New Belgrade

 Today we crossed the river over to the newer area of Belgrade. It is mostly office buildings and residential tower blocks.

The absolute showstopper building that was built for both uses is the Genex Tower.

It can be seen across the whole city and was built in the brutalist style in 1977. We saw it from miles away on our first day and I was keen to see it close up.

It is 36 stories high and was built to resemble a high rise gate to welcome people arriving in the city from the west.

The right hand side was an office building for workers at the state owned Genex company, the left hand side was apartments for the workers and their families. There was a top storey walkway between the two buildings with a revolving building that unfortunately never actually resolved.

It looks magnificent from a distance, but closer up it is in a very sad state. The whole of the office side is derelict and is covered with a massive Serbian flag.

The apartments are still occupied, but it's not a nice place at all to live. Quite shocking really.

Belgrade, Serbia

Our minibus turned up and we arrived in Belgrade just before 10pm, so just checked into our very nice hotel and went to bed.

Next day we were off on an epic hike around the city.

The weather was beautiful, but I have to say that most of the city is full of tall communist era looking buildings that aren't very photogenic.

I do realise that this photo doesn't show the buildings, but we didn't take any photos of them, and the trams look pretty.

Our first stop was the fortress and that was very impressive.

As we arrived there was a background noise of cannons being fired, and throughout the morning jets and helicopters flew in formation overhead. 

I found out that these are rehearsals, and on Saturday there is going to be a huge military parade for Serbian Unity Day, although apparently not all Serbians are happy about it.

Then we went to the Temple of Saint Sava.

This is the world's largest Orthodox Church by volume and is called the Golden Church for obvious reasons.

Finally we walked along the waterfront where they are building a huge new luxury area that looks a little like Dubai or Kings Cross.

It is a lovely area and completely different from the rest of the city and looks incredibly expensive, so I imagine that very few local people will be relocating to it.

Weekend in Timisoara

 We have just had a great weekend with Darren's cousin Melissa and her husband Steve in Timisoara, Romania.

We have spent most of our time in the pedestrianised city centre which is full of lovely buildings, and lots of bars and restaurants. Final stop on the first night was the Jack Daniels whiskey bar.

On Sunday we caught a boat up and down the river, stopping for ten minutes to look at one of the many local churches.

For our final night we had a great sausage based meal at a restaurant that was right next door to Timisoara's claim to fame - it was the first city in the world to have electric street lights.

Then a last night in the town where we had to shelter from the most incredible thunderstorm.

Up early this morning for a run through the local forest, and at 6pm tonight we are catching a bus across the border into Serbia and our hotel in Belgrade.

'In conversation' at Kew Gardens

 Just had an excellent couple of days, starting with a train ride to London Paddington then a Brompton across London.

We took a picnic and were very comfortable at our stop in Hyde Park.

Then we parked up the bikes and wandered around Kew Gardens and inspected the lovely new Climate Garden.

I am not sure what this structure is, maybe an enormous mushroom.

There was also a giant TV screen showing a year in the life of an ancient oak tree that stood right next to it.

We also climbed to the top of the spiral staircase in the Great Pavilion and the one up into the tree tops.

Of course, there were loads of beautiful plants to see as well. 

However, we were there to listen to Tom Holland and Mary Beard talk about the Ancient Romans.

The talk was very interesting, but Darren had a little nap and I fell off my chair, to the amusement of all of the people sitting around us.

Fast forward to the next morning and we ran the Osterley parkrun. 

It was another beautiful day and a great run.

Quick shower and back to Kew for today's talk from Adam Frost and Frances Tophill about Gardeners World.

Not quite as enthralling as Ancient Rome, but pretty good and I picked up a few tips for my garden.

Glastonbury to Bath

We got up early and walked into Glastonbury to get a coffee.

We found the only coffee shop in town that was open and I sat in the window looking at the neighbouring shops.

What a surprise! No sign of any butcher or baker, but quite a few candles, if not candlestick makers.

It is a hippy haven, full of nothing I could ever think of buying.

