Down by the Lake-itty Lake

Considering the jubilance I felt after a magical weekend at the Lakes, this post is waaaaay overdue.

What can I tell you about our trip out to Lake District? Only that I'd love to visit again.And again. And again. Our 3-day visit was simply not enough to cover the entire territory.

We did most of our exploring within Cumbria as that's where numerous Beatrix Potter attractions are located. Other roadtrips to the surrounding towns such as Kendal, Grasmere, Keswick, Penrith, and Grange-over-Sands, were mostly pit-stops - a chance for me to snap a picture or two.

Day 1 saw us travel 268 miles from London to Cumbria. We should have reached our destination in under 5 hours, but took 7 instead. Had to make several 'pee-stops' for Cheeks and let our sole driver, Dee, take a breather. With half the day gone, we only managed to visit the Lake District Miniature Village (boring as hell and half of it was still under construction!). Danielle was enamoured by the little houses and likened them to doll's houses... until she sighted silvery threads of cobwebs with dangly insect bits on them. Gah! Day 1 ended rather uneventfully with a mediocre dinner at a local chinese restaurant. The worst dish ordered (unfortunately, by yours truly as I was craving spicy) was the curry chicken. All I can say is - it was fowl. Hmph.

Day 2's activities were mainly for Danielle's benefit. Okaay, and mine too. I'm a sucker for little woodland creatures! We visited The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction located in Cumbria's town centre. Danielle spent over an hour at the attraction rattling off the names of Miss Potter's various characters - Mrs Tiggy Winkle! Jemima Puddle Duck! Mr Jeremy Fisher! Peter Rabbit! Mr McGregor! Hunca Munca! Tom Kitten!... and so it went on... Mr So-and So! Miss this-and-that! She sauntered proudly from one exhibit to the next - giving a short synopsis of each tale to Nainai, who was not acquainted with any of Miss Potter's books, but was happy to indulge her. Danielle's favourite exhibit was Mrs Tiggy Winkle's. I suspect it's coz everything was her size. Had I not been there, I swear, she'd have yanked plates off the cabinets, unpegged clothes from the line and played masak-masak!

Our next stop was the Lake Cruises Boat Terminal. A trip to the Lakes would not be complete without a cruise down Lake Windermere. We boarded the boat amidst light showers but as the vessel travelled to Haverthwaite, the weather thankfully cleared up for us and we were able to enjoy our next leg of travel by steamtrain. This was our 2nd time travelling on an ol' steamtrain and it was every bit as thrilling as the 1st. Dinner was at another chinese restaurant called Magic Wok, and I'm happy to report that the chef there certainly conjured various yummylicious dishes.

It rained all of Day 3 but thankfully, our spirits were not dampened by the wet weather. Didn't get to do much except drive through the towns of Keswick and Penrith for a looksy. We also made a short stopover at Grasmere. I regret we were not able linger longer. Grasmere was where William Wordsworth lived, and where he drew inspiration for many of his poetic works eg Daffodils. The only highlight of the day was visiting HillTop, home to Beatrix Potter. I had the most wonderful time there with Danielle. We explored each and every room together, and chattered excitedly when we sighted familiar scenes that were illustrated in her books. I hadn't read 'The Tale of Samuel Whiskers' to Danielle at that time, so she was particularly interested when the tour guide showed her where Tom Kitten was held captive by the rats, how he was rolled up in a dough, the stairway landing where Samuel Whiskers trundled the rolling pin etc. By the end of our visit, she was badgering me to get a copy of the book which I promptly promised to borrow from the library. Dinner was at a joint recommended by our B&B proprietor, Jo (lovely man). We had English food at Lazy Daisy's. Food wasn't spectacular but the desserts... oh, what I would give for another bite of their caramel mousse cake! Myumm myumm!

We headed back to London first thing Monday morning. I was almost sad to leave the idyllic countryside. Coming back to London has made me realise just how drab the City looks. All in all, it was an utterly charming trip. I know Mel and JH are so going to fall in love with the breathtaking views of unending meadows and lakes... I can't wait to share all these sights with them! Soon, soon!