Great places

To the Athens of Latin America

By Dave Snowden  ·  May 2, 2013  ·  Great places

After a long flight via a disrupted immigration line in Miami I made it to Bogota late yesterday.   I've grown very fond of the place over a limited number of visits in the last two years.   From my perspective the climate is perfect, not to hot not to cold and I've got some good friends and partners to work with.  There is an immanence (in the theological sense of the word) to the mountains that surround the city and the banks of clouds that build over them, often sharply illuminated by the sun.  The presence of mountains is...

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Walking & conversation as therapy

By Dave Snowden  ·  May 1, 2013  ·  Diabetes, Great places

I went for a walk with my daughter on the weekend.  Originally she was coming home for the weekend and I was planning a  further section of the North Downs Way to be in the area of Brighton to give her a lift home.  One seizes all chances to spend time with children as they move through University and to their own independent lives.  In the event pressure of time on an essay for her MA meant that she had to stay in Brighton, but she did have time for a shorter walk than the one I planned.

Now Brighton is a good centre for walks so...

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A plague of Austenites

By Dave Snowden  ·  April 6, 2013  ·  Great places

A long walk today as I carry on with the North Downs Way. I decided I would let the train take the strain and got the 0613 from Bedwyn that deposited me at Gomshall just after ten and then a short bus strip got me to Shere where I finished stage one a month ago.  A short climb back to the path and then a great walk on the level through woodland with multiple view points over the valley to Ranmore Common.  A lot of memories along this section to Box Hill.   I walked it in reverse a couple of decades ago when we lived in Send although...

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... instill virtue to suffering

By Dave Snowden  ·  April 1, 2013  ·  Great places

Today was my last birthday before I can get discounted coach tickets on National Express.  When you were born on All Fools Day it is inevitable that people are slightly credulous, so to all various requests by multiple channels, yes it is.  I celebrated it by doing the second section of the Wessex Ridgeway with Peter and Julia and going to Nabucco in the evening at the ROH.  The walk turned out to be 17 miles rather than the 14 the guide book indicated so despite a brisk (for us) 2.6 mph everything got a little rushed in...

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A spartan visit

By Dave Snowden  ·  March 11, 2013  ·  Great places

Edinburgh may be called the Athens of the North and is the home of the Scottish Enlightenment (a singularly inappropriate name if you have to read Hume I always think) but conditions this weekend were spartan with a wickedly cold wind that by today had combined with heavy snow.  I had come up for a meeting with the University of Edinburgh today to start what looks to a positive path to an interesting partnership.  Of course there was the little matter of a Rugby match on the Saturday but that was the subject of an earlier post....

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