walking – Mr Knitter

Walking Challenge – Paris

July 13, 2021July 13, 2021 by Mr Knitter, posted in Hiking, Virtual Challenges

Following my other challenges I decided to do another city; Paris. Although I have not been to Paris (I have been to France) I thought it would be nice to go on a virtual walk about the city with Pacer.

The walk was 60km in total which took me virtually through many parts of Paris I would like to visit if I ever get the chance to go, and I could follow the virtual tour. It is a mad idea that I walk 60km in the UK and my journey is then virtually mapped through the streets of Paris, step by step with city views all the way care of Google Earth.

The Route

Starting Point – Palace of Versailles
River Seine
Bois de Boulogne
La Défense
Arc de Triomphe & Champs Elysees
Grand Palais
Place de la Concorde
Lourve Museum
Palais Garnier
Sacré-Cœur
Pompidou Centre
Place de la Bastille
Notre-Dame de Paris
Panthéon
Luxembourg Palace
Les Invalides
Eiffel Tower – End Point

Next is The Inca Trail, only 33km, so a short journey, but an interesting place that I would love to visit on day, that is when I win the lottery.

Until next time…

Walking Challenge – New York

June 17, 2021June 17, 2021 by Mr Knitter, posted in Hiking, Travelling

My latest walking challenge was through New York which was nice as it is one of the few places I really want to visit before I expire.

The challenge this time was 42km / 26 miles and started at Prospect Park. As always at each place, there is a virtual postcard and I got to learn a lot about each place, so that is a bonus. The medal is like the others, chunky and well made and in a presentation box, but this one glows in the dark, the city skyline glows, so that is a bit of fun.

The Route

Prospect Park – Starting Point
Brooklyn Bridge
Flatiron Building
Empire Stat Building
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Rockefeller Center
The Museum of Modern Art
The Metropolitan Museum fo Art
Central Park
Broadway
Times Square
Vessel
World Trade Center
Charging Bull
Statue of Liberty – End Point

I am going to do Paris next which is 60km, and as I seem to be doing city walks I may continue with those challenges for now. I would like to do a big challenge like Camino de Santiago which is 819km / 509 miles. Conqueror does Route 66 which is 3669km / 2280 miles but the medal does not look all that good, and Pacer medals are really nice and chunky. I will keep looking out for other challenges.

Walking Challenge – London

May 10, 2021May 10, 2021 by Mr Knitter, posted in General, Travelling

After doing the Rome challenge I decided to do the London challenge, 21km. It was very easy and I did it in a couple of days, however, it encouraged me to move more than normal, and who can complain about that.

As with the Rome challenge, there were virtual checkpoints and postcards with information about the places. I took M to London back in 2002 to stay for a week and stayed in Bloomsbury, the hotel was in the middle of the square where Oliver Twist was filmed and the famous scene of “who will buy my beautiful roses”. We had a great time, but M has never been back since. I have been a good few times to see a dental specialist as I sued my old dentist (yes, I won the case).

The checkpoints where:

Starting point, Big Ben
Trafalgar Square
Buckingham Palace
Hyde Park
The Regent’s Park
The British Museum
St Paul’s Cathedral
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
The Shard
Finishing point, London Eye

I am not too sure which challenge to do next, but there are a few I like the look of, Everest Base Camp – 70km, Laugavegur Trail – 80km, Pyramids of Egypt – 132km, and The Great Wall of China – 300km. Other companies do challenges covering even more miles however, the medals are not as nice and that is one of the main attractions to the challenge, apart from trying to be healthy and increase my fitness.

So, until next time…

Walking Challenge – Rome

May 6, 2021May 6, 2021 by Mr Knitter, posted in General, Travelling

Back in 2016, I took M to Rome. He had always wanted to go as it was a bit of a dream of his, who was I to deny him this? I, therefore, surprised him with a week trip. We had a great time, we ate great food, drank too much fine red wine, walked what seemed hundreds of miles, needless to say, we had the best time.

I was on Instagram and noticed an advert for a virtual walking challenge around Rome and could not resist. We cannot travel at the moment due to COVID-19, so why not tour the city virtually. The challenge was a limited-time challenge that hit all the major attractions we had visited 5 years ago. The challenge used my Apple Watch to monitor the steps and distance and maps it out where I was in the city with virtual postcards at all the major spots. It was nice to do and brought back more memories of what a great time we had.

Checkpoints

At each of the checkpoints and the “postcard’s”, there is a write up about the place giving the history and some interesting facts all with a virtual 360 visit to the site. Once at the end of the challenge I got a certificate and was sent a medal which can be seen below. The medal is really nice and as can be seen, is hinged to reveal another view of the city.

Until next time…

In Search Of Heathcliff

February 16, 2019March 3, 2019 by Mr Knitter, posted in General, Hiking, Photos, Travelling

Yes, that one…

Today we went to Penistone Hill in Yorkshire to do our Bronte walk. The sun was out, and although it is still winter here it was a glorious day with highs of 13c. I parked 1.4 miles away from the Bronte Parsonage and headed towards Bronte Bridge and Falls. I had not been here for just over 21 years, so it was nice to visit it again, although I have been to Haworth many times in the past 10 years.

Marker stone after the bridge was rebuilt after being destroyed by floods

This is NOT Top Withens obviously, just an old farmhouse that we passed on the hike.

Wuthering Heights Inn was a lovely pub that we stopped at for lunch. They are dog-friendly which was really nice, they provided us with dog treats, bowls of fresh water and a warm welcome. M had a hot beef and gravy sandwich with thick chips. I decided to have a dirty burger which was a half pounder with cheese, pulled pork and chilli mayo, side of salad with sweet balsamic dressing, fries and onion rings. Needless to say, it was rather delicious and was washed down with a pint of bitter shandy. Mazikee and Harper helped eat the chips.

Me and Mazikeen – as usual by my side with a stick.

Mazikeen now locked on to the sheep. She was doing a very low growl, then howling at them which was very funny to watch.

All in all, it was a lovely day, I am slightly burned from the sun and wind, mostly the wild and windy moor. Alas, we never found Heathcliff or Cathy or managed to get to Top Withens, but will go that way next time. All told I hiked 6.5 miles with the girls. Mazikeen probably did about 12 miles or more as she was off lead and ran about everywhere, leaping into every muddy puddle, stream, and the waterfalls. I kept Harper on her lead as she is a bugger for taking off on her own adventures.

Not too sure where we will hike next Saturday weather permitting that is, but I am looking forward to more adventures.