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Here Goes:

Touring on our own, but provided with the itinerary and the activity suggestions provided based on the FR's escorted tours was a great choice for a spontaneous trip like ours - and my fear that such an unplanned, unresearched expedition would end up spending all the time just dithering about what to do next was unfounded as a result.

Finding vegan food in such a meat and dairy based culture without having time for much research or advance booking was another challenge. The included continental breakfasts each morning saw me well filled on fruit, jam and toast, and though I wished for more variety I probably got my moneys worth in coffee and juice. One hotel managed to get soya milk after the first day and cereal gave a nice change for a few days. For lunch we did well in co-op style shops in or near the Railway stations, getting fresh ingredients for picnics on most days. Dinner was easier to find than I thought it might be, with somewhere that would do each night without too much difficulty, and a few gems that stood out, like WD17 - with a tapas menu &/or a menu of ingredients, including tofu, individually chosen and cooked to order in a wok. There was one disaster, when I was served a side dish, to a cantonese meal, that looked like fried onion at a glance - but on closer inspection had eyes, and was lots of tiny fish :(

The only downside of the tour (apart from a taste for more!) was me picking up a fever towards the end that in hind sight was probably the dreaded Swine flu. It knocked me for six for the following month.

One concern was that Snowdonia would seem less impressive after the heights of the Alps - but we needn't have worried, plus we have the coast  too. With everything up in the air we were (and are) determined to make the most of living in such a splendid area, though this was hampered for a while by my lingering illness.

On our return Tim started job hunting in earnest nationwide, and I stuck lucky with the opportunity of a temp job on the Welsh Highland Railway coming up just as I was feeling well enough to start looking for one.  Tim also has been busy volunteering on the Ffestiniog Railway, among other things keeping his engineering brain exercised by upgrading the installation that was his final year uni project. I am wondering how many people have university projects that are still in use and being appreciated after more than a decade!

So now it is November, and my seasonal job has now ended, and the resulting sleep deprivation just about caught up on. Tim is at the moment out helping to fix storm damage on the railway so that the coach loads of visitors that are still visiting can enjoy the moody mountains.

We have our fingers crossed for a few leads Tim is pursuing, and are living in the moment, without being able to plan ahead in case of interviews and meetings and start dates anywhere in the country.

The deep depression that stole most of the last decade is being kept at bay despite leaving my therapist behind in England, though the fear of relapse is still strong and some of the underlying issues are still being fought. But after years of existence I am alive again - if not yet living the settled life I had pictured!

Originally posted on planetprent.vox.com

(Mon 29 June - Part Two)

Glacialtributory

(Mon 29 June -Um -Part one)

Now based near Interlaken, our itinerary again gave us a few days to do our own thing, though with plenty of suggestions for excursions provided. Over Sunday dinner, in the handy Swiss/ Korean(!) restaurant we found near Wilderswill Station, we laid our plans to visit local delights in the predicted poor weather.

Our plans were all thrown aside, however, when we were woken in the early hours by the bright Sunshine lancing in through the hotel room curtains. With the peaks of the spectacular mountain scenery around us clear and sunny, we roused ourselves for an early breakfast and a brisk walk back to the station.

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Chilled

With rucksacks on our backs, we set off to move on again.
But this is a Ffestiniog Travel tour, and no boring transfer days here! Instead we were cruising in style, with first class reservations on the Glacier Express.