Reading Note 29: A Walking Day. I’ve been reading Vivian Gornick’s The Odd Woman in the City – her life and observations living in New York City. I decided to live the text (without actually flying to NYC) by going in to my favourite Sydney places and spending a good part of the day walking everywhere. I was with my husband and oldest son (our younger son was at his football game).
We met at the Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park, walked down to and through Pitt St Mall over to Angel Place. We caught the light rail a couple of stops down to the harbour where we got a bite to eat at The Rocks Market and ended up having a quick drink and listening to Irish music at The Mercantile. It was a sparkling day 💖
Shallowreader 
Lovely to see you, dear V. A perfect day to be out and about on foot.
It was gorgeous. We try to do a long city walk at least once a week(end) with several short ones during the week.
What a wonderful family thing to do together.
The shorter walks I do alone or just with hubs. The weekend walks either both or at least one of our sons join us. Mostly the older one. He doesn’t live with us and it makes for a great way to catch up.
This begs the question: How many miles/km is a short walk versus a long one. Don’t you find having to constantly dodge pedestrians and wait for traffic light a nuisance on city walks as opposed to nature or along the harbor/bay/ocean?
I measure a short walk not in distance but in time. On Sunday we walked continuously for four hours. On a weekday, my walks will be anywhere between half an hour to two hours.
As for your question about constantly dodging pedestrians and waiting for traffic lights as being a nuisance – I started to write a response but it became so long that instead I am going to use your question as my prompt for today’s Notes. Stay posted!
I am in awe: a short walk is TWO HOURS and a long walk is FOUR HOURS! My walk is half an hour, and I consider that a good walk. Then again, I usually only walk in my neighborhood, and it gets boring. That is the thing about city walks: They don’t get boring.
A short walk is anywhere from 1/2 and hour to 2 hours max. And you are right – in the city you don’t even realise you have been walking around for long hours. My attention never wanes. Having lived in my home for now 22 years, I am completely and utterly bored walking around my suburb (except on market day!). I now try to walk further afield. I either catch a bus and walk home or drive somewhere to walk around.