Bear Mountain

The weeks are rushing by with distressing speed and I have three simultaneous deadlines all converging on me: a paper for the Leeds International Medieval Congress, an article for the Journal of Medieval History and the third chapter of the book. Luckily they're all about Anglo-Saxon things at least.

Yesterday I went with Frau K and her sister to Frankfurt, where I visited the archaeological museum. It was actually the first time I'd ever seen some of these archaeological materials in real life, even though I've spent almost five years studying them. This shows that I'm not a real archaeologist.

Frankfurt itself was highly impressive: a small city of Big Money. I've never seen so many Mercedes in one place.

Big Money

I've found an effective way of avoiding work by going for a run in the mornings, and fixed my ambitions on a hill that rises directly above the house, Bärenberg, which means 'Bear Mountain' (although I've only seen deer up there so far). Aside from the reassuring lack of bears, the hill is attractive because it's almost identical to Mt Currahee, the hill that the WW2 101st Paratrooper Division had to run up and down during their training in Band of Brothers. Now when I watch the TV series I feel closer to their pain.

The first time I tried to run up it just about killed me by the half-way point. There are no hills in York and my legs didn't know what was happening. Only on my fifth attempt last week, when I ran it with Edmund, did I make it all the way to the top without stopping, which was a glorious day indeed. Now it's getting slightly easier each time, and I've already shaved 11 minutes off my starting PB. Hurrah!

The view from the top makes it worthwhile, but best part is running all the way down in the searing heat and then going for a cooling swim in Herr K's pond. Then walking back through the garden orchard with the sun on your shoulders and a cooling breeze on your face. By god that feels good. Sure beats reading about Anglo-Saxon missionaries, much as I love those guys.