I am now in Graz, the capital of Styria- almost at the half way point in my voyage.
I have walked well over a thousand miles so far, and it has taken
me just over two months to get to this stage. I am averaging around 16 miles a day.
It has been tough going over the Alps. I didn't rest properly after the epic crossing at
nearly 2000km at Glattjoch and I had a couple of feverish nights, tormented by nightmares of travelling up and down and
around hills and valleys.
There are some lovely people in Austria, without whom I would have got lost many times in the mountains. What seems a short distance
on the map is a long way when you have to climb up a steep slope!
I enormously enjoyed the fantastic walking and stunning views that I've had over the last few days. It's been unseasonally cold in
Austria lately, which meant that when I was crossing my second range of Alps, reaching a height of 1700m, the rain was actually turning to sleet. As you will see in the pictures, some mountains are snow capped.
Physically, I'm OK, if generally tired and weary. My feet are hardened and my legs are strong, but my stomach is having some trouble with the vinegar soaked food in Austria.
In a few days time I'll be passing into Slovenia and then Hungary, with different cuisine and culture. With these new languages, my
fanastic German won't be such a great help there but hopefully I'll be able to communicate enough to carry on.
Hope you are all well, and don't forget to visit the website to see the photos.
http://london2istanbul.blogspot.com/
You can still sponsor me, if you haven't done so already- I still have over 1000 miles to go, with a range
of different (linguistic and canine) challenges.
You can chose which charity you would like to support.
To make a donation to the The British Heart Foundation please visit:
http://www.bhf.org.uk/sponsor
To make a donation to Europa Nostra please visit:
http://www.justgiving.com
All the best,
Paul
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