Saturday 20 September 2014

London Chelsea Running Route

Click here for route map
Length 4.4 km (2.7 miles), terrain: flat

London Running Routes:
Best London Running Routes: Overview 
Thames Embankment
Docklands-LimehouseRegent's Canal and Camden Town  
Hampstead Heath  
3-Parks Route: Hyde Park, Green Park, St. James' Park  
Regent's Park  
Hyde Park   

Chelsea
Heathrow Harmondsworth Moor  
Greenwich 

Richmond Park
Notting Hill
Victoria Park
Wimbledon Common Trail Run
Royal Docks/ExCeL Route 
Kew / Brentford Thames Run  
For more running routes, see Route List.
Chelsea is my ideal for urban elegance: a beautiful combination of quiet streets lined with nice -- if not always huge -- homes, a few standout parks, a nice stretch of riverfront with Victorian-era bridges, a bustling shopping area full of happy, beautiful, wealthy shoppers. Actually, a few other areas of London fit the description, too, but I somehow always come back to Chelsea when I want to be reminded of where I would live, if I only could...

Typical Chelsea
So, if you'd like to discover this bit of urban English paradise, then come with me on this run through another fascinating London neighborhood.

We'll start the run at Sloane Square, easily reachable with the Circle- and District- tube lines. Sloane Square was known in the 1980s for the Sloane Rangers, a kind of London version of the Valley Girls: yuppie women known for dedicating their lives to the two lofty goals of shopping and partying (while drinking plenty of Pimm's, and hanging out in very traditional settings).
Pub along Kings Road
Step out of the tube the station, and face westwards, along the south side of the square. Take off running and you'll be on Kings Road, one of London's most famous shopping streets. I normally try to avoid running on streets with lots of shoppers, but this one is definitely worth the people-watching, and is an important part of the neighborhood. But try to avoid it during peak hours.
The Kings Road Pizza Express franchise: everything looks better on Kings Road
You'll soon pass the Duke of York Square on the left, until recently the Georgian-styled site of a military school. Now the buildings have been redeveloped into elegant housing, the Saatchi art gallery and a shopping mall (what else would fit around here?).

On both sides of the street, you'll see nice side-streets with their little private parks creating green squares down the middle of the street.
Colorful houses in Bywater Street, one of the little side-streets along the way
Kings Road is very posh today: full of rich foreigners out looking for expensive stuff. But, ironically, it became famous in the 1970s as the birthplace of punk fashion. You won't find any punks around here any more. Probably, the last punk to walk through here was snatched off the street and stuffed, to then be put into a Madame Tussaud's exhibit, forever frozen with his middle finger extended defiantly against the flood of yuppie invaders.

When you reach Jubilee Place, turn right to make a zig-zag through one of my favorite parts of the neighborhood. The houses around here are what I really like about Chelsea: low -- just two floors -- with a bit of garden out front and enough friendly details in the facades to make them homey and appealing.
House door on Jubilee Place: so inviting I almost wanted to knock
At the end of the block, turn left at the tiny triangular square and its friendly pub.

Run a few more blocks to then turn left again on Astell Street, one of several around here with very colorful houses. Now follow it southwards, back to Kings Road.

At Kings Road again, cross the street and turn right to run to Flood Street in just a hundred meters. Turn left onto Flood to continue running southwards.

You'll pass St. Loo's Church, and then Flood runs into Royal Hospital Road just as it hits the Thames River, lined by the riverside road, the Chelsea Embankment. 
Along Chelsea Embankment
NOTE: a great little park, the Physic Garden, originally created to grow medicinal plants for apothecaries, is just a block to the left. And just a block further east, on the grounds of the Royal Chelsea Hospital is the spot for the yearly Chelsea Garden Show: a Mecca for anyone interested in brushing up against gardening genius.

Now cross Chelsea Embankment and turn right to run westwards along the Thames for a few blocks. Across the river is Battersea Park, itself a great spot to run. You're running towards the beautiful Victorian suspension bridge, Albert Bridge.
Albert Bridge with Battersea Park on the other shore
Run under the bridge and continue along the river for a few more blocks.

ANOTHER NOTE: If you want a bit more immersion in the Thames atmosphere, you could cross Albert Bridge and continue running west along the other side, past all the modern buildings over there, then cross back at the next opportunity, at Battersea Bridge.

About a block before you reach Battersea Bridge, you'll see a church along the Embankment to the right, Chelsea Old Church. Cross the street there, and now run back eastwards through the narrow strip of park along Cheyne Walk, on the other side of the Embankment. There's a statue to martyred Sir Thomas More at the church.
Along Cheyne Row
At the statue of Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, relaxing in a nice chair, turn left to run north along Cheyne Row. This is another great Chelsea neighborhood: the old heart of town, with a mix of classical housing styles. Chenye turns into Glebe Place, but continue as it turns right, then left before bringing you back to Kings Road. At the left-turn, you'll find the Chelsea Open Air Nursery in what looks like the oldest house in Chelsea: very charming.

Now, at Kings Road, just turn right and run straight back to Sloane Square, trying not to plow into too many shoppers or zombies texting into their phones as they hurry along.
Happy shoppers at Duke of York Square
Maybe explore up and down a few side streets along the way, or through the quiet stretch of shops at the Saatchi Galleries on the right side, just after the Duke of York Square. So nice here in Chelsea!

