Lake District, England

A weekend full of whimsy.

We set out Saturday morning with just a backpack each and a skip in our step, for in a few short hours, we would be in WINDERMERE, ENGLAND, the home of the BEATRIX POTTER MUSEUM. In our usual way, we took a bus to a train to a bus to a train to another train and finally a taxi. The last train- the one from Oxenholme to Windermere was so magical. We were SO excited about everything. The sights outside the window of the train were so much better than we could have imagined. The weather just kept getting better and better, and no matter how many fields of sheep with huge mountainous hills behind them we were still in awe every time. By the time we got off the train in Windermere we were positively joyous and ready to take the lake district by storm.

The lake district is an area of england that seems to be an outdoor lovers haven. The whole area is about 35 miles across, but is the largest national park in the UK, has the highest mountain in England, and the 2nd highest in the UK. It has lakes and mountains and woodland trails and cute little towns for any adventurous tourist to just about wet themselves over. Everyone has hiking shoes and walking sticks. It is precious. It was also an area frequented by poets such as wordsworth and dickens.
So the first thing we did in Windermere was head straight for the Beatrix Potter museum. We read up on our tales on the way over, and so we were fresh and ready for action. Right off the main street down a tiny hill was the museum. We walked in right in time for the short film to start. It was small room with a film about beatrix potter's life and stories projected onto a screen in a picture frame. We already felt like little kids, remembering the characters and the stories. There was a little girl sitting across the aisle from us that was so excited and adorable that we nearly cried. She was so excited. Just to paint a picture, she had rainbow rainboots on, adorable striped pants and a shirt with a heart on it and a little madeline haircut. When the narrator quoted Beatrix by descriving Peter as a 'naughty little rabbit' the little girl turned to her mom and said outloud, in an adorable British accent, 'Naughty little rabbit, mummy!' Gawsh. Too cute. The door opposite from where we entered slowly opened and ushered us into the rest of the museum.

It was ELABORATE. Some very passionate and thorough people designed that place, for not one thing was left unaddressed and unadorned. It even smelled like an adorable british flower meadow. I have a lot of ridiculous pictures: The exhibit consisted of a path that took you through the different rooms with the characters in elaborate scenes. Some still, some moving, all very detailed and exploding with whimsy. All our friends were there, Jemima Puddleduck, Squirrel Nutkin, Peter Rabbit, the Flopsy Bunnies, Benjamin Bunny, Mrs. Tiggywinkle and many more. All of a sudden were were 5 year old girls again and wanted to hug and take pictures of every inch of the place. There was also a really cute outdoor area with gardens, a fountain, a recreation of Mr. MacGregor's garden, and some herbs, flowers, and plants that they are growing. There were also some cute garden fauna tips, like where to find hedgehogs and where bees like to live in the winter, and random little creatures tucked into nooks and crannies. One of the last exhibit rooms had some interactive materials, a lifesize beatrix potter, and some illustrations and photos. Obviously it emptied out into a gift shop, filled with adorable things. My only complaint was that my mom and my favorite character, Squirrel Nutkin, was sorely underrepresented among the trinkets. I found a few cute little things and we got a copy of a picture of the 3 of us in a beatrix potter garden and headed out into the sun for some more exploring.

We stopped in a shop to look around and although we didn't buy anything, we ended up talking to the guy behind the counter and got some awesome advice for the weekend. Such advice included don't climb any of the big hills if it's windy because you will get swept off. Good to know. He told us about his adventures in Belize and the states and parted ways.

We walked down to the waterfront area. There was a small marina, tons of waterfowl, and plenty of people enjoying the weather. We explored some gardens and took a lot of ridiculous photos. Fueled by growing hunger, we roamed the town and started our search for the perfect pub for dinner and a beer.
AUNT VAL: we found this along the way:
Finally we found our oasis. It was called Hole in't Wall. An adorable pub with a quaint outdoor seating area and an eclectic inside decor consisteing of chamberpots and mugs/tea sets hanging from the ceiling as well as various taxidermy animals and photos of old english folk. Apparently a favorite of Dickens, and totally packed to the brim, we decided to wait for a table by the bar. We finally found one, relaxed, and ordered some food. We expected small portions from a pub that clearly focused on the pub not so much the restaurant but we were sorely mistaken. Huge portions. We sat for a while trying to finish our meals and holding onto our one beer as to appear active customers.

