Stage 9

Today, day 9 on the trail, we started with the best breakfast yet: bubble & squeak (a mashed concoction of potatoes, cabbage, carrots and whatever vegetables you have on hand) rolled in eggs then whole 'meal' (grain) bread crumbs, then lightly fried in olive oil; eggs, beans, mushrooms and toast with homemade orange marmalade. Then we hit the central market and bought fruit to take on the trail for our short (12 mile) day to Richmond. We learned some new lingo from Bob and Denise at the B&B: Bob can really 'pull a face' when he's displeased, and their last couple of years have been 'higgledy piggeldy' or not quite orderly due to many family changes.

We saw the California tour group and our English friend, Steve, along the trail. We told them it was good to see them as we were worried about them! Saw the Las Vegas group who take a more leisurely tour and split off at the tea house in Marske. The walk today was wonderful, what we imagined our trip would be like- it was scenic in the best sense of the word, not the longer and higher type of scenic! We saw hills and valleys and moors and forests - the perfect blend.

Hit Richmond mid-afternoon, checked in to the Old Brewery Inn, the home of Sherpa Van our bag transport company, showered and hit the town. Had Thai for dinner which was great until we added chili sauce. We'll have clear sinuses until Halloween. Tried a couple of different gins in real English gin & tonics and met up with the California group. Now we're back at the Inn preparing for our rest day in Richmond tomorrow.

Phrases of the day:

Yaya: said when the listener gets what you're saying and is ready to answer before you're finished explaining.
Carry on: used often-just keep going
Whilst: used often, when we use while
Hiya: familiar greeting when you meet on the street like we use hi or hello
Eh: Esther than 'huh'

Big news: we just met Mr & Mrs Sherpa Van in the sitting room of the Inn while we were blogging! We were able to share our positive experiences and compliment them on a job well done. They just got back from a trip to Iceland.