Back in the early December last year (2015) I decided to walk a bit through London, so I started from Leytonstone, went to Piccadilly Circus and then came back at the starting point. The distance was about 40 km (25 miles) and it took me 7 hours to cover it (average speed 5.8 km/h), but I feel that this is kind of limit for me and if I want to be comfortable and walk more hours I'll have to drop the walking speed to something like 5km/h (3.1m/h), which while far from what the athletes do its not really bad for a starter. On the bright side I didn't have any signs of tiredness or muscle fevers in the next days and this is when I decided to start preparing physically myself for long distance walks.
While walking I managed to snap few photos with my phone, which may be mildly interesting for people from other countries :).
Something interesting - "Public Baths", only I am not really sure its still operational
Parakeets (possibly Psittacula krameri) in Victoria Park. Even these fluffy balls of tropical colours look drab in London in this time of the year
Idyllic view of channel in London
Mildly interesting mix of modern and not so modern buldings
Kind of typical for London indie cafe. I like these very much, generally the ambient and the people are really nice.
Nearly forgot to mention it, my Vibram shoes. I decided if the weather is bad to do my walks with them and so far I find them exceptionally comfortable. I think I made by now something like few hundred km in this particular pair and it doesn't show any signs of wear and tier yet.
In the today's post I'll put a short video and a few pictures about an Insect I found during my hike in Lyulin Mountain, Bulgaria. It looked like Birch Sawfly (Cimbex femoratus), but they are quoted as having length of maximum 25 mm (1 inch) and this one had body length without wings and antennae of 33 mm (1 1/4 inch), so it may happen to be another species, but I am unable to find more information.
The Sawflys are one of the two suborders in the Order Hymenoptera, the other one being this of the bees, ants and wasps. So this means that they are not only superficially resembling wasps or bees, but rather they look alike because they are distantly related and had common ancestor. Another interesting thing about them is that their larvae looks like butterfly caterpillar and just like them feeds on plants. This however makes some of the species of Sawflys pests that could cause substantial damage to certain plants.
Anyway, these huge wasp-like insects are always something interesting to be found in the wild.
The area where I found our beast
Birch Sawfly (Cimbex femoratus), it is a bit wasp-like
Side view of this very big Sawfly
One more picture from the side
Note the huge legs
It also has strong mandibles and the thorax is with particular shape
Here I have it measured, it had body length of 33 mm (1 1/4 inch) without wings and antennae
The Garden of Turia
(Jardin del Turia) is unusual park in Valencia, Spain because it is the old riverbed of
Turia river. After a The Great Flood of Valencia in 1957 the river was diverted and the dry riverbed is now a green oasis that crosses the city all the way to the port.
The Music Palace
This is a place for leisure and culture. You can have picnic with the whole family, or you can jog or play football. There are sport areas for everyone.
There are many bridges overhead.
Las Torres Serrano
The park keeps you away from the city noise thanks to it's low level.
At the end of the garden there's the Biopark, the city's new zoo. The place offers a beautiful view to the city.
After receiving e-mails and questions how exactly I configure and pitch up my single tent-cape I realized that it may not be so obvious, so I decided to upload this video in which I am showing to a friend of mine - Karen how to do it. I hope now is clearer how this is done.
In short, 2x2 m (6x6 ft) tarp (tarpaulin or any other waterproof and strong enough material cut at square), stick 1.2 m (or 4 ft), 3 pegs (or just sharpened pieces of wood) and piece of string 1.5 m long are used and the pitching up should take only a couple of minutes if practiced. It could be used as rain-cape (similar to the "plash palatka") or hammock, weights around 250 gr and is very compact and light compared to the retail tents.
And just to note in the video the sides don't align perfectly, because this tarp was not exactly a square and the eyelets were not evenly spaced, but its still good enough for £2 tent. However if anybody wishes to invest some time, it can be cut to proper size and the eyelets can be realigned and the result will be very neat fully enclosed tent.
This smaller configuration has some advantages like its easier to use as rain-cape, its a bit higher, so one can sit inside somewhat comfortably, uses single pole and needs smaller spaces. The disadvantages are that it is not so comfortable, higher (easier to be seen) and when used as hammock not very comfortable, because is shorter.
After receiving e-mails and questions how exactly I configure and pitch up my double tent-cape I realized that it may not be so obvious, so I decided to upload this video in which I am showing to a friend of mine - Karen how to do it. I hope now is clearer how this is done.
In short, 2x3 m (6x9 ft) tarp (tarpaulin or any other waterproof and strong enough material cut with sides 2 by 3), 2 sticks at 1.2 m (or 4 ft) each, 2 pegs (or just sharpened pieces of wood) and piece of string are used and the pitching up should take only a couple of minutes if practiced. It could be used as rain-cape or hammock, weights around 350 gr and is very compact and light compared to the retail tents.
And just to note in the video the sides don't align perfectly, because this tarp was not with sides 2 by 3 exactly and the eyelets were not evenly spaced, but its still good enough for £2 tent. However if anybody wishes to invest some time, it can be cut to proper size and the eyelets can be realigned and the result will be very neat fully enclosed double tent.
For exact proportions and folding geometry look at New Tent Design
For my previous video about testing it in rain this tent see here.
And for a video about pitching up and configuration of the single tent see Single Tent Cape.
Gothenburg, Sweden is one of my favourite places. I've been visiting it since 2008. That year I lived and worked there, and fell in love with the city.
The first thing that I noticed about Gothenburg is that it is so green when viewed from the air. An endless forest.
Despite being the second largest city in Sweden it gave me a feeling of a small town. There was an atmosphere of calmness and relaxation. It looked to me that road traffic almost didn't exist. That created the impression of eternal weekend. It was almost impossible to feel stressed there.
The main boulevard Avenyn, ''The Avenue''
This is how typical housing blocks in the city look like.
Interestingly sometimes there are no streets between the blocks. They are built on a hilly terrain. Like some giant just pined them up in the forest. I tried sometimes to walk to the city centre, but at some places it was very difficult to cross the terrain.
View from my window
View from my window
View from my window
Sometimes I could spot rabbits and deers through the window.
Because of the calmness and tranquillity, one thing that I could always had for sure was a good sleep.
