Goodbye Visitors

Although our touring and outings definitely slowed down after we returned from the Lake District, they did not slow down as much as my photos might indicate. Mike, who is generally the designated photographer, went back to work. Without him along, I'm afraid I barely took any pictures. 

One day we drove to the nearby town of Stamford, Lincolnshire. It's famous for all its stone buildings, and also for having the country home of Burghley.

We ended up wasting a little time trying to walk over to Burghley House from downtown Stamford. It was a longer walk than it looked, and we ended up turning back around before ever even making it to within viewing distance of the house. But we still had a little time for walking around the town, doing a little shopping and getting some fish and chips. I would definitely enjoy spending more time there another day.

Another day Mom, Dad and I went to London for the day. We toured Westminster Cathedral, which I hadn't done yet. There's really so much to look at in the way of memorials, that I'm not sure what my impression is of the cathedral as a whole. I suppose, though, what really makes it unique is the dense amount of history it holds.

We also did a little shopping at Harrods. Their shoe department is called "Shoe Heaven." It's a big name to live up to. I'd say if your price point for shoes starts at about $500 and comfortably goes up into the thousands, then Harrods probably is your shoe heaven. Every luxury shoe brand I've ever heard of has a beautifully presented space there.

After shopping, we spent a little time picnic-ing in Hyde Park, saw Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden, and then Mom and I went to see the show War Horse. If you've been at all tempted to see it and get the chance, go! The puppetry is amazing, the story is a nuanced view of war and is also very emotionally engaging.

And now my parents are back home. We loved having them here. I hope we were able to show them enough of what has made us fall in love with England.

Hadrian's Wall

This was my second trip to see Hadrian's Wall. The first time was a very cold day in April. In fact it was so cold and we were so not dressed for the occasion that we got out of the car, took a brief look - yep, that's a stone wall all right - and got back in the car to drive off to our next destination. 

This visit in late August was not warm, but a much nicer day for getting out and exploring. The countryside around the wall is beautiful. Does the wall not look very impressive? Interesting facts about the wall:

* It stretched 75 miles across the country

* It was originally 3 meters wide and 6 meters tall in places

* It also originally included wide ditches on each side and some forts

* We can't see it's original state because for years people stole stones from the wall for building

Mike, Camille and Anya went on to explore more of the wall and another Roman fort site.

While Camille, Anya and Mike went on to explore more of Hadrian's Wall, Mom, Dad and I visited Carlisle Castle where we learned all about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Rebellion. Please, don't quiz me on it. Carlisle Castle is not the kind of castle where you imagine the beautiful life of past kings and queens. It's more the kind of castle where you shudder imagining the poor people held in the very dreary, dark and drippy prisons.

We also have to take a moment here to laugh at (with?) my poor mother, used to the desert heat of southwest Utah. She took to wearing layers of coats in England. Here she's down to two layers of coats, but doesn't she look a little cold? I think she's missing her third layer back in the car.

Lake District Outings

Before we arrived at the Lake District, I had grand plans of all we would see. I'd accumulated various lists of top hikes, top views, top outings, etc. Once we got there though, I realized that with the twisty, tiny roads a 10 mile journey could take 30 to 45 minutes to drive. Unless you want to devote a good portion of your vacation to driving - which I did not - there is no way to see all the highlights of the Lake District in one trip.

We still managed a number of fun outings. One of our first days we took a boat trip on Lake Windermere from Bowness-on-Windermere to Ambleside. Luckily, it was a lovely day to be out on the lake. I kept saying that even though it was late August, it felt like a perfect crisp day in October. 

Oh, how Anya loves to have her grandparents around to cuddle with. 

Ambleside has a cute little dock area and then farther away, a town with many sporting shops and places to eat. We found such a nice place for lunch.

Another day we took a small outing to the town of Cartmel. I had read it is a big foodie town. As I really like to eat, it sounded right up my alley. We found the best bread and cheese shop and discovered the marvel that is Cartmel Village Shop's sticky toffee sauce. And I'm not even a big toffee person. Plus, the town is postcard perfect cute. 

