After living in the UK for a year now, I have come to enjoy the pleasures of a long walk, either in the nearby park after dropping off my son at school, or on the way back home. Or actively planning hiking day outs on sunny weather.
I have documented a couple of my favorite walks here and here. That said, there have been numerous smaller walks that we have done – none of them worth a blog post on their own. They are generic walks taken on generic paths, in front of generic ruins, and along generic canals. I don’t even know the names of some of these places.
But the UK on a bright, sunny day is so pretty, I can’t not share a bunch of pictures here.
Winter walk along the canal
For the life of me, I can’t find the name of this canal or even spot it on a map. It’s just that we were all restless after a month of non-stop rain and cold, and one sunny late December day, I just loaded up my alltrails app, randomly picked up a trail, and we went.
All I remember now is that it was a short 30 min drive away, and the light was marvelous. We ended up taking multiple photos and videos during what was a brief one-hour walk.
Our neighborhood parks
Closer to our house (walking distance, really) are two magnificent parks. My Insta is full of photos of my daily post-school rambles, but this one has to be my absolute favorite vista. It’s unbelievable, and I keep having to pinch myself that this is my daily school-run commute (a 20-minute walk so pretty, I stretch it to a one-hour + ramble every weekday). It’s miles away from the one-hour drive in traffic that I used to face in Bangalore.
Just as close but in a slightly different direction are these ruins, where we went one day with a picnic basket.
Beauty is everywhere
It’s not just the walks. I randomly look up from my work desk (while working from home), and I spot this rainbow out the window. Or, I walk to the library and spot this fruit tree laden with slowly ripening fruits on my way.
Life in the UK is sometimes dull, quiet, and boring. There are times I miss the liveliness of India, but I have started appreciating and warming up to the beauty and peace of our home and our neighborhood, the joys of the four seasons, and the simpler, quieter lifestyle here.
