Easter at the Black Moors

On Easter Sunday, May and I awoke rested and remarkably recharged! We attributed our quick recovery from the previous day's 19.2 mile trek across the Moors to the wine, pizza, mozzarella sticks, and caramel digestives we'd feasted on (and a good night's sleep). Our train back to London was due to depart at 4:25, so to make the most of our beautiful surroundings, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed out the door!

This time, we headed down the hill from Brone Square (where our flat was situated) and crossed the train tracks

Quick side note about a special addition to these posts: At the end of the previous day's adventures, I'd been inspired to take a video. We loved looking back on it that evening and decided to start taking more of them. They really are quite fun and paint a different picture of our experience, so I'm going to include a couple throughout this post. (I spent a good 35 minutes this morning teaching myself to upload videos, which probably shouldn't have been as tricky as I found it. No matter! Here we go)! 

Follow-up: To this day, we have no idea how to pronounce Haworth. 

May's uncle apparently loves trains (well, I mean, who doesn't?!), so we got very excited as we heard one approaching. However, the first train to chug by was a grave disappointment...

...Where is the steam on this steam engine?!?!!

We crossed several bridges and entered a little forest, walking along a lovely stream. 

"Over the river and through the woods!"

We were trying to follow the Millennium Circular Footpath (or something like that), but it was not clearly marked. After winding around the stream a bit, we lot sight of the trail markers and ended up blazing our own way. (In the interest of full disclosure, we were deep in conversation and could have missed the signs, BUT given the markers we did manage to spot later on, I think we are allowed to blame it on poor signage).
Eventually, we started a steep incline towards a darker patch of land: THE BLACK MOORS!

Not exactly black, but close enough

The view as we kept climbing

We got very excited at this point. Do you spot something approaching in the distance? Look very closely sort of in the middle of the picture...

A TRAIN!...WITH STEAM!

Choo-choo! 

May's commentary for her Uncle is absolutely adorable, so I'm including it here.

"It's really chugging along now, isn't it. All the sheep just hanging out in front, as we stand atop... The Black Moor!" (Really, May, you have a quality announcer-voice here)
After our train spotting, we continued on up the path. At a certain point, we found ourselves walking through someone's farm... like through their actual backyard and in their pastures with their many animals. SUPER cool!

A view of the farm from afar 

Birds on a hillside

We continued on with various farm animals including through a field of very active sheep. They were causing a raucous! We got a kick out of it. (The second video is especially fun: sheep1, roosters, sheep2)

Sheep with a view

One of May's panorama shots! 

We decided this would be an excellent place for our Easter picnic lunch!

Not a bad view

Feeling artsy with black-and-white filter

The hike got more exciting after our lunch break. We could NOT find any sort of Public Footpath marker, and it was reaching a point in the afternoon that we needed to be headed down the countryside instead of around or up. We walked along a road. We looked and looked and looked and then...

"PUBLIC FOOTPATH!!!!!" (I will have you know that it was in the MOST bizarre location and the sign was tiny. It is a miracle may found it).
We got to walk alongside horses. We got to climb ladders!

I was making fun of May because I was finally taller than her

Up and over!

Triumphant!

Most of the time, when we entered an area with animals, they observed us from afar. I'm sure they are very used to having strangers invading their space. However, there was one time when we entered an area and this horse got up and came charging towards us. I am sort of a bit afraid of horses (as is May), but used the skills I've acquired through watching The Dog Whisperer on NatGeo.

Channelling my calm, assertive energy...it worked!

We calmly left our new horse friend and walked back towards the start of our hike. 

More steam engines!

Back in town, we made an obligatory visit to the Bronte Parsonage (the main reason people come to Haworth). It was very touristy, and there were lots of plaques. People were taking lots of pictures. I still don't know what it is or why it is important. 

This is the only picture I took at the Parsonage

Back at the house, we finished getting everything together. We fed Gabi and bid her farewell, and took off for the station in a taxi cab. We had a small amount of time to kill and enjoyed watching the steam engines depart. 

May took a video of one train as it left. Lots of noise and steam.

On the train, we reflected about our getaway, which was amazing for so many reasons. First of all, it was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and to explore more of what the UK has to offer. I always tell foreigners coming to the US not to stick to NYC for a "true American experience." My British friends feel the same way about staying only in London.

I was also amazing to spend more time with May. Our conversations spanned every topic under the sun (personal updates, career aspirations, religion, allergies, pop culture, past jobs and adventures, the universe and more)! We laughed (a LOT) and spent time in deep thought, posing and talking through existential questions. I returned to the city totally rejuvenated and ready to plan our next adventure! (We've already got another one on the books!). Massive thanks go to our dear pal, Judy, our greeter Suzi, and OF COURSE, Gabi (who really is the best cat).

I'll end with some photos and videos from the day before

May's panorama of the enchanted forest