England and Scotland Day 5
England and Scotland
Day 5 - October 5, 2006 - Explore more of the Lake District, Keswick, Glasmere
We had a leisurely morning with breakfast at 8 AM and then met our group to depart at 9 o'clock in the heavy rain. As we drove to our first adventure, Simone gave us a running commentary on the lakes we were passing on our route to Keswick (Kesick).
We stopped at the car park and then went on an hour's hike through the town where Simone pointed out several cafes for our lunch later on in the day. We walked through the city's botanical gardens, still lovely with beautiful plots of annuals, perennials, as well as expertly pruned hedges and bushes.
We made our way down to the lake, Derwent Waters, where we walked around the shore and took a few soggy photos but enjoyed the beautiful views even in the rain. We walked back together but then went our separate ways back into town; some to shop, have lunch, or just wander through the quaint streets.
We went into the local art gallery where we spent an enjoyable visit, then to the Beatrix Pottery shop. Enough of that stuff - our next stop was a high end liquor store where the owner explained to me about this phantom "black scotch" that I have been hearing about. She told us about the origins, where we could buy it, and how much we could expect to pay.
At about 12 Noon, we went into a fish and chips shop but because it was raining so heavily, we decided to go to the restaurant upstairs and sit inside to enjoy this famous food of choice for the Brits. We wandered back to the bus park stopping at a Booths, the city's major grocery store. We looked all around, sampled the free wines they were highlighting this week, and purchased meat, cheese, chips, and sodas for our light dinner tonight on our own.
All of us were on time again and at 1:00 PM we left Keswick and traveled out into the country a short way to see the ancient stone circle, Castlerigg. Even in the rain it was an impressive site and an eerie feeling to be standing in the center of the ring after having read The Outlander series.
We drove back to Glasmere and the Swan Hotel and had the rest of the afternoon on our own. We chose to go with Simone who invited us all on a hike around Lake Glasmere. At 2:15 we met Simone, Jane and Richard, Ramona and her daughter Vicky, Carol and Erwin, Judith, and Julia and set off in a steady rain down to the village of Glasmere and then around the lake.
It was an easy hike that took us past very traditional country manor houses, beautiful views of the hillsides, and of course, the lake itself. The rain continued as we circled the lake but by the time we had reached the village, it was a downpour!
We returned to the hotel at 4:30, soaked, but we knew we had accomplished something as Gennie had worn her pedometer today and we had gone 13.67 miles! We used the hotel's drying room to hang up our wet raincoats and pants. In this climate of 100% humidity almost every day, it is a wonder anything ever dries.
At 6:30 we ate our little dinner of meat, cheese, and chips along with two apples and two sodas. After our heavy fish and chips lunch it was more than enough. It was raining torrents and the wind was very strong so we were happy to have made the choice of not walking that mile back to town this evening.
After drying out the remainder of our clothes with the help of the hotel's iron, we packed and got organized for tomorrow's departure. I worked on the photos from today and then we typed the journals and then sent it off into cyberspace.
Swan Hotel -- Glasmere, England - - - Meals: B
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