Rhine River Cruising

Posted on June 1, 2026 by lindaharley

Having done a few ocean cruises, we were keen to try a river cruise for a change. We went with Riviera, and sailed from Cologne to Basel, with stops at Koblenz, Ruddesheim, and Strasbourg.

I put a lot of planning into what to wear. May temperatures in that part of Europe can be pleasant, but always allow for rain. Plus we would be going up into the mountains of Switzerland, where snow is still on the ground.

I chose a colour scheme of green, cream and navy, ensuring that the items could be mixed and matched.

Outerwear – rainproof green coat with hood, and a lighter navy shower jacket.

Trousers – navy linen, stone linen, both with matching shirts. Also a warmer pair of jade jeans.

Tops – T shirts in green, navy, cream/multi

Shirts in navy linen, stone linen, and navy with spots.

Dresses – plain green, and a multi green with a matching jacket.

Layers – plain apple green (Hobbs), striped green and cream collared (Seasalt), dark green popper front cardi (Anthropologie)

Accessories – warm scarf in cream/ multi, light scarf in jade and turquoise (fat face), square in pistachio/ cream (seasalt). Not pictured – buff with a map print on it. Sparkly wrap bracelets in turquoise and bronze (swarovski), chunky multi coloured beads (anthropologie).

Shoes – white/ bronze trainers (Hotter), navy sandals, and sparkly deck shoes. These were much admired on board, great for padding from cocktail bar to dance floor, and doing the macarena.

Also packed swimsuit, sunhat, binoculars for watching all the birdlife, and a puzzle book.

Cream trousers, multi T shirt, warm scarf, light jacket in the cable car up to the viewpoint above Koblenz.

Navy linen ensemble with waterproof green coat, on the covered bridge on Lake Lucerne.

Formal dinner night – plain green dress with the patterned jacket and chunky beads.

Enjoying a glass of local vino in Strasbourg. Green striped jumper, cream trousers, green neckscarf.

Cabin. My hand luggage was a jade Roka sized to fit into most airlines cradles.

The full moon.

Cruise ship named Rhine Majesty sailing on the Rhine river near historic castles and villages at sunset
A luxurious cruise ship sails along the Rhine river at sunset, passing historic castles and quaint villages.

We both thoroughly enjoyed our time on board, The staff/ guest ratio is very good, and all the staff were so friendly and helpful. I’m a bridge afficianado, so I adored all the fabulous bridges we sailed under. We also had to go through a number of huge locks, engineering marvels. Sipping a GnT on deck as we glided past German fairytale castles, being brought the cocktail of the day and canapes at 5 pm, joining in the quiz night and Tai Chi class, enjoying splendid food and wines, it was just wonderful.

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parkrun tourism: Riverside Ballymoney

Posted on May 28, 2026 by lindaharley

parkrun #413 event #115 and not even regionnaire regained!

Access:

The park takes place at Riverside Park, with good links to bus and trains, and plenty of parking at various locations. We parked at the railway car park. Bear in mind it’s a good 10 minute walk from the railway station, over the fancy footbridge Trains arrive (from both directions) at around 9.30, so they are sadly not a great option.

Course:

It looks a bit confusing on the map, with a lot of back and forthing, but good markers and chalk markings make it easy to follow. Path is packed gravel (bit loose at parts), and no real hills.

Crowd:

It’s a fairly recent addition to the NI stable, but there were relatively small numbers (120) on my visit, their event number 4. I did raise my eyebrows at 2 dogs on a waistband (yeah, they were tailwalking, but rules are rules!), but a good course for wheelchairs, buggies and dogs.

Gear:

I was walking, and then heading back home on the train, so my windproof trousers. gym top and zip up regatta. Saucony trainers.

Afterwards:

I was a bit deflated to find that the marshalls were packing up their arrows etc before the last walkers had gone past, and also that at the finish line there was hardly anyone around. Not sure if there was a post parkrun meeting point, Mum and I had a coffee in Bob and Berts.

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parkrun tourism: Lough Head

Posted on March 24, 2026 by lindaharley

parkrun#410 event#114

Sometimes things just fall your way – a Saturday where I wasn’t working, had access to the car, and the sun was shining. Time to reclaim my regionnaire status and head to Lisnaskea in beautiful Fermanagh.

Access:

The course is run at Lough Head nature walk just on the outskirts of the village.

