The Way To The Fable

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This year is terrible in sense of Christmas prepatations of the commerce. The shops "celebrate" it from the end of October. I don't like it. They ruine the feeling of the greatest feast of the year.

Today I read about the new year tours that offer different tour operators. I understand, they have to earn money, that is why they offer anything. So, I thought: where I wanted to go to have the fabulous New Year Feast?

For me it could be Finnland, Lapland, other nordic countries. Or maybe central Europe. A castle and snow, snow, snow...
And where would you go for this feast?


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Sea Cliff

I was first introduced to Sea Cliff about a decade ago when I embarked on my old Bristol 24 for my first overnight cruise aboard. It was my first summer with the boat, and most of my time aboard had been spent daysailing or just puttering around. Sea Cliff was a sensible destination that weekend. Despite having visited nearly every harbor on the North Shore over the years, I had never been to Hempstead Harbor. Also, Sea Cliff was a short sail from my mooring on City Island, which made it a safe choice for a first solo overnight cruise. Upon arrival, I remember thinking to myself what an excellent choice this was.

I have since sailed to Sea Cliff many times, but I have never visited by land, or in the off-season, until this year. It is a great walking town. The hillside that separates the waterfront from the business district is filled with Victorian, and other century-old homes that look over the harbor. West of the Sea Cliff Yacht Club is a walkway with a sitting area that skirts the shoreline. At the top of the hill, Memorial Park (Hippie Park) provides sweeping views of the harbor and Long Island Sound. In my opinion, it is one of the best views in the western portion of the Sound. The park is a popular spot to watch the sunset. Sea Cliff Avenue has some shops, as well as a market and a few restaurants.

The most unique feature in Sea Cliff is the layout itself. There are a network of stairways that climb the hilly neighborhood from the shoreline. Combined with the winding, narrow roads, they form a sort of Chutes And Ladders pattern as you make your way up or down the hill. You will certainly get a workout, but the views are worth it.

SEA CLIFF: WebAlbum
MAP

Xmas Fair

Tomorrow, Friday 12th December, is our association Xmas Fair. For full details see http://www.brittanywalks.com/, but there will be nice things to eat, nice people to meet and bargain gifts to buy (3� stall), as well as the new BRITTANY WALKS RECIPE BOOK, Morris dancing, cake-decorating, card-making and upholstery, not to mention a lot of sitting around chatting. We are looking forward to welcoming members and their guests :-)

Update

Hi Everyone!
I'll write more soon (possibly), but I just wanted to say hello, and sorry for the delays in posting. Things have been pretty busy, and now Angela and I are headed to my friend Aurora's wedding in Mexico. We'll be in Colorado on Dec. 17, so look us up!
Until then, take care!
Ryan

Race Day On Long Island Sound

THE YACHTS
Brilliance of cloudless days, with broad bellying sails
they glide to the wind tossing green water

from their ship prows while over them the crew crawls

Ant-like, solicitously grooming them, releasing,
making fast as they turn, lean far over and having
caught the wind again, side by side, head for the mark

William Carlos Williams

The LIFE Magazine photo archives are now available online. (Thanks to Good Old Boat Redwing for the link) The photographs above are entitled Race Day On Long Island Sound. These photos immediately sparked a memory of a poem I first heard in high school English class. I did not remember much about the poem except that it was about a sailboat race, and there were similar pictures on the textbook page opposite the poem. There were also pictures of fruit opposite a poem about someone eating plums. Why I remember that, I have no idea.
Thanks to the wonders of Google, I was able to track it down.
It is funny how memory works.

LIFE Magazine Photo Archives
William Carlos Williams: The Yachts (complete poem)

photo credits:(top to bottom) Alfred Eisenstaedt 1947, Bob Gomel 1960, Alfred Eisenstaedt 1947

London And London Hotels Presented By Londoners

One of the most great lucks of a traveller is the possibility to find a resident that wants to be a giude for him/her. This is why London-hotels.co.uk, dedicted to hotel booking, is a site you have to visit if you want to have in depth information about the city and London hotels. This site is created by Londoners. And who knows better all the most interesting places and the best ways to follow to use the time of the trip with optimal results?

The site surprized me because I found there detailed maps of every part of the city and even alphabetical lists of sightseeings, streets and squares, hotels etc. How to reach the part of the city you are interested in, street guides, storical notes, stations and useful buildings are there in the area you visit. For a traveller it is really a treasure. The team presents B&Bs and cheap London hotels too.

You can find and book a London hotel from the site. There are hotels with direct to client rates and latest deals there. Use search tool to find the best solution for you and the map search to see and to read about the means of travel. It is really rare to find all these informations in one site.

Days of Discovery

For September 2009 Brittany Walks is organising a walking festival throughout Brittany, with many routes of historical and natural interest led by English-speaking guides. We hope that English-speakers of many nationalities will participate in this event and that it will forge good community connections for all. If any walking groups from abroad are interested in joining in, don't hesitate to contact us - the more the merrier :-)