Sunday 14 September 2014

Turin Valentino Park Running Route

Click here for route map
Length 7.7 km (4.8 miles), terrain: small hills, 45m gain

Turin running routes:
Valentino Park
River Po run

Superga hill trail run
For more running routes, see Route List.

If you're wondering where all the runners are in Turin, here's the story: they're all in Parco del Valentino. This shady riverside park just south of the town center is full of trails and provides a great running area.
In Parco del Valentino
The park has lots of variety, and has some car-free tracks, as well as some other almost-car-free tracks. And, as it's situated on the River Po, you can combine it with a further run along the river trail (such as the other Turin route, the River Run).

Parco del Valentino isn't terribly big, but there are all kinds of interesting things there: Valentino Palace, a botanical garden, a recreated medieval town (complete with castle), cafés, playgrounds and sports fields, a fine-arts museum, and lots of other fountains, gardens, and nice spots for folks to hang out in. And lots of people do that on nice afternoons and evenings.
Piazza Castello, with view of Palazzo Madama
Like the Turin River Run, this route starts at Piazza Castello, the square in front of Palazzo Reale (the royal palace, from back when Italy still had kings).

When standing on the plaza, facing ornate Palazzo Madama at the Garibaldi statue, turn to your right and run straight down that street heading southwest, Via Roma, the one with the arcades leading off to a church tower a few block away. So off we go, heading down Via Roma.
Via Roma
Via Roma is Turin's main expensive shopping street, full of designer shops, and full of shoppers. So it's best to run on the strip of sidewalk outside the arcades, along the street, and you'll avoid the crowds.

In three blocks you'll come to Piazza San Carlo, Turin's most elegant square, with twin baroque churches and more arcades.
Piazza San Carlo
Run straight through the plaza to the churches. At the end of the piazza, turn left onto Via Giolitti to run eastwards.

After four blocks, cross diagonally to right and run through Piazalle Fusi which is a strange, empty, open space with air-vents going way down into unseen depths. The plaza was conceived to be a skateboard park, and you'll find skaters on the other side.
Skaters at Piazalle Fusi
Exiting the plaza at the southern corner, turn left onto Via Cavour, heading east again, towards the river. There's a nice little park to the right side, Giardino Balbo, and it's nicest to run down the park path here. This lively park has a playground and is full of parents and their kids. 
Giordano Balbo
At the end of the park, Cavour continues into another little (equally lively) park, Giordino Cavour. These parks were made possible after the old town defenses were torn down and room was created for the town's wider boulevards and parks.

At the end of Giordino Cavour park, turn right and run to the end of the block -- where the old church is -- and then turn left onto Via dei Mille, where you can run the last three blocks to the river.
The Murazzi from above
Cross the busy riverside street, Corso Cairoli, at the Garibaldi statue on the bluff above the river. Below you is the riverside quay formerly used by local fishermen, the Murazzi. Now it's the home of a stretch of beach bars and activities set up every summer.

Now, turn right, following the river southwards. The pedestrian trail goes down a bit first, then back up to the street level at the next bridge, Ponte Umberto I.

Just ahead of you, you'll see Parco del Valentino, at the monumental arch in the road.
At the rowing club
Running southwards, stay along the trails near the river. After a couple of riverside cafés and the rowing club, the trail merges into a paved street without cars, Viali Virgilio. Follow this street westwards and you'll suddenly discover where the other Turin runners were hiding: this is the place. Every runner in town seems to be here, running behind Castello del Valentino. The back side of the palace is a brick facade looming above the road on the right. The palace was owned by the Dukes of Savoy, and is now used by the Polytechnic University.
Behind the palace on car-free Viale Virgilio
This pedestrian road then goes by (or through) a replica medieval town, built for an expo that happened more than 100 years ago. I went through it and looked at all the buildings, because I like history, but you might as well slow to a walk in there.
Entrance to the medieval town
Past the medieval village, you come back into the main park, with a nice view of the river along the tree-covered shore.
The river trail
When you reach the end of the park, you'll run under the next bridge, where you'll see a section of a submarine on the right (put there as a war memorial for Italian sailors). This is the half-way mark of the run.

NOTE: If you want to add distance, just continue southwards on the riverfront path, and you'll go through a few more parks.

Now running north, back in Parco del Valentino, either follow the same way back (that's the quietest, greenest, pleasantest way), or follow the almost-car-free road, Viale Boiardo, that branches off to the left to see the other side of the park. If you take Viale Boiardo, you'll run a bit uphill past a big fountain, go past a formal garden on the right and then -- at the top of the hill - go past athletic fields and a giant noisy playground and café.
In the gardens in Parco del Valentino
Now run past the fine arts gallery and past the front side of Valentino Palace and its botanical garden.

After that, the street merges back into Viali Virgilio near the river, where you entered the park.
Palazzo Valentino from the front
So now run back the way you came, except instead of following Via Roma for the last few blocks, try a quieter street: two blocks before Via Roma, turn right onto Via Carlo Alberto. This is a quiet pedestrian street that also takes you through a further nice square, Piazza Carlo Alberto, flanked by twin palaces.

The street ends by running into Via Po, where you turn left and run back into Piazza Castello in just a few steps.