After dinner we walked around the water front a bit more and sat and observed the dozens of sleeping swans along the water edge. Can't say I have ever seen that many sleeping waterfowl before. We got a cab to take us to our hostel, which was in a nearby town called Keswick (pronounced Kesick- the guy at the store told us we were giveaway tourists if we pronounced the w). The cab ride was almost an hour long! The cab driver was super interesting, but I had to check out about 10 minutes in because I got reallllly motionsick. I actually thought I was going to puke. After we got out we all agreed in our nausea, and hurried to check in so that we could sit down and relax. Despite the windy roads and barfalicious bumps, the stars out the window were beautiful.

We checked into the hostel and made ourselves comfy on the giant bunk beds. We were too far from the town center to be able to walk and weren't willing to cash out more for another taxi so we amused ourselves around the hostel. This included playing with the super long sheets on the giant bunk beds and creating awesome shadows and amateur stargazing outside in the parking lot. When we thought about how much time we spent giggling over the dumbest activities, we realized how compatible/easily amused the three of us were, and how lucky we are that it worked out that char and calla are flatmates. Adorable. Just about 10 minutes after we finally committed to going to sleep, the three oldish men who staying in the bottom half of our bunk beds came into the room for bed. It was quiet when they came in, and before long, we could hear giggling coming from below. These 3 old men were giggling like little girls. We found this hilarious because that is exactly what we do when we walk into a quiet hostel room. Who knew that it was a universal feeling; to have to quietly hold back titters just because you've walked into a quiet room with sleeping people. Every move you make makes so much noise, and trying not to laugh just makes you laugh more. It was just funny to know that even older men get the quiet-hostel-giggle-bug.

In the morning we left the hostel and set out to explore Keswick further. We walked around to find even more outdoorsy people enjoying a beautiful day in the lake district. We stopped at the tourist center for some info and set out for some breakfast. We got the go-to british breakfast- the bacon roll: A piece of ham-like bacon on a buttered roll. Pretty amazing. After lunch we got a bus back to windermere- which also took an hour- and regrouped for a day of outdoorsiness.

First thing first- we stopped at the tourist information center there because the other one was not so helpful. This lady was awesome, and helped us decide to head down to the bottom of town to do some water sports and then come back up to hike a fairly easy hill with an awesome view of the city, lakes and mountains right with a footpath entrance right near the train station.

After a quick cab ride down to the water front, we took a 15 minute walk to an area where you can rent canoes and kayaks and jump on a ferry. We opted for the 3 person kayak. Lucky for us, they require anyone wearing jeans/corduroy/suede to wear a wetsuit. SWEET. Since we were only going out for an hour the lady threw them in for free. We went downstairs to a little closet/wetsuit changing area and donned our awesome onesies. We felt like total ninjas. Unfortunately they didn't come with watershoes, so our sneakers were totally soaked through when we had to drag the kayak into the water. It was a jaunty paddle full of pocohontas songs and ooos and aahs. We head back after about 45 minutes to ensure time for the hill climb and catch our train at 5.


Once off the trail we hopped a bus and threw together some sandwiches from the ham and pita that we bought at the grocery store while waiting for the bus earlier in the day. It was quick, cheap, and easy, and was just enough to keep us going. We rushed up the hill so we could have time to mosey down and take pictures. At the top we hopped one of the adorable stone fences that litter the landscape and frolicked our hearts out. After some obligatory photos of the view, we started our descent, of course not after accidentally caking our already wet shoes with some serious mud. We strolled leisurely to the bottom, got some juice and soda from cafe across from the footpath and made it perfectly in time for our train. 5 modes of transportation later we were safe and sound back in Stirling.

It was an amazing weekend for the short amount of time that we had. I'm glad we followed a friend's advice to do the English B. Potter museum over the Scottish one (yes, it exists, but i don't know much about it) because it made for beautiful weekend.

Pictures: from this post and last post--> http://picasaweb.google.com/106047267595190685755/StirlingAndLakeDistrictOfEngland?feat=directlink

Love and naughty little rabbits,
Amanda