Monday 7^th July                    THE  LAKE  DISTRICT

We woke at about 8.15 this morning, after what was not a good night’s sleep for me. I was awake for well over an hour after 4am, too uncomfortable to sleep. The quilt they have given us is thick enough to withstand a snowstorm – it’s certainly way too hot for even a cool July night. So my feet and legs were boiling hot, my upper body with just the sheet, even with winter pyjamas on, was too cold. I finally ended up getting up at 5 and putting on my slipper socks and a warm jumper, and giving up on the quilt altogether. Thankfully, after that I did get back to sleep.

Breakfast started at 8.30, and they had a lovely selection of dishes. Lex had the full English breakfast which included delights like black pudding. I had a lovely serving of banana pancakes with fruit and maple syrup, which were delicious. I may have to have them again tomorrow!

                                                     Remains of the Roman fort at Ambleside
Once we were all organised, we headed out for the day, and drove to Ambleside, north up the loch, I mean lake. The sun was shining, and the risk of rain minimal (but we still took waterproof jackets, just in case.) We parked the car near the jetty there, then walked the mile up to the village . Along the way are the remains of a Roman fort, so we went and had a look. When I say remains, there are very few – nothing like the one we saw last month, but we were able to picture where the building was. Then we followed the road up to the village and had a nice wander around. Ambleside is very pretty and is perched on a hill. There are lots of stone buildings and some lovely shops to browse in. We had morning tea in Grain, a bakery. I had a lemon meringue choux bun which is one of the nicest things I’ve eaten this trip! After this, we walked the mile back to the jetty to enquire about cruises. There was one leaving in 15 minutes, so we bought a return trip to Bowness (near Windemere). We bought a pack of sandwiches so we wouldn’t die of starvation before we returned at 1.40, and lined up on the jetty.

                                                        Ambleside - a very pretty village

                                                  The house behind the cross looks crooked!

The cruise was so relaxing – very smooth, as the lake was placid today. Windemere is the biggest lake in England, and is the site of several water speed records (and also several nasty fatalities of people trying to achieve water speed records….) With the sun shining, it was a beautiful blue today. There was a commentary telling us about various landmarks we were passing. We started out on the front deck, but the wind was so cold that most people were quickly driven inside! The Swift is the biggest boat on the lake, and it certainly gave us a lovely cruise.

                                                    Waterhead harbour near Ambleside

                                                               The Swift

                                                    Mouth of the River Rothay

                                                Wray castle built by a Victorian millionaire.                                                                                                                           As they did!

We returned right on time, and drove back to Windemere, where we were able to find a park near the town centre shops, so we walked to them. We found a quick late lunch in The Cornish Bakery, where we both had a cuppa and a Cornish Pasty (mine was chicken curry, Lex’s was vegetable, and they were both really good.) We looked around the shops, but they are all VERY expensive and there were so many tourists swarming that we decided we were over them. I must say that the Lake District is the worst place we’ve seen so far for overcrowding at tourist places and on the roads, which really don’t cope with them. And to think we complain occasionally about tourists in Yeppoon!

                                                            Windemere shops

                                                     Harbour at Windemere

Lex dropped me home to the B&B to have a rest and start the blog, and he went for a drive. He drove to the Rydal Cave parking area and walked two miles to Grasmere and back. For tea, we walked down to the Brookside Inn again for a nice, easy meal.

                                                                The Brookside Inn

                                                              Stream at Grasmere

Tomorrow, we’re off to Manchester, so yet another travelling day!