Facilities:

Plenty of car parking, I didn’t see any loos onsite.

Crowd:

I was at event number 23 and came in just ahead of the tailwalker taking position token 47. They had over 100 on New Years Day, but the average attendance is around 50. Dog and buggy friendly.

Course:

The usual course is a 2 lap figure of 8, but due to ongoing construction work the course I ran was 4 laps of the nature walk. Gravel all the way, flat apart from the odd culvert. Lots of pleasant views and birdsong.

Time:

I was trotting along with Toby, stopping to take photos, and playing parkrun trumps with the voluntoruing tailwalker. Happy enough with my time of 52 minutes.

Gear:

I was trialling my amusing “Saturday Running Club” sweatshirt that I’d recently got on Vinted. Fine for walking, bit too warm when running. Cow bobble, Saucony trainers.

Afterwards:

There are a number of cafes in town, but none of them dog friendly. Instead we stopped at Unhitched in Augher, for some excellent coffee and their famous cheese toasties. Note – one of these is enough to split between 2, and then you would have room for one of their tasty looking traybakes. Fancy stuff like overnight oats also available.

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parkrun tourism: Largs prom

Posted on February 18, 2026 by lindaharley

parkrun #408 event#113

Reason for visit – trying a weekend away with Toby!

Access:

We took the ferry to Cairnryan and drove up the lovely Ayrshire coast. Largs is well served with buses and trains, so public transport is an option as well.

Facilities:

Parking is available at the Vikingar museum complex – there’s even a couple of electric charge points, which we made use of. There are public toilets near the Fishworks, 40p, tap your card.

Course:

It’s up and down the prom 3 and a bit times, dead flat, with a “keep left” advisory and watch out for other prom users, especially dog walkers. Turnaround point is by the Fishworks restaurant, and a visit to this award winning establishment is highly recommended! When we visited the weather had turned from being grey and dreich, to being sunny but icily cold. This meant a rather spectacular background, with the snowy peaks of Arran behind the closer island of Cumbrae, the ferry going back and forth.

Crowd:

It’s a fairly small event – I was finisher 60, and I’d been doing most of the course with the tailwalker. But there were some visitors form Manchester and other parts of Scotland. I was delighted to discover when the infographics summary was produced that I was the runniest runner! Friendly and welcoming volunteers.

Time:

We’d set off at a pleasant jog, keeping up with some of the other canine participants. But. One of the things I’d been worried about Toby was that he is such a creature of habit, always goes potty in the same spot in the garden, never when out on a walk, that I hoped he’d be able to find somewhere suitable in this foreign land. So when the moment happened during our run, I was happy enough to stop and clean up. And then 10 minutes later, another one! And then a full 5 minute pee. By this point the tail walker (and gorgeous dog Charlie) had caught up with us, so we spent the rest of the run chatting together. So my time of 50 minutes was OK I reckon!

And the rest:

We absolutely loved Largs, with its many dog-friendly establishments. The Haylee Hotel couldn’t do enough for us, and the Anchor Inn, with its roaring fire and Toby curled up under the table was the picture perfect weekend away setting. Toby took most of his new experiences in his stride – the Pet Lounge on the ferry, sleeping in his travel crate, getting in a lift, but the ferry stairs with their open treads were just a bit too scary (hence the lift). They were OK going down, mind.

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parkrun tourism: Greenwich peninsula

Posted on January 27, 2026 by lindaharley

My Event #406, location #112

The newest baby in London, this one has fantastic views of the river, and circumnavigates the iconic O2 arena, formerly the Millennium Dome.

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/greenwichpeninsula/

Access:

Public transport is pretty good across London, even early on a Saturday morning, and even with disruption on the Tube! You can get to North Greenwich on the Jubilee line, but since it wasn’t running that weekend I caught the 188 bus from Aldwych. It takes an hour so give yourself time. I find the City Mapper app invaluable in situations like these.

Crowd:

I was expecting huge numbers as many runners like to complete their Londone status, and the first few weeks had seen 600-900 finishers. But it was a bitterly cold morning and I was one of only 360 hardy souls. There were a few who joined me on the bus, and when we alighted at North Greenwich we were able to spot many others in cow cowells, alphabet sweatshirts, and milestone Tees. We dutifully and patiently queued to have the compulsory photo by the pop up sign. And gave an enthusiastic round of applause to those doing their first ever parkrun.

