Lake district bit of Uk tour- 2010

By Sri.

Next day we regretfully left Mr Paul Burroughs and Ivy house behind, to start our trip to Lake district..

While looking up Lake district, I had spent a, huge amount of time trying to figure out where to stay… most hotels and B&bs were too expensive, as we would have to book two to three rooms. Finally I chanced upon a cottage- Winster cottage at Masons arms, Strawberry Banks, Carmel.. The rub was that this cottage was situated above a pub, and again I had to quieten the apprehensions of the family.. They were pretty fatalistic about it in the end.. Something on the lines of .. “ok..we hope you know what you are doing!!” This place is off the usual touristy areas, and after traversing some thickly wooded areas, with the road winding through smalls hills and dales, we finally made it..

And despite everyone’s apprehensions.. It was fantastic.. A huge multi bedroom cottage with lovely skylights, bunk beds in one room, wooden floors, well equipped kitchen… you could choose to go self catering or ask for meals..

The cottage had a separate entrance overlooking the most dazzling vista, rolling hills and ditzy sheep gambolling in the rain.. And what with the temperatures plunging down, we loved it.. not a wee bit of noise from the pub nearby…We even liked the wooden floored bathroom, great for cold mornings.. The minor hiccough was one bathroom for all of us, but it was fine..

My surprise for everyone, was the dinner at “Masons arms”. I bamboozled everyone by getting everyone to wait outside while the table was set up.. Had an ale or two..Then trooped upstairs…

They had actually reserved a huge dining table (that could have seated 12 for the five of us) in a private dining room!! The food was good, and the ambience perfect. DW loved that she had the freedom to open a window and enjoy the beautiful weather! The menu was vegetable soup, lasagna, pasta and for me honey glazed ribs..

Next day we went to the Windermere tourist centre, got a map and suggested walking route and set out..

Saw a bunch of schoolkids launching a yacht under guidance.. And then set course to the next lake.. Ambleside…

…Somehow I associate Ambleside with a huge scone with cream, blackberry and strawberry compote.. That I successfully divided up into five!!

We decided to make a round of the lakes by car, stopping when it suited us..

We passed by a quiet pretty little, english village called Grasmere, and I recalled that the ginger bread was good here, so we decided to take a break.. While having pizzas, and looking for ginger bread, we noticed two ladies having a triple cone of ice cream..Mom being the intrepid person she is, went up to them, cheerfully talked to them and asked them where they got their ice creams from.. We promptly set out and had this ice creams.. And we have pictures to prove it..

One of the most beautiful of all the lakes in this car ride was Ullswater.. Its the second largest lake, and when we went there.. Empty of tourists.. Tranquil with ducks coasting quietly and hills in the background. DW insisted on getting down to take a pic of this tranquil lake..

In the evening, we took the walking trail, upto the windermeyer lake. We traipsed along the winding path, crossing houses, forests, and fields till we finally came to the lake.. We spent some time by the lake..

The next day we set course for Scotland.. Our GPS went crazy, and routed us through tiny hamlets and villages, with steep one-car-worthy roads.. You could almost imagine everyone using cycles to get around.. Till we finally reached a main road.. The two most frustrating statements our Aussie accented GPS would say, about a km after a turn.. “recalculating..” And ” lost satellite reception”!