Activities, Fun, London

Rollerskiing in Hyde Park, London – Loving it!

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We have tried out rollerskiing in Hyde Park, London, for the first time last summer. We’ve already been back, since, and were about to book more sessions when London was placed under the current lockdown. Prior Experience Inline Skating and Cross-Country Skiing Both Ellie and I have done a fair bit of inline skating. For Ellie it’s been several years since she last put on her skates, I usually go inline skating several times a year. As a kid, growing up close to the Bavarian Alps in Germany, my parents regularly took me cross-country skiing. One popular track started just behind our backyard. As a result of our different backgrounds, I found it a lot easier than Ellie to learn the basics of rollerskiing. I am still very much a beginner, but I feel comfortable on the rollerskis and can easily and safely get from A to B. Two Techniques: […]

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Fun, Wales, Water sports

Packrafting in Wales with Tirio – Mountains to Sea

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Last August, Jason and Marianne from Tirio invited me to join one of their tour groups for a weekend of packrafting in Wales. The two-day tour I took part in is called “Mountains to Sea”, because, as you guessed, you start in the mountains of Snowdonia and you finish at the shore of the Irish Sea.  What is packrafting? I will be frank: I had not heard about packrafting before. Apparently, this new sport developed in the 1980s in Alaska. Packrafting refers to a combination of rafting and hiking, often combined with camping. Each member of the group carries their own light-weight inflatable rubber boat (strictly speaking TPU or “Thermopolyurethene”), paddle and any other hiking gear. This includes camping gear, when staying out in the wilderness for more than one day. Sounds like a hassle? Well, I should mention that the raft, inflatable seat, pump, life jacket, and foldable paddle […]

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Food, Fun, London

Greenwich Market – Just as much fun now as it was before Covid

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We visited Greenwich Market two dozen times over the years, but our last visit had been more than two years ago. The Market has a very proud history. There has been a market in Greenwich since at least the 14th Century. Today’s market traces its beginning to 19th December 1700, when a Royal Charter was given to Greenwich Hospital, the Royal Navy’s oldest charity, to operate a market. This fine institution is there to support serving and retired navy staff and their families. The charity exists to this day and still owns the Market just like it always did. It took them nearly forty years until they actually made use of the Charter and opened the Market for the first time on 3 September 1737 with 60 stalls from far and wide.   History Initially located next to the West Gate of the Old Royal Naval College, the market gradually […]

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Fun

Our 2020 – Bhutan, Bad Hofgastein, Broken Bones, Bang Bang, Brexit BS and Bubonic Plague

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Ellie and I are very grateful, that, given the circumstances, we have not been affected more severely by Covid so far. We are acutely aware that many people face much more serious challenges. Throughout the crisis we have made every effort to comply with the rules that applied in the respective locations. We started 2020 in London, just having returned from a lovely one-week trip to Strasbourg. As usual, when in Old Blighty, we didn’t do much to ring in the New Year. Out and about I don’t think we’ve ever been so active. We started going on one-day hiking trips even before Covid kicked off. On a number of occasions we went hiking for long weekends, including in Wales, the Lake District, and the Peak District. We tried many new things, like caving, axe-throwing, bouldering, mountain-biking, roller-skiing, packrafting, racing Rage Buggies, and quad-biking. Several times we met up with […]

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Fun, London

The Perfect Halloween Escape Room Experience (or for any other day): Psychopath’s Den

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We got hooked on escape rooms about three years ago and must have done about six or seven of them by now. A couple of weeks before this year’s Halloween we started looking around for scary stuff to do for the scariest of all days and came across “Psychopath’s Den”, a one-hour escape room experience for two to five persons above 16. Prices range from £25 to £45 per person. We came with a friend of ours and our team of three paid £30 per person, which is very reasonable compared with many other providers. AIM Escape, who run this escape room experience, are located no more than two or three minutes’ walk from Aldgate East. Different from some other escape rooms, the path to the room feels perfectly safe any time of day or night. (Many other escape rooms are located in warehouse districts or otherwise unsafe parts of […]

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