Shortly after my visit, neighbouring Victoria Dock announced that it was suspended indefinitely, so a lot of their regulars will no doubt cross the Thames to this one instead.

Gear:

I was woefully underdressed, missing my gloves most of all! And very glad of my cow bobble hat. Road shoes recommended.

Course:

There’s an out and back, then a longer out and back, so a pretty strict “keep left” instruction is reiterated frequently. It’s dead flat, all on concrete, but the sharp 180 degree turns at each of the turnaround points need a bit of slowing of pace.

There are lots of large outdoor works of art along the route, which is one of only a few that crosses the Greenwich Meridian, meaning you are running in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. The views of the London skyline are fantastic, and you have the cable car and planes overhead.

Such big crowds and a narrow course mean a very long finish funnel, created with a lot of yellow string.

Time:

I was jeffing, and stopping for photos, so I was pleased enough with a time of 46 minutes in position 344. And lookit, I completed the Staying Alive challenge, that I hadn’t even been aiming for!

And the rest:

I was in town for Paddington the Musical, which is astoundingly good – see it if you can, but it’s heavily sold out, and eye wateringly expensive. But I also got to see my daughter’s new place, which is handily a stone’s throw from here, so I may well revisit in the near future.

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parkrun tourism: Belvoir Forest

Posted on October 17, 2025 by lindaharley

parkrun #401 event #111

My current NENDY, and a lovely one to tick off!

Sadly Knockbracken Reservoir parkrun ceased to be earlier this year, but the team were quick to identify a suitable nearby location in order to keep momentum going for local runners.

Access:

It’s in the Belfast metropolitan area, so there are buses (Metro 6c and d) that operate nearby. Car parking is recommended at the Boys Brigade hall, rather than the closer playground park or Belvoir Activity Centre, in order to keep the spaces there for those users.

It’s a bit of a walk to the start line, so make sure you leave plenty of time! But I got a 6d at 10.40 afterwards which was perfectly timed.

Facilities:

Loos in the activity centre. The team currently seem to be providing tea and coffee afterwards in the playpark car park, but that may be temporary. Start and finish are in the same area, so find a tree for your jacket!

Course:

It’s one small lap and 2 large ones (which also incorporate the first small one). It’s one of those courses which seems to be all uphill, even though I know that’s a geographical impossibility! Keep the River Lagan to your left, do not cross over the river! The paths are typical forest terrain, packed gravel, watch out for puddles and squidgy grass.

It’s quite a narrow start – runners are encouraged to self seed and place themselves in the appropriate area. There’s an important crossroads point, well manged by cowbell wielding volunteers. And you run past the ancient Belvoir Oak, as well as many other fabulous trees and forest life.

Crowd:

I was there at event 4, along with 170 others. So I would expect it’ll even out around the low 100s. It’s rather volunteer heavy, that might be an issue in winter months. Great one for dogs, a bit tricky for prams or wheelchairs.

Gear:

I was tailwalking in my windproof trews, world tourist jacket and jog Lisburn hat. I also had a backpack on as I was heading downtown afterwards. Blue Hokkas. Could have done with walking poles!

Strangely Appropriate Song:

I don’t use headphones when I’m tail walking in case I need to be on the alert for urgent safety messages. But that cowbell at the crossroads was a great indicator of where I was. So here’s my favourite song featuring a cowbell.

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=couldnt+get+it+right+video&&mid=F5A311B8204B10F9B14BF5A311B8204B10F9B14B&mcid=DD89E45304E54884AC237E5588560F1F&FORM=VAMGZC

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parkrun tourism: Newry Greenway

Posted on August 23, 2025 by lindaharley

parkrun #398 event #110

Regionnaire Regained!

Now the past couple of years, a part time job in tourism, coupled with being a one-car family, has seriously hampered my regular parkrun attendance. So it’s with great elation when I discover that I have a day off work AND access to the car, and oh lookee, there’s one left of the newest crop of Norn Irn runs that I need. AAAAND, it’s a letter N which I need for my Namely challenge. So off to Newry I went!

Access:

Newry is well connected by the A1 dual carriageway, and the directions on the parkrun website plus the postcode (BT34 2EQ) will guide you through the city’s one way cobbled streets to get close to the start. There’s plenty of on street parking (2 hours for £1.60) as well as a number of handy carparks. The Buttercrane Shopping Centre is also nearby.

