Phew! I’m glad to still be alive today !

 Saturday 1483 – 25th February 2012

If you are following my other blog “Helen’s Photomania ” you will have read that I gave myself a bit of a scare with some flood water on Wednesday…  If you haven’t seen it take a look here

Yesterday I did something which scared me so much I thought I was going to have a heart attack that’s if I didn’t drive over the edge of a precipice first !!  So today I am very glad to be alive. So glad in fact that today I climbed to a waterfall along a rather precipitous path!! ( I didn’t know it was going to be precipitous! ) What is wrong with me !!  Do I have a death wish or something??

What makes us human beings do things that we know are going to scare us half to death? Is it because we don’t get enough of this adrenalin producing excitement in our everyday lives?  Or is it because we want to prove something to ourselves?

Or is it just because we are foolish and think we won’t be as scared of something now as we used to be? Or suddenly like something we’ve never liked before.  A sort of test for ourselves,  a bit like deciding to try garlic again and discovering you like it after years of “knowing” you didn’t. Okay not a great analogy but you know what I mean !

Anyway to go back to what I did yesterday.

I’m on holiday at the moment. In Cumbria in the North West of England, the area known as the lake district for obvious reasons… lots of lakes. Where you have lakes you often have mountains; in this case the Cumbrian Mountains.

For whatever reason…the challenge?? ..because I thought it was sure to be very scenic and photogenic?  I decided to go on the shortcut from Ravenglass on the coast to Ambleside via the Hardknott and Wrynose passes. The shortcut!! it would only be a shortcut if you were going by helicopter!

The Hardknott pass in particular  is known to have stretches of road ( lots of them as it turns out !!) where the gradient is 1: 3 that means it drops/rises 1 unit  in each 3… in layman’s turn that is TERRIFYING … and is the maximum slope allowed for roads,

The photo below looks innocuous enough doesn’t it but look carefully…that zig zig line is the road I drove down, the 1:3 road. So this is taken between passes! You can see a tiny car at the far right edge of the photo approaching the bottom 3rd of the pass. You can also see that the road looks very wet.. It was,  there was a lot of water running down the road in several places. What it doesn’t show is how windy it was!

Now I have driven on scary roads before, notably in Madeira and Tobago, but nothing like this. This was something else. I have never been so scared in all my life and once you’re on that pass there’s no going back. You can’t decide half way up you don’t like it and want to go back down and anyway going down is even worse than going up!

But… I did get some photographs… no not when I was driving !!  There is a flat-ish bit in between the 2 passes and I could think of no better way to regain my sanity or at least enough of it to tackle the 2^nd pass so I took some photographs and here are just 3 to give you an idea. ( some sheep ones will feature on Photomania I’m sure ! )

Fast moving clouds and shafts of light.

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Apparently the Hardknott Pass shares the title of the Steepest Road in England – you can read about it here and both Hardknott and Wrynose passes are 393 m (1,289 ft) at the top. YIKES !

Now you might well ask why I didn’t read that before I drove the road. Believe me I have asked myself that many, many times and if I had read it I doubt very much that I would have attempted it but then I wouldn’t have taken these photos or had this tale to tell !!

I think I could have coped with that !

This to my daughter – Katy if you come to the Lake District this is one thing you most definitely do NOT want to do !!

 I would NEVER do it again and I mean you couldn’t say, pay or do anything that would make me do it again….NO WAY !!  I think you are probably getting my drift

Anyway that was Friday. Today -Saturday -I spent a glorious couple of hours of solitude on the limestone pavement at Farleton ( photos to come on Photomania at a later date) , photographed some more sheep,(ditto)  climbed up a steep precarious path to the Aira Force waterfall… it was hardly worth it !! and visited Ullswater lake ( it was raining by then) .

On the drive back to my apartment I called in to Cartmel for a piece of their renowned Sticky Toffee Pudding with ice-cream; a delicious (and well deserved !)  end to the day. I chose blood orange tea to accompany it… Yum Yum !

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You can see more of my Cumbrian photos on Photomania from 21st Feb 2012 probably until I run out of them!!

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Glad to be alive Saturday Girl saying goodbye until next week. I’ll be keeping my feet firmly on flatter ground until then !

Acqua Alta, Umbrellas and Wellies….

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I know it’s not Saturday but here’s an extra post ….

I have long wanted to experience the famous Venetian Acqua Alta; when the lowest parts of Venice are flooded and  I had my chance on Sunday 6th November. I had been checking out some Venetian websites before I arrived in the city to see if there was any chance to see it on this 5 day trip and it seemed as though there would be one the day after I arrived. ( and as it turned out on each day after)

You certainly know when one is expected because a very loud siren sounds throughout the city ( at 7 a.m on the days I was there !) warning the population, who duly put on their wellington boots and carry on as normal.

I’m told the men who take away Venice’s rubbish are also tasked with putting in place the temporary raised wooden walkways which are essential to keep the pedestrian traffic flowing freely through this gorgeous city..

After putting up the boardwalks the bin men  carried on with rubbish collection as normal or nearly as normal..

I had mixed feelings about the Acqua Alta because the flooding can be very serious for the people who live and work in the city, particularly when the water is very high. For tourists it is an extraordinary experience which brings out the childlike wonderment and sense of fun in many people, myself most definitely included.

Some people loved it

but others didn’t seem quite so sure.

and I had certainly never seen a canoe in the middle of St Mark’s Square before

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It seems everyone in Venice owns at least one pair of wellington boots and they can be quite a fashion item; coming in every imaginable colour and design. Thigh high waders are worn by some, others wear bright colours or jazzy patterns. Some are stylish with lace-ups or cut outs.

( Click on any of the photos on this page for a closer look.)

Which ones are your favourites? Do tell…

These are mine -a pair that are see through with rubber soles that fit over your own shoes for those who wouldn’t be seen dead in Wellies !! ( take a closer look)

Of course there were those who improvised…..

….but quickly found this wasn’t such a good idea

I loved the expression on his face as his plastic bags filled up with water.

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Venetians also carry umbrellas; some tiny and some so big you imagine the owner is intending to have a party underneath ! This phenomenon is new to me as I’ve previously only visited during spring and autumn months and never seen rain in Venice before, but of course it’s essential to carry an umbrella because Venetians have to walk so much to get to wherever they need to be.

Like the wellies the umbrellas came in many colours, some people looked elegant but others rather silly, especially those who had fallen victim to the hard sell and were carrying umbrellas with Venetian scenes on them. Ugh, soooo tacky. The pink one with sheep and the pink cow were definitely NOT my favourites !!

I found it quite funny to watch the opening of umbrellas en masse as, antlike, Venetians scurried across the boardwalk tutting if tourists stood still to take photos and blocked their way.

So much so that this girl got off the boardwalk to take her photos.

It’s not only the people who are kept dry, some owners cover up their dogs as well…poor things ! It just doesn’t look right to me !

This woman was evidently taking no chances and was well prepared to keep everything dry with colourful wellies, umbrella and a coat for her dog !!

Ah! Venice always full of surprises and just as lovely in the rain.

Saturday girl signing off for now… watch out for the 1498th episode, coming soon…Ciao, Ciao !!