Those who frequent Prada Pixie's blog might be forgiven for thinking that I've stolen some of her photographs of rather impressive scenery. I took these yesterday, having met up with Pixie for a walk.
I must admit to being scared and nervous before meeting her: I haven't met anyone Off The Internet before, since other such opportunities have unfortunately proven too difficult so far, for a number of reasons. So as I arrived at the station and stepped out onto the platform I was having to make sure I was breathing slowly and steadily to keep myself calm. What would I say? Would we have anything to talk about, or would we walk in an uncomfortable silence?
No such worries, I found her to be a very warm and friendly person and we conversed about life, the universe and everything over a four-hour walk. I even managed not to say anything bizarre (well, not at first anyway). It feels a very weird thing to me, meeting someone Off The Internet, but that really wasn't an issue on the day: we had a very pleasant and enjoyable time.
I shan't try and describe the walk that we did - hopefully the photos speak for themselves, plus there are authoritative descriptions on Pixie's own blog. But the scenery was great, the weather was kind to us, and I had the benefit of someone being able to give me all sorts of insights and stories about the place as though I was on a guided tour. I even managed not to fall and break my ankle, despite my best efforts on more than one occasion.
We rounded off the afternoon with a drink at a lovely pub, and if you like real ales I'd recommend a pint of Rich Ruby (notice how I remember the name of the beer but not the place names where we walked) . All in all, a very fine day was had, so thank you Pixie!
In fact the only downer was later on, courtesy of an otherwise adorable cat: I've been feeding him while his owners (or rather, staff) are away this weekend, and he chose to throw up on the carpet.
Bless him.