Public transport is less easy – the train station is 2km outside town, and the first Goldliner bus from Belfast arrives at 9.30. Mind you, the bus station is very handy to the start line so if you do arrive this way then it’s a short hop, skip and a jump.

Crowd:

I was there on their 13th event, and there were just over 100 runners. Plenty of folk walking, pushing buggies, and running with furry friends. Chatted to a few folk I’d met before, but didn’t spot any other cow cowls.

Course:

Dead easy out and back along the side of the canal. Flat all the way, packed gravel surface. There’s a friendly marshal at the turnaround point who might even take your photo.

Gear:

The weather was fine, quite warm but no too hot, with a slight dampness in the air. I was in my grey skirty calf lengths, I think they are really a tennis garment, but I like them for comfort. Rarely worn 250 T shirt, because the numbers are peeling off. Sauconys. Zippy waist pocket which is too small for my phone, but I was carrying my phone taking photos so that didn’t matter.

Facilities:

Toilets at the market, or the shopping centre. Coffee afterwards at Courtneys, though I opted for Krem, where an americano and a granola bar cost me the very non-Belfast price of £4.50.

Strangely Appropriate Song on Shuffle:

I’ve got out of the habit of running with music, but I had dug out my Aftershox and charged them up for today. I was doing a “jeffing” approach of run for 20 seconds, walk for 20 seconds, but when running with music I up that to 32 bars, as anything else messes with my inbuilt musical qi. Lots of Eurovision songs came up, these are great for running to as they are 3 minutes long, usually upbeat and in neat 8 bar phrases. But I laughed out loud when Vangelis Chariots of Fire appeared.

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Podcast glory

Posted on August 23, 2025 by lindaharley

Now this might be a bit of an ouroboros, in that it’s a blog post about a podcast interview I gave about writing a blog.

Alan Ladd, a sports coach and nutritionist, broadcasts a weekly podcast, https://www.therunningrules.com/ covering all sorts of information connected with all sorts of running. I was flattered when he asked if he could interview me about this here parkrun blog, given that I’m coming up to my 400th run. I’m episode 133 if you’re interested.

Over a zoom call we chatted for more than an hour about milestones, how I started running, how I put the blog together, parkrun disasters, and advice for newbies. After the call I thought – I didn’t even get to talk about cow cowls, or dressing up, or cakes, or the many wonderful friends I have made along the way! But he was well jel of my Milestone Running Buddy, which does take pride of place on my kitchen windowsill.

It was a very enjoayable experience, I did manage to forget that I was being recorded, and just rabbit on. I could indeed talk parkrun until the cows come home.

Now I’d better go find my I’verunallthenornirnparkrunssoIhave T shirt and update its buttons, and think about what I’m going to wear for my arbitrary 400th….

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parkrun tourism: Victoria Dock

Posted on July 24, 2025 by lindaharley

parkrun#395 event #109

Reason for visit: seeing the fab-u-lous Jemima Brown in Midsummer Night’s Dream!

Access:

OK, I am notorious for being beset by travel problems, and this weekend had them writ large. Flight out on Friday afternoon (Belfast City to Luton) was delayed by an hour because of French air traffic control strike (meant the incoming plane had to take a longer route), but the airport link and train were all pretty good, and I got to London Bridge about 7, time to find my hotel (Premier Inn on Tower Bridge Road), check my route to the Bridge Theatre, chat to security guy Dominic to see where the stage door was and where I might get some flowers, get some pink roses, deposit them at stage door, and go for a kick ass Bloody Mary at The Ivy in time to see Jemima’s post that she had received the bouquet.

Saturday morning should have been a short stroll to Tower Gateway to catch the DLR, but when I got there the barriers were down, and staff told me I’d need to get a replacement bus. Hmmm, choices. Abandon parkrun and go back to hotel for a leisurely breakfast and shower? Walk to previously done parkrun tourism: Southwark? Or put my big girl pants on and find the replacement bus? I mean, how hard can it be?

Finding bus stop L was a bit of a puzzle, if you are ever looking for it it’s tucked inside the bus depot. But safely aboard I enjoyed the ride through “Call the Midwife”‘s Poplar, before alighting at Canning Town. Where I found lots of other parkrunners, and we all made the one more stop to Royal Victoria, from where you can practically see the start line.

