A quick update

Remember those virtual challenges I do? The first one being Mount Everest. Now the second medal has come in: the Pyramids of Giza. And another beauty it is. 

The front can open up to reveal a tiny scarab that comes out and the back is beautifully decorated as well. I don't often indorse something, but this is definitely worth the money I paid for it. 

If you are into walking, running or cycling, it might be something for you as well. There are both shorter and longer challenges, but for every 20% of any challenge completed, a tree will be planted. And at the end you will get a beautiful medal. Click here for more information.

I am currently walking the Ring of Kerry in Ireland and I can't wait to finish it and get my medal for it. I am just over half way now, so I still have about 100 km to go, but I have started walking a bit longer just to get that medal. Win win for me!

In other news: I spotted the first green. The clover has started to come up. I can't wait for the rest...

Time flies

The front of the medal

Goodness me, time flies if you are not watching! Unless of course it's our living room clock, which seems to lose more time every day. 

And the back

Nothing much has changed here. Still walking. Still working. Still doing the same stuff I did last time. I did receive my first medal on Monday. Not sure what I had been expecting, but not the beautiful, intricate and heavy medal I got. I can't wait to get the next one, which is on its way as I write (Pyramids of Giza).

Another back

Last Sunday I went on a walk with my Dad. It was a great walk, which from a shoe point of view went perfectly. The area was great as well, and I even saw two 'nisser' or Scandinavian gnomes. Well, I say saw, but everybody knows that you cannot see them as they disappear into thin air then. So, these must have been faithful representations of them. 

A yellow-hatted nisse

Oh, my Dad got his call-up to get vaccinated. He will be stung in April. My Mum still has to wait and there is no telling when it's going to be my turn. Not even having a vital profession helps in that case...

I have also started reading a bit again. I have been hopelessly neglectful over the past few months and not even being a member of a book club helped in that. One book I never even started and another I did start, but it was Norwegian crime that I didn't read then and now realise why I didn't. Not my style or type at all. 

A toad crossing.
It goes underneath the road and saves toads
from getting run over during their trek back to mating grounds

I have started now again, also helped by the fact that it is my turn to host next time: A Robot in the Garden. A book that I read on the recommendation of Dorothy Jayne (Tiny Toadstool Cottage). A bit of a slow start, but once it got going...

That's it for now, hopefully I will have more to tell you next time. Or at least show you some nice photos...

Most photos taken during the walk with my Dad

Virtual or real?

Even my photo fitted with the destination. Somewhat anyway...

You could see from yesterday's post, that I have completed the Mt Everest walk. 64,2 km (40 miles) from start to finish. And definitely virtual. There is no way on earth that I am ever ever ever going to walk those 64 km up Mt Everest. EVER!! So, this is the next best thing.

My next walk is the Pyramids of Gizeh (74,6 km). A walk that would be a bit more likely, but only the tiniest bit. As in so slim that you could really say it was unlikely. But hey... 

Very like Nepal, wouldn't you say?

Anyway, as you know I have taken up walking or hiking and doing it virtually as well gives me an added impetus. It gives me somewhere to go, especially during these days where my sister coming for a visit is already difficult, let alone me traveling half way across the world. Fingers crossed it will soon change, but for now, virtual is the best I can get.

Mind you, I still have to get the kilometers done in real life. No point in cheating, as you do pay for the scheme as well: a tree planted every 20% of the route fulfilled and a medal at the end of it. As I only completed last Saturday, the medal is in the post as I write. I hope. 

There are sheep in Ireland too, aren't there?

There are two more walks I have signed up for already (other than the Pyramids): one is The Ring of Kerry in Ireland. I have driven that one several times, so know what to expect, but it will be nice to do the virtual walk as well (200 km). And the other one is the Ring Road Iceland, which is a bit longer (1332.5 km). 

When looking through the extensive list of virtual walks though, there was one that stood out for me. Hadrian's Wall in Northern England. It's the Roman wall built in Roman times (really!) by the Romans and stretches from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. 145 km. Virtual. Or real?

Holtingerveld in Drenthe

My sister has taken up the walking as well over in Northern Ireland and we are now thinking to actually walk Hadrian's Wall next year. The real thing. With the rain and the sun and the real ups and downs of hills and such. And at the same time doing the virtual walk. So, that by the end of it, we actually GET a medal. 

We have already decided we need more hill training, but even our regular flat training should get us to a reasonable standard of fitness. My sister has already found out there are tour companies that arrange everything. There are plenty of museums, stately homes and Roman things to see on the way and we will most likely add a week or two to the walking bit so we can see a bit more.

Training for the sand in Egypt

Our first holiday for 2022 is sorted. Now to just kick Corona's A$$!

All photos taken during a walk in the Holtingerveld with my friend last week.