On the other side of Lake Windermere from where we were staying is Hilltop, home of Beatrix Potter. I did a terrible job of taking pictures on this outing. I didn't even get a picture of the house!

A fun part of seeing Hilltop is that many scenes from her garden, views from her windows, and rooms in her home appear in her books. The house provides copies of her books so you can walk around finding matches. Her home is English country cottage adorable. When she got married she thought the house was too small for a married couple to live in, so they bought a new home in town, but kept Hilltop and used it as an office. What a lovely place to work!

Can you spot the shovel from A Tale of Peter Rabbit? Actually, Peter Rabbit was written before she bought Hilltop, but I still enjoyed seeing the same shovel. 

Nearby Hilltop is Tarn How, a little lake with a nice path around it and lots of picnic spots. It also has some pretty waterfalls on an offshoot path. It was a nice outdoor outing that everyone could enjoy. 

Introduction to the Lake District

I have mountains of photos to sort through from our very beautiful trip to the Lake District. In the meantime, here's a brief introduction to the area. 

The Lake District has a lot of unique vocabulary. I think the words are quite poetic sounding, but we were a bit lost when we first started reading the area signs, maps and hike descriptions. Here's my brief tutorial.

tarn: small mountain lake

force: waterfall

fell: hill

ghyll: ravine (we didn't get a picture of a ghyll)

beck: stream

Words not unique to Lake District

crag: a sharp, some people say steep, rock outcrop

dale or dell: mountain valley 

stile: a way of getting over a fence or stone wall between fields

Kissing gate: a gate in between two fields where the gate can move to touch each side

Even after a year of adjusting to much smaller English roads, we were a bit shocked by how small the roads are through the Lake District. I'm so glad my first introduction to driving in England wasn't there. That road pictured above is a two-way road. If another car comes, you have to reverse back to a pull-out (which are shockingly and car-paint-job-threateningly small). 

There's a ferry across Lake Windermere, the largest lake in England, at Windermere the village. It's a nice and scenic break from driving the small and windy roads around the lake. 

Just like my hometown of Seattle, wild blackberries grow everywhere. Anya was happy to be in charge of gathering them for us.

Kings, Lords & Courts

In late August we headed south for some quick stops before going to our vacation in the Lake District. Dad picked out our first stop: Runnymede.

Do you have any idea of why Runnymede is famous? That's one of the nice things about having visitors is they tell you about places you would have never discovered on your own. It's the place of the signing of the Magna Carta by King John in 1215. I'm no historian, but my understanding is that the Magna Carta is considered one of the foundations of democracy and a model for constitutions all over the world. I don't think King John had any interest in furthering the cause of democracy. He was just forced into it by his rebellious barons.

I love moments like this on vacation - signs that your kids really do love spending time together.

Enough of educational moments! Next it was time to visit Highclere Castle, film location for Downton Abbey. 

No pictures are allowed in the house, so I had to settle with taking some shots of the outside. 

This is our Lord and Lady of the Manor shot. It might have been more effective without the zip-up hoodie, Husky cap and high street jacket.

The grounds and gardens at Highclere are just exceptional. I think I just might say that about everyplace we visit. This time though, these grounds really are at the top of my list. Beautifully designed gardens, rolling hills, striking old trees - just perfect.

We have this recurring theme of taking vacations with my parents and spending a lot of time being really, really cold. This was late August for heaven's sake, but boy was it a nice day for a hot chocolate. 

The next day it was time to head up to the Lake District. On the way, Camille had picked out our next tourist stop: Lancaster Castle, home of famous Pendle witch trials.

We had one of our best tours yet at this castle. The guide was so knowledgable and interesting to listen to. Besides extensive knowledge of the royalty and nobility of England, he had a spooky ghost story, dramatic tales of the witch trials, interesting details of the courts held at the castle and much more.

We had a busy two days of tourist sites and lots and lots of driving. By the end of our time at Lancaster Castle, we were all ready for some famous fish and chips and to settle into our country place in the Lake District.