Nick Hunt > Quotes

“The invisible alleyways of the air have twisted through mythology, in and out of landscapes and cultures, from zephyrs to howling gales. I have met the characters of the winds, and know the qualities they bring: the Bora strength and clarity; the Foehn destruction and depression; the Sirocco debilitation; the Mistral beauty and madness. Now it seems, hoping against hope, I am about to know the Helm – if only the Bar will come – and the wildness of the chase fills me, pulls me on.”
― Nick Hunt, Where the Wild Winds Are: Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence

“Paddy was just one of many wanderers on strange, lonely quests, striking out on mysterious missions, most of whom had left no traces.”
― Nick Hunt, Walking the Woods and the Water: In Patrick Leigh Fermor's footsteps from the Hook of Holland to the Golden Horn

“Every pine tree I walked beneath had its particular inflection, its needles hissing in frequencies subtly different from the ones before – the dictionary term is ‘psithurism’, the noise of wind passing through leaves – an evergreen language that sounded like whispered words.”
― Nick Hunt, Where the Wild Winds Are: Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence

“This was my first intimation of what would become a strong theme on these walks: highlands have always been the home of wild winds and wild people.”
― Nick Hunt, Where the Wild Winds Are: Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence

“In Germany, western Europe’s second-longest river is affectionately called Old Father Rhine, so if the Foehn is the Oldest Man then the coming together of river and wind is a meeting between two venerable, ancient and respected beings; a harking back, it seemed to me, to a time when both were gods.”
― Nick Hunt, Where the Wild Winds Are: Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence

“Rijeka was full of grubby ghosts wandering in twilight.”
― Nick Hunt, Where the Wild Winds Are: Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence