A Good Walk, Not Spoiled

I fell in love with foreign travel when I landed in London in 1983 as a college student, got to the hotel, and went straight to sleep.  (Editor’s Note: Cool story bro!  Blogger: Ignore button).

After sleeping the gray January day away, I took the Tube down to the Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey area, and walked around the oldest building I had ever been in up to that point (the Abbey).

However, my love for foreign travel was cemented when I went to York for a weekend and, among other things, walked the city walls.  There are few things better than walking city walls, be it York, Quebec City, Rhodes, Lugo, and other places. 

Xi’an has classic city walls, and we spent Sunday morning walking those walls.  It was after the thrilling UVA win over Auburn in the Final Four (yes, Guy was fouled, no you don’t swallow the whistle, and the hold before the double dribble was also missed, so quit yer whinin’!  Gritty, gutty comeback by UVA to pull off a second straight miracle finish!

I was able to watch it on my iPad thanks to Don’s Slingplayer account – so much fun to see the game rather than just follow on Twitter or ESPN play-by-play! 

Anyhow, back to the walls.  Built in the 14^th Century, the wall is on the wait list as a UNESCO World Heritage site – I wonder which college coach needs to be paid off to get it in! (For my foreign friends reading this, that’s a not-so-subtle reference to the recent college admissions scandal in the US).  Fourteen kilometers long, we had neither time nor inclination in the heat to walk the whole amount (that’s nearly nine miles).  We did go from the East Gate to the South Gate and back, so distance-wise we ended walking about 4.3 miles.

I still get a charge out of walking on something that was built so long ago, and used to defend the city.  A simple square, it has a moat, drawbridges, defensive towers, crenellation, and other defensive features, including very cool watchtowers at each of the four corners of the wall.

(Question to ponder: If throwing someone out a window is defenestration, is throwing someone out a crenellation de-crenellation?  Now you have something to think about all day.  You are welcome.)

There are people on bikes (we could have biked, but walls are for walking), some being driven in what are essentially fancy longer shuttle golf carts, but mostly walkers.  The views are not spectacular, although they afford a good look at fancy new apartment buildings and much less fancy older apartment buildings.

All in all, a walk on city walls is a darn fine way to spend a morning.