) we'll give some more specific information and photos. Maybe on the bus tour, or surely when we get to London near the end of the month. For now, all's well, more than well. We're having a wonderful time, totally overwhelmed by walking through layers and layers of history and seeing ancient artifacts around just every turn.

Greg and Susan