This is the delayed daily pod! I’ve been trying to sort out all sorts of admin. On an iPhone. With fat fingers. I’ve successfully completed my application for the Scottish equivalent of a DBS check, and am trying to re jig the rest of my accommodation for this trip so that it feels more like a holiday than a punishment tab! I called in at the Pilgrim Centre and asked whether I’d be able to find accommodation if I cancel all the bookings I have and then book again a few days in advance. The woman in there was lovely, and said I ‘should be’ OK… I was really after a ‘You will be absolutely fine’ or an ‘Are you insane?’ response. I’m not assisted with planning by what I have come to find is the habitual slow response to emails and phone enquiries. I’ve phoned and emailed a place I’d like to stay at the day after tomorrow. She said on the phone she would respond to my email…but nothing has arrived. I don’t want to start cancelling other places until I hear back. It is all a bit stressful!
Anyway… back to today. 28km from Tangen to Hamar. Not overly hilly, on good woodland paths and quite a lot of road. An easy-ish day. I had a breakfast snack at the Hill of Joy. This was a point from which early pilgrims could spot more than one church - which apparently made them fall to their knees in joyous celebration. I was pleased to see a bench!
I do miss breakfast (and second breakfast) coffee stops! A carton of juice is just not the same.
The countryside was lovely, lush, green, rolling hills with frequent views down to the lake. At Stange Church I ‘caught up with’ one of the girls who had been at the same place as me last night. I was hugely confused! She had still been asleep when I’d left, and I had no memory of being overtaken. The explanation was quite simple…she’d taken a bus from Tangen to Stange!
At around 21km, when my need for caffeine was getting quietly insistent, I found myself on a golf course. I walked past at least three signs that said, in English, ‘all are welcome to use the cafe at the club house, we serve food and drinks!’ Wonderful I thought as I skipped along, thoughts of a steaming hot, black coffee propelling me on. I soon spied a deck area with tables and chairs and, yes, a cafe.
I had a moment of worry about the umbrellas being down, but is was only just after 10am. I walked in, confident in the imminent arrival of a cup of coffee in my hands, to see a couple of people milling about. They informed me that the cafe was not open, it was only open Wednesday to Saturday each week! I was not a happy bear.
I trudged on. The last seven caffeine deprived kilometres dragged a bit. I tried to get excited by the lake, and the Olympic Hall - that really looks a bit like the end or the Star Trek film where they crashed the Enterprise, but I just wanted to stop and get a coffee… and maybe an little something to eat.
I’ve got a hotel room tonight, breakfast is included but isn’t served until 6.30am, so I’ll have to have a lie in! Once I’d checked in and had a shower, I set off to the Pilgrim Centre, stopping on the way for, at long last, a coffee! And a waffle. She asked if I wanted jam or ‘brown cheese’ with the waffle. I shall have to google brown cheese… as it was I went for neither.
After the Pilgrim Centre I went to look at the ruins of the cathedral. They are enclosed in a spectacular glass structure:
Then after a quick walk around Hamar to see what I fancy for supper and a quick look in a gorgeous yarn shop, it was back to the hotel for admin… I’m still waiting for an email reply!
No comments:
Post a Comment