Em & m's Road Trip: The Lake District

Yesterday I went up to the Lake District. As Momma and Dadda will tell you, I've been looking forward to this trip and talking about it since I booked my tickets a month ago. Quick history on the reason for going to the Lakes for those who don't know: my Great-Aunt Maureen loved Beatrix Potter's books. Beatrix authored the "Tales of Peter Rabbit" and other books back at the turn of the nineteenth century. Maureen is also a big part of why I was able to come over here for this semester so I was more than happy to be able to go up and see the place that was an inspiration for the stories.

The Lake District is located north of Liverpool on the west coast of Britain and is England's largest national park. Lake Windermere is the largest lake in the Lake District and that is where I spent the day. I don't think I've ever taken so many pictures. It was absolutely gorgeous. I did have luck with me because, as you can see, it was sunny. It was still pretty cold being so far north and mid-October but it certainly could have been much colder had the sun not been out.

The cruise across the lake was pretty chilly with the cold air coming right off the water but it was so peaceful.

The view that

Beatrix Potter would have had if she looked out her window. This is right across the road from Hill Top Farm, where she lived.

Hill Top Farm. And yes, it is on top of a hill. There are no pictures allowed inside the house but it almost exactly as she left it. She died in 1947 and left all of her land to the National Trust, who now operate the house. It still is a working farm and if you look closely, you can just see Peter Rabbit under the vegetables. ;)

There are farms full of sheep and cows and horses up in the hills. It was a little odd to be on the lake, then a few minutes bus ride later and I was in farm country, then a few miles walk and I was in a forrest. It was all beautiful and quite relaxing to see. Not much in the way of technology up here, which was refreshing.

The white speck in the middle-left is right next to Hill Top Farm.

Now, we all know how lazy I am. And we all know how cheap I am. The entire day it was a debate as to which would win. Do I walk or spend the 3 pounds and take the bus? Solution: buy a one-way ticket for the bus and use that for whichever way was up hill and walk down hill!!!
Well, I thought it was a good idea.

Miss Jemima Puddle-Duck.

There is a sort of inter-active museum-type thing for kids to go play around with the different animals. I stopped by to play around a bit as well and it was pretty cool.

The woods on the side of the road. After being at Hill Top I went back up to the center of town and I kept walking along the lake which does not take you back to the center of town as I discovered. I did have a very nice walk through a neighborhood where none of the houses had numbers, just names, and there were a few for sale. I must say, I would be pretty tempted to live there (if the price tags had a few of the zero's missing off the end).

There is a trail to the top of Orrest Hill to see Lake Windermere and I decided an aerial view would be lovely to see. It was a goodly long hike but was well worth it.

Note to self: am waaaaaay out of shape. Must put forth solid effort to rectify said out-of-shape situation as soon as possible.