Course:

This part of the river is heavily used by other sporty types, so the usual route as described on the web page was not feasible today. Instead we were running an out and back 3 times. Dead flat, but the surface is a bit cobbled. With all that out and backing you’ll have runners going in both directions, so a fairly strict keep left instruction is in force. London City airport is nearby, so there are frequent planes passing overhead.

Facilities:

No loos, though there are a few cafes etc dotted around for parkfaff – I had to dash off to get back and changed ready for the afternoon matinee. The start area is right beside the cable car, although it currently doesn’t start before 9 am. I ruled it out as a return journey option as I assumed it would be taking me out of my way – actually it would have joined me up with the Jubilee line so I really should have looked at a map….

Crowd:

I’d chatted to a South African runner with a 50 venues T shirt on – no, I had no matches. And then someone approached me cos of my cow cowl and said, you’re not local I take it, where are you from? When I said “Norn Irn” she said – you’re Linda aren’t you! It was none other than Cathy, who I’d met before at the NI Cowfest , also in town for a thing. I mean, it’s London, there’s always something on, so this is a big tourist friendly event. Lovely encouraging volunteers, well marshalled course. Lots of dogs!

Time:

Still hobbling and shuffling rather than running, so 50 minutes and some seconds was perfectly respectable.

Gear:

Cow cowl, With Me Now T, blue hokkas.

And the rest:

My baby sister, who resides in Oz, was also in town this weekend, so we managed to squeeze in a quick catch up over coffee, before she queued to get returns to the play wot she wrote her dissertation on.

Well Jemima is just stunning, if you get a chance to see Midsummer Night’s Dream before 20 August 2025, then go there!

My journey home on the Sunday (Stansted to International) saw me getting a bus to Liverpool Street, where there were many signs about the perils of taking the Stansted Express. But look, on the departures board there’s a Greater Anglia train, the livery of the train is GA, and the wifi on board is provided by GA. So I was rather taken aback when arriving at Stansted I was forced to pay a £50 fine as – no madam, that was in fact the Stansted Express. The fact that there was a fully staffed desk and a queue of 20 people in the same position as me reassures me this was not just me being dumb. And they were indicating on the fine ticket how you could lodge a claim. (I have lodged a claim, it has been rejected).

Boarded the plane, in the rain, stairs rolled away, and the pilot comes on to tell us that yes, it’s raining so heavily that air traffic have restricted the number of take offs to 11 per hour, and we are number 29 in the queue. So another 90 minutes was spent on board before take off ….

Seriously, never travel with me!

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parkrun tourism: Loughmacrory

Posted on June 23, 2025 by lindaharley

parkrun #393 location #106

No fewer than 4 new parkruns have started up in Norn Irn in recent weeks, so getting round them all when I work part-time and don’t often have access to a car on Saturday mornings is proving challenging. But lo and behold – a work free Sat, an available vehicle, and the sun was shining! Time to head west for the rather remote but beautiful Loughmacrory.

Access:

The sat nav took me down some very hairy twisty country lanes, often meeting a tractor head on. It might be less scary to stick to more main roads and go via Omagh, though that would make the journey longer. 54 miles from me, so an hour and a bit’s drive. The postcode given on the parkrun page will take you there, and it’s wasy to spot the GAA club.

Facilities:

Plenty of parking, though it does get more congested as the morning wears on. Loos available. Post parkrun coffee in The View, where to my delight they had a delicious selection of overnight oats – for a non meat eater I always sigh at the usual parkrun special offer on bacon butties. My ONO and iced latte was definitely not-Belfast prices, costing just £5-20.

Course:

2 laps of the GAA pitch, then 2 laps of the Lough. It is absolutely beautiful – tree lined around the waters edge which was a blessing in the hot sun, and fairly flat.

Crowd:

Even though it’s still a baby (I was there at event 7), they are not overrun with tourists. I walked round with the tail walker and came in at position 41. There were a few of my Jog Lisburn stable mates there, and couple of rarely spotted 500 T shirts. And 3 dogs. I do worry that they might struggle for volunteers during the winter months.

Gear:

It was a warm day. I opted for capri pants and my With Me Now T shirt, Saucony trainers.. Cow cowl of course, and sweat wristband. Sunglasses, though it was thankfully a bit overcast during the run time.

Time:

That was a fairly brisk walk, at 52:38, and we were not the only ones walking. Results were processed by the team in the cafe, and were very quickly sent out.

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