I was also startled by the tourist board information notices. Apparently legend has it that Jesus and his uncle Joseph visited Glastonbury, King Arthur and Queen Guinevere are buried here, the sword of Excalibur is lying undiscovered nearby in a local river and the Holy Grail is also buried nearby.

With history like that then the shops are probably to be expected.

Moving on and back on the bikes, our next stop was Wells and it's amazing cathedral.

After the information overload at Glastonbury I just looked around here in awe, and unfortunately have nothing to tell you about the place.

Except to say that we will definitely be going back for a longer look.

We are on our final cycling day and after the flat land of the Somerset levels we then went straight up to the top of the Mendip Hills. Stopping at the little village of Priddy for a break and half a cheese and bacon pasty each, we rested our bikes next to a thatched building full of sheep fencing.

The fencing is used at the annual sheep fair and dates back to 1348 when the fair at Wells was moved here to avoid the black death.

Reaching the other side of the Mendips we had a great view of Chew Valley reservoir in the distance 

where we made our last stop for a 99 at the Mister Whippy.

Weymouth to Glastonbury

 Today was the longest cycling day of our tour, but at least we knew that it wouldn't be as hilly as the past couple of days.

Our first coffee stop was at Poundbury, the famous village that is built on the King's land. It is at the edge of Dorchester and has royal sounding areas such as Queen Mother Square, Crown Square and the Royal Pavilion.

It has lots of different building designs and at first glance seemed very posh, quiet and pretty. We stopped for coffee and the friendly owner gave me a map of the town, and hidden amongst the buildings were at least 70 fancy cafés, bars and shops, including 13 bridal boutiques.

Very different to our own self build at Graven Hill.

Travelling on the terrain for most of the day was gently rolling through beautiful villages, but our quest for a pub lunch ended in vain as the couple that we cycled past had both closed down.

Eventually we sat on a bench that was left outside one closed down pubs and enjoyed a meal deal.

Closing in on Glastonbury were cycled throughout the Somerset Levels, which as the name implies is a flat area where the wind was fearsome and straight in our faces.

In the distance we could see Glastonbury Tor and it slowly got closer until we were in the town itself. 

It looked really interesting and a good place to spend the night, but the sat nav had others ideas and took us straight through and out the other side to an industrial estate. 

There nestled between Screwfix and Howdens was our lovely Purple Palace. Sorry but I didn't think to take a photo.

We arrived much less tired than yesterday. However, too tired to walk the 20 minutes each way into the town, so are hoping to do that in the morning.

Jurassic coast ride

 We set off this morning from the edge of the Jurassic Coast, an area famous for the fossils of dinosaurs encased in the rock of the cliffs.

Speaking of cliffs, we started the day by climbing an enormous one, before dropping down into the lovely town of Lyme Regis.

On the seafront is a statue of Mary Anning, one of the best fossil hunters ever. 

I have always been a keen beach comber and had to have a look  on the beach. I was very pleased to find a little rock that to me looked like a tiny piece of dinosaur bone and popped it in my pocket.

We left Lyme Regis and scaled another mountain before swooping down to Charmouth beach.

We stopped for coffee and sat in a howling gale on the seafront chatting to a very friendly Austrian teacher about our journey.

Next door to the café was a fossil shop selling ammonites and other finds. I had a quick glance around and was slightly disappointed to not find anything similar to my mini t rex bone.

As you can see, the weather is looking grey and we were starting to see the arrival of Storm Floris.

The next part of the journey was a bit inland and not quite so hilly, but never flat. Gradually the weather got worse and we stopped for a long lunch break to shelter for a while.

Then it was back on the bikes, and the final quite long leg to our hotel in Weymouth.

Our arrival into Weymouth was a great disappointment with gridlocked traffic on a rundown looking seafront, although we were also tired and the rain and wind didn't help.

However, after a rest at the hotel we tried again and the difference was spectacular.

The sun was out, the sea was calm, the traffic had gone and there was a helter shelter on the seafront.