September 2004

Ischia - Island of Thermal Spa's

Ischia is a small island off the Amalfi coast. We reached it by ferry from Naples and later moved on by ferry to the glitzy island of Capri. There isn't much to visually excite you about Ischia, it is just a lump of rock populated by folk and their boats. The interest lies in the geological activity that has left this place an oasis of thermal spas.

Accomodation anywhere around Amalfi is expensive so we decided to travel to the opposite end of the island to use the Youth Hostel near Forio. This was a fairly grim affair but passable and cheap.

A short walk from the hostel, along the beach, lies the Poseidon Spa. What a fantastic place this is. It is a sprawling affair with tonnes of pools all at different temperatures, some at sea level and others cut into the side of the rock face.

There are dingy saunas within caves and the original japanes foot baths left over from the war. These are great for the feet if you can stand the pain. You walk around hot and cold tubs covered with loose pebbles.

This is definately a spa to recommend, there are restaurants, cafes and treatment rooms as well so it very easy to while away a whole day. With cheap flights into Naples I would definately like to go back here for a relaxing weekend break.

September 2004

Day 1: Unpacking the Polar S725

A good day was heralded by the arrival of a new toy - the Polar S725 heart rate monitor cum cycle wonder computer. One of my more unnecessary purchases to date but surely it ranks amongst the most exciting.
I've read a few reviews that suggest the polar S725 and S720 are rather traumatic to install especially if you go for the optional/vital IR interface connection. I wasn't in the least worried - bravado in the face of technical gadgetry is one of my strong points.
Bravado is all it is though - I was practically crying by the end of the night as no amount of button pressing or cursing was going to make the monitor communicate with my computer.

September 2004

Mad plans and schemes

Ok, it's true I have come home with yet another major project, but it has to be said that this one is pretty exciting. Shakti has climbed on board and it is agreed that we will clip ourselves into our pedals and set off for a grand cycling tour around Europe, just as soon as I finish my PhD.

I need to get myself a little countdown timer to work on the website, but as I write this in Sept 2004, I imagine we will have about 2.5 years to get planning.

It could easily take this long, we have a lot to do. We need to improve our fitness and lose weight if we aren't to flake out over the Pyrennees and then we need to get ourselves kitted out with nice new touring bikes. Routes need to be considered, although I like the idea of playing it by ear as far as possible and what about travel visas? I realise this shouldn't be a problem for Europe but who knows, if we can find a way to fund this adventure, why would we stop with Europe? I haven't got Shakti to agree to this extension yet - so lets hope she doesn't read the site. In the meantime if you fancy keeping us out of the country for a bit longer why not help us on the funding front anf take a look at our very own web store.

Anyway, whether its a year or decade on the road, there isn't much point me paying for storage of all my books and general trammel so I need to start decluttering again - blimey, blimey its getting stressful already.