vacation day six

Sunday, August 7

I could have spent the day in London. Probably I should have spent the day in London. But I was moping because the friend I wanted to see in London had covid, so I decided to skip out on the city and join the Saturday Walkers Club for a 10-mile walk along the coast from Ramsgate to Margate. The group was going to attend the Broadstairs Folk Week festival, a fact I didn't quite register until we'd walked for an hour and they settled in Broadstairs to stay for a while, and I had to decide between hanging out listening to folk music (which I like) in crowded pubs (which I do not like) and walking along the coast by myself. I listened for a little bit to a rousing group singing sea shanties and this song and then opted for the walking, given that this was my last day alone, and that was probably the right decision but still it was quite a trek in somewhat-inappropriate footwear and by the end I was quite grumpy at myself for not being brave enough to ditch my stuff and go swimming. But I saw Elvis! Back in London I braved a laundromat and lovingly decorated my room with damp clothes. 

looking down on the Broadstairs beach

This picture is a bit out of order but it's a good one of the coast: chalk cliffs with a beach below. "Kind of like Venice Beach" said one of my walking companions. In that it's a beach, I guess? But, no.

on the cliff looking down, leaving Broadstairs

adorable beach huts

more adorable beach huts - when they're open there's a little more roof for shelter and inside there's storage, a place to sit, and a kettle for tea; what more could you want?

In places there are concrete barriers to prevent erosion of the chalk cliffs. With varying success.

chalk cliff graffiti

Elvis (you'll have to trust me) in the 2022 Margate Carnival Parade.

Since I've been ending these posts with food...by the time I reached Margate and fought my way through the parade crowds I felt like I'd earned an ice cream.