Lake District Walk, 22.Aug.2022

Kaziah and I are off for our Lake District walking trip, 3 summers after first planning – COVID delay.

Day 1 – We landed in London and both of us had slept enough on the plane to keep us going and we just started walking. 6 miles our first day and we hadn’t started our walking tour!

Our first stop – no surprise to anyone who knows Kaziah – Daunt Bookstore in Marylebone. A wonderful store. Our carry on luggage was crammed and we still came home with 5 books between us and that was only because we made ourselves stop knowing packing limitations.

Then – I remembered that I had cleverly included a very thin, but decent sized bag that I’d brought in my bag. When Rick bought it, I couldn’t understand its value. Now I do! Kaziah and I immediately realized that meant we could check our main carryons going home and have that bag for overflow. Oh boy! We’ll dive into more bookstores on our journey.

After the bookstore we walked back through Hyde Park and went to an art exhibit centering around the climate and renewable resources. It was MUCH more interesting than I’d thought it would be. We ended up taking our time, reading, experiencing the different modalities expressed by the artists.

Then home to Number Sixteen, a repeat hotel that I love, for tea in the garden. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? The garden was great, the weather perfect and the tea was fine, not a repeater, but still a treat. Made me long for Brown’s hotel’s tea, actually. Next trip.

We then went walking again for a bit, but quickly wore out and came back to the hotel to read. I picked up something little to eat in and then we both actually slept – jet lag going east is just much easier to deal with – at least for me.

Day 2 – a full day in London – how cool is that?! And we…walked. 10 miles today, definitely getting in my training for my next Camino walk. We started off with the Portobello Road market. Fun to see, got a coffee and then kept walking through back neighborhoods around Notting Hill. Gorgeous. We took the Tube, happily running – they’d been on strike yesterday – over to Black Friars bridge, walked over to the Tate and thought we’d see an exhibit that looked totally cool, a Japanese artist and mirrored rooms. Sold out for a LONG time. So used the bathroom and kept walking
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We went to Southborough Market – Kaziah knows food and had already lined up a few things to do in that arena. I’d never seen this market, though I’d actually walked around it several times, within a block! Good grief. And it was a fantastic market, all kinds of food booths and a ton of people enjoying the weather and the day. I had a Vietnamese dish and Kaziah had Indian and they were both great. And the people watching – fantastic.

Then walked back by St. Paul’s, to Twinings because Kaziah had wanted to go to a great tea shop. She decided nope, that was too common in the states (I argued saying it’s been in this spot for over 300 years! Started here in 1706!) Nope, she wanted something different, so kept walking through Covent Garden – I want to go there every time I’m in London because of My Fair Lady. Then our feet were very tired.

We took the Tube home and rested a bit, cleaned up, and then off to find the kind of tea shop Kaziah had looked for. And she was right, totally cool place. Postcard Tea. I wish I could drink more caffeinated tea.

Then to one of Otto Lenghi’s restaurants in Fitzrovia – Rovi. So fun. Small plates, all vegetarian for us, and each one had a distinct flavor. I should travel with Kaziah more often. We then walked back through Mayfair and to the Tube at Green Station and home again to the hotel.

Day 3 – Whew, the trains were running. They’d been on strike Thursday and Saturday, but were back on Sunday. And it was very full. We got there fairly early and I wondered why people were running since we had assigned seats. Turned out that because of the strikes, they’d double booked a lot of seats. We were lucky and got ours set and no one had ours doubled up.

Easy trip, transfer at Lancaster – 5 minute wait – then to Windermere and about a 2 minute wait before the bus showed up. How easy can this be? The bus dropped us off at Ambleside about 200 feet from our B and B. Amazing. Then – we walked. Of course.

Ambleside is a beautiful little town with a lot of restaurants and every house seemed to be a cottage for rent or B and B or Inn. One sign said there are 20,000 residents around Windermere (largest freshwater lake in England) with an additional 20,000 coming in the summer.

We got SO lucky because it was supposed to be raining all day and it stayed nice all day. We first got lunch at the Copper Pot – really fresh wonderful food, and of course, ended with a scone with clotted cream and jam. We then checked out the ferry where we were going the next day, walked more finding the bookstore, another cake and tea place we might go to and just explored. Finally, we went to an Italian place for dinner, but were really tired, couldn’t eat much and were happy to come back to our room at Lacet House.

Kaziah got to hear my river noise machine all night because we needed the windows open for air and coolness, but we’re right on the road for traffic and the random pedestrian railing at midnight about her girlfriend stealing her guy. She was VERY upset and we ALL got to hear about it. Hope she feels better this morning.

Day 4 – We’re off! Our first day of walking and it was wonderful. We got so so lucky because the rain didn’t start until 2:30 so we had hours of dry exploring. We took a ferry across Windermere – how cool is that to start a walk? Got dropped off at the foot of Wray Castle. A Victorian folly built by Jame Dawson, a wealthy surgeon from Liverpool and his wife Margaret in 1840. Amazing.

It was actually quite beautiful and they’re in the midst of restoring what they can with limited funds. They had to start with the roofs which will cost millions of pounds, the guide told us. So – the main thing to see was the photos taken by Beatrix Potter’s father, Rupert Potter in the empty drawing room. And they were really good – set the scene for us. Plus young and teenage Beatrice looked wonderfully happy and mischievous.

Then we started walking. On a totally groomed path, easy walking, didn’t bring my poles. We walked down the side of the lake for 4 miles and then up to the partially restored Claire Viewing station. Amazing – it was a late 18th century banqueting house with dancing and yes, views.

This area has been a retreat for people from England’s cities since the late 1700’s. I can see why, so pretty.

Then we kept walking to Beatrix Potter’s house, Hill Top. I was NOT prepared and we had to have reservations in order to go in, so missed on that front. Plus we were getting tired, it had been raining for a bit, and we were ready to go back. But – it’s kind of like going to Prince Edward Island and missing Ann of Green Gable’s house. Rick and I will just have to come back and stay in the town and then visit Hill Top. It was a completely wonderful small town, we did get a few photos…

Back to a second ferry that was a car ferry and actually used a pulley system and pulled the ferry back and forth with cables. Walked another 15 minutes to a third ferry which was the best yet. Nice wooden benches on top, the rain had stopped for a bit and we came all the way back up Windermere seeing amazing old stone mansions on the shore and in the hills. Most of which are now hotels and inns.

Back to Ambleside and went straight to a bookstore that we’d seen earlier, but didn’t find anything this time, got a pastry to hold us until dinner. Back to room, quick shower, and out to Thai dinner that was really good!

Tomorrow – we’re walking to Grasmere – Wordsworth’s home. I’ve learned my lesson. We have tickets to both his first home and his second where he died. Oh boy!