Ceridwyn Parr meets SoulSisters:
For me SoulSisters implied there is always a possibility that someone you travel with becomes a very good friend , or soulmate. Nothing like travelling together to test a relationship. My second thought was to do with soul and spirit – that was closer to the mark. Soulsisters is about soul, and women travelling together to places with spiritual significance. A great idea. Read more
Ceridwyn Parr reviews A Slow Walk Across Spain: Walking the Camino de Santiago by Karen Manwaring
Published by Watermelon Press 2010
In 2008 I took a short walk at the top of Spain – 115km over 6 days, on the historical Camino to Santiago on the north west tip of Spain. The moment I arrived in the ancient cobbled city of Santiago, I knew I would have to go again. And do the whole 1000km next time. Now I have found the perfect book to prepare me for the second trip, so I won’t get lost, and I won’t get the terrible shin splints which took me staggering into the cathedral in Santiago. Read more
Cost and character
I was in Europe for a few months and the idea of staying in a monastery guest house had a fascinating spiritual aura about it. And not just because the budget. In fact the cost had little to do with the desire. It was more about authentic character and immersion in history, as well as the wish to be a momentary part of a long tradition, even going into the chapel to experience the music and the silence, and the deep sense of prayer and tradition. Read more
If I was feeling the wanderlust and didn’t know where to start,
this book would surely answer more than a few questions:
Wanderlust and Lipstick:
The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo
| Beth Whitman enthuses about the joys of independent travel for women, of being open to new people and places and of finding yourself along the way. Her book is laced with enticing stories of women who have taken off into great adventures , experiencing ‘the sheer joy of these heightened experiences’.Travel is marvellous and energising, as well as sometimes scary and confusing. For the novice traveller, Beth Whitman offers everything from packing lists, to itinerary suggestions and handy healthy tips.Even for an experienced traveller there are some ideas, like uploading your photos to flickr as you go, creating and managing a blog to save those endless individual emails home and pre-printing a list of address labels to send home beautiful postcards.I enjoyed the section on love, romance and sex while travelling. Recently we hosted a German woman who was having a glorious holiday romance with a local – great for both of them! However Beth gives sage advice about letting coffee be the drink of seduction rather than alcohol.
One of her comments about New Zealand was inaccurate- she asserts that you can just pitch your tent on someone’s farmland- not a good idea at all. So maybe follow her other advice with caution. A great book to read, to make you start giving up café lunches and luxury goods, to open that travel account, then begin reading other more country-specific books. Bon Voyage. |
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| Ceridwyn Parr |
Wanderlust and Lipstick:
The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo
published by Dispatch Travels www.dispatchtravels.com Dispatch Travels is devoted to publishing travel books for women with the express purpose of encouraging them to stretch their travel boundaries and to pursue their dream journeys.
The fossils of Lyme Regis in the south of England have been famous for over 2oo years. Along the dramatic Jurassic coast, you can wander (watch the tide!) and pick up the coiled ammonites, belemites and vertebrae from prehistoric creatures. After every storm the unstable cliffs reveal more treasures from a history written in fossilised form.
Ceridwyn Parr writes:
Nothing could have prepared me for the for the sight of gravestone after gravestone, after gravestone. they belong to boys aged 16,17,18 and for men aged 29, 35, 40, who landed here from 25 April 1915,onwards and mostly died here over the next few months. The marked stones lie tilted to the sun above the cool blue Aegean sea. Nothing can stop the pricking of tears to read this inscription:
1113 Private H J Burton,
died 30 November 1915, aged 18
Only a boy but died as a man for liberty and freedom
His Mum and Dad Read more
Ceridwyn writes: Florence is visual overload! I needed an antidote, and found it on the streets of Oltrano, on the ‘other side’ of the river.
The huge brick workrooms of the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, the ancient Florentine silk factory are just along from the best lunch we ate. Trattoria Sabatini , via Pisana 2/r , is a family run restaurant where the Buccioni family served us with pollo arrosto, patates arrosto, cavolo crude roast chicken, potatoes and coleslaw) and creamy stracchino cheese , and the usual glass of red wine, very cheaply . For once we were the only tourists in amongst local business people and artisans. Read more
Ceridwyn Writes: There can be few cities in the world as beautiful as Santiago founded on so preposterous a story, so says the Lonely Planet.
The legend of St James was the impetus for the growth of this city since 12th century. Read more
It should have been a short and relatively easy day, but my leg was swollen and painful, so I walked slowly with a strange flat footed gait.
Rosemary had lent me her walking stick which had been useful for threatening dogs and crossing muddy streams, but now came into its own as a support. The quiet woods and shady lanes of the past few days gave way to new towns and building sites, with road works and new tarseal obscuring the Way.
After going up a steep hill on a new road, beyond MillaDoiro, I could see no Way marked, so chose ‘down and north’. Not a good choice as I ended up by the river I wanted to cross into Santiago, but no bridge. So up the hill again, asked for help from two people who gave me contradictory advice, decided to head for the nearest bridge, and limped off.
Later I learned that this spot was the scene of three separate assaults on women travelling alone, only a few weeks ago. Each had hesitated, trying to find the way, and a man had offered to show them – leading to complaints to the police and an arrest. The guide book had been promising the uplifting sight of the Cathedral spires in the distance, but all I could see in the rain was chimney pots aand cranes. Read on
The bright yellow spotted lizard lay on the path, looking like a child’s toy. But it was real, and unexpected. later I saw another one, its gold colour matching exactly the chestnut leaves which fell around me in the woods.
Each time I stopped for a rest there would be a blue butterfly, or the first autumn crocus, or a long tailed magpie to watch. Lovely surprises, and some not so lovely. Read more
