Have you experienced a full English breakfast after sleeping in a B&B? I have, and I must say, it is quite lovely – or “smashing”, according to our proprietress. Breakfast at the B&B consisted of fried ham, a British sausage link, fried corn meal mash, an egg (over easy), a broiled tomato (toh-MAH-toh), and sautéed mushrooms. Top it off with HP sauce (like A-1) and it is quite fulfilling! I envisioned some of my picky-eater friends staring at my breakfast plate... they would NOT have done very well with it (you know who you are!). I enjoyed it and was delighted that it sustained me through most of the day! =)
Following breakfast, Jason and I headed out to see the sights. We had no set agenda – we just decided to see what we could find. We began with William Wordsworth’s home (guess whose idea THAT was?). I can fully understand how Wordsworth got his inspiration now. It would be hard NOT to be inspired in a place this beautiful! What a location! I, too, could probably write amazing Romantic poetry admiring the woods, hills, lakes, and vales if I lived in a house with those surroundings. Wow! Even in the rain, it was beautiful.
We kept driving up the roads towards another lake area when we saw a national park sign. Figuring the area would offer a nice place to walk, we pulled into the parking lot. The folks putting on full hiking gear (boots, walking sticks, rain gear, backpacks, etc.) should have been a clue, but we didn’t catch it. We were dressed in casual clothes and walking shoes, so we figured we’d be ok. With no pause to think it through, Jason and I set off on what was supposed to be a leisurely stroll through the woods, but it turned into a full-fledged hike up a mountain! Of course we were both too stubborn to turn back, so we kept on trudging up the mountain, determined to see what was at the top. It drizzled rain the whole way up (I had brought an umbrella – who brings an umbrella on a hiking trip??) and we did not have water bottles or anything. I am SO glad the trip was worth it! The view from the mountain was amazing – and we both agreed it was well worth all the struggle (though neither of us would admit we were the one struggling). =)
After that little trekking adventure, we decided we wanted to sit for a while, so we drove through the back roads on a suggested car tour. It was beautiful, but a little stressful because many of the roads are single-track and meeting an oncoming car can be adventurous to say the least! Jason navigated the Jeep quite well (it always gets a lot of stares – because it is an off-roading vehicle and because it has left-hand drive!) and we didn’t take out any other cars – or sheep (though several tried really hard to become mutton stew). One of the awesome sights from the road trip was the Castelrigg Stone Circle on a hill outside a little town. It is nothing in size compared to Stone Henge, but it is similar in that people dragged large rocks to a flat place for a purpose.
The little town of Grasmere offered a nice place for us to eat dinner (I had Yorkshire Pudding – a local favourite) and I also got to see Wordsworth’s grave. I love the simplicity of his tombstone. There is no bravado or excess – just a simple notation of the man’s years. I liked that about his house, too. It was simple but beautiful. The grounds were exquisite, but the actual house did not have anything extravagant about it. We topped off the day with a stroll along the water in Bowness (a town next to Windermere) and I ate some clotted cream fudge. I now have a new favourite sweet! YUM.
Date: 8 July, 2007Location: Windermere and Grasmere (Lake District)
Highlights:
- Wordsworth’s house and gardens
- Driving through the back country and seeing TINY little villages (hamlets?) that were nothing but a few houses and one little store or pub
- Enjoying the day despite the rain
- Seeing the sun on the water
Word of the Day: “Smashing” – the owner of our B&B uses it to mean “great” or “good” or anything referring to the positive. Each time she asked how our food was and we replied with “delightful, thanks” or “wonderful”, she would then say “smashing!” I didn’t know anyone used the word except in Harry Potter. =)
Word of the Day: “Smashing” – the owner of our B&B uses it to mean “great” or “good” or anything referring to the positive. Each time she asked how our food was and we replied with “delightful, thanks” or “wonderful”, she would then say “smashing!” I didn’t know anyone used the word except in Harry Potter. =)
