Right, so about a week and a half ago…

James and I headed out on Friday to make the 3 ½ hour trek up to the Lake District – home to Peter Rabbit, Wordsworth’s daffodils, mountains, and, um, lakes. Despite our very best efforts, heavy rain and unnecessary traffic turned our journey into five hours. But, no worries. It turned out to be a great bonding opportunity for us during what could have been a potentially stressful/annoying/wet situation. To make the most of it, we ate turkey and ham sandwiches and diet cherry cokes in a rest stop parking lot, sang/laughed out loud to my Flight of the Conchords album, stole kisses when cars were at an absolute standstill, checked and rechecked the map, lamented the fact that I needed a bathroom and his knees hurt from driving a stick shift in stop and go traffic, and agreed about the awesomeness of Trader Joe’s Omega-3 cranberry and nut trek mix.

We finally reached Ambleside, one of the many lovely little lake district towns. After a walk about town, perusing potential dinner spots and shopping opportunities, we finally settled on Zefferelli’s, an Italian restaurant/cinema. They had a really neat system – for a set price, have dinner and reserve seats for one of their movie screens that were spread out around town. We had an absolutely amazing meals that included herbed olives and sun-dried tomato polenta and then found our theatre to see the indie-flick “Gigantic.” The best part was entering the tiny theatre and seeing two chairs with velvet sleeves that said “reserved”. The only two reserved seats in an entirely empty theatre. It was hysterical and wonderful.

On Saturday, we walked about a ½ mile down to Waterhead, to pick up a boat that would take us across Lake Windermere to Bowness. From Bowness, we caught another boat to Lakeside. Here, we caught a vintage steam train that took us to Haverthwaite station. We weren’t really going in order to reach a destination, but to enjoy the journey. We sat atop in the open air and looked out enviously on the stately homes nestled deep in the trees, rolled our eyes as a tour leader decided to get on his cell phone and order 20 sandwiches for later in the afternoon (why he didn’t go inside instead of shouting, ‘three ham with mustard’, I don’t know), and contemplated our views on parental obligations as children screamed around us in the galley on one of the boats back. In Bowness, we rented a bright orange retro motorboat with a sliding roof and puttered around the lake. James was in absolute heaven behind the wheel, and it was so relaxing to close my eyes and drape my hand in the water.

We got back to Ambleside in time for our dinner reservation at Stampers, a small but decadent restaurant that used to be where Wordsworth distributed stamps in the 1800s . This was something that James had plotted secretly as part of my birthday extravanganza, and it was nothing short of perfect. The place was filled with candle light and low voices, and we had a very romantic birthday dinner with just the two of us.

On Sunday, we drove to Hilltop, home of Beatrix Potter, and toured her home and gardens. The home was left to the National Trust and is set out exactly as she left it. It was smaller and darker than I expected, but had a coziness about it with figurines of her beloved characters, and lit coal fireplace. We then drove to the Beatrix Potter Gallery, housed in her husband’s old law office. There, we gazed upon original sketches and watercolors from her stories. It was such a wonderful, intimate way to view such classic, instead of in a large museum.

We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in Keswick, a rather large market town, before driving back home. The journey home was not nearly as long, but no less eventful, as we had to stop for a herd of cows meandering down the road. There’s a short video clip I took, if you haven’t checked it out yet. All in all, we absolutely loved the Lake District, and are looking forward to having a longer holiday there in the future to try some of the hiking trails and water activities. The landscape is unlike much of southern England – it’s rugged and wild with craggy cliffs and waterfalls and ambling stone walls. Can’t wait to go again.

And for a brief update - The rest of the week was pretty quiet. Saturday, I went to Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare country) with Helen and Selina for a girls’ day out of lunch and shopping and then a student arts festival at the school where they teach, and on Sunday, James and I went to the Cotswolds to Stow-in-the-Wold village and then to Kenilworth Castle (probably my favorite bit ofruins in England). We spent a few hours exploring old stone rooms, running our fingers over graffiti that dates back to the 1700s and meandering around Queen Elizabeth I’s restored garden. Yesterday, I went with Simon (James’ brother-in-law) on a ferry to the Isle of Wight, where his retired parents live. It was a lovely day of visiting with them and taking a drive around the coast. Tomorrow, I am heading north again to East Yorkshire to visit my friend Sarah for a few days, and then it’s off to London with James! Only two weeks left here (not that I’m counting or anything…), but I am making the most of it!

Love to all, hope all is well. Ta.