UK Lake District

About 5 hours north of London is the UK Lake District. This is a mountainous region with several good sized lakes, hiking trails, and other generally outdoorsy activities.

Friday, August 7th

I left work a few hours early to "hire a car", but since we picked it up from Heathrow, we still didn't get out of London until nearly 4:00. This trip gave us the opportunity to use our brand new (to us) GPS. We'd been thinking of getting one for a while, and on the last trip got fed up with paying £12 per day for rental from Avis, so when I found one used online for £50, we jumped on it. It has turned out to be a (potentially hot) gem. Between Friday traffic and the wreck outside Oxford, we didn't get in our B&B in Keswick in the north Lake District until after 10:00, so we pretty much went straight to bed.

Saturday, August 8th

We got up pretty early and had a wonderful breakfast at our B&B - Badgers Wood. The wife cooked up an amazing English Breakfast, and the husband offered up good conversation and advice on the area. A very friendly place that we have already recommended to our friends here in London with us.

After eating we took a walk around the town, where every other storefront was a camping and outdoors store. Probably really good for the people like us who came completely unprepared. Too bad we didn't take advantage.

We headed through the town to the edge of Lake Derwentwater, one of the larger lakes in the area. We hopped on a boat that took us around the lake for some scenic views before dropping us at the foot of one of the large hills, where we had planned to start our first hike. Turns out that lack of preparation (no water, no real hiking gear) was probably not wise. We got by fine, but had to take it slower than normal, and got a little embarrassed when we'd take a break and be passed up by the couples older than our parents.

As we climbed the hill, we were amazed by the incredible views. We were lucky enough to have sunny skies (and perfect weather - warm enough to be happy, cool enough to not die from the hike). After about two hours, we reached the peak of the hill at 1,500 feet and could see for miles. The site of several other lakes, rolling hills, farm and pasture land was just breath-taking. It is moments like this when we remember how much God has blessed us by giving us the ability to be here, and see all of His wonderful creation! As with many other things we've seen on this journey, there are pictures, but they can't even come close to giving you an idea of the experience of sitting on the top with the wind on your face, looking down at the majesty of the lakes and valleys.

After having a few minutes to pause and take it in, we headed back down to the lake and picked up another boat. We hopped off at another section of the lake, and had a late lunch at a small outdoor cafe near a tiny village called Lodore, and then saw some nearby waterfalls. By this time we'd done the main sites around this lake, but we'd heard there was a nice drive through the area, so we decided to head back to the car.

The combination of 6 hours in the car on Friday night and the morning spent hiking hit us pretty hard while on the boat back to Keswick. We planned to do an evening boat cruise, and were going to have just enough time to do our scenic drive and get cleaned up before going to that. On the way to the car, though, we both decided that maybe the drive could wait, and we did something that we've never done on any vacation yet - we went back to the room and took a nap! I set the alarm to just sleep for 45 minutes, but of course I set it wrong and we woke up nearly 2 hours later, and ended up having to rush around to get ready for our cruise.

The little boat tour was nice. It took us out to the middle of the lake that we'd spent the day hiking around, and a local man talked for about 30 minutes about the history, current affairs, significant events, and landmarks in the area. It was nice and relaxing and a good way to hear more about the Lake District from a guy who was born and raised there, and seen it change (he made sure we knew that he'd passed on the opportunity to buy a lakeside villa for £10k forty years ago, and it just sold the month before for £1.5m. He thought it was too much money back then!).

After the tour we were pretty hungry, so we walked around the town looking for a place to eat. It is a pretty small town, and since every other shop sells camping gear, there aren't a lot of options. We were lucky enough to wander down a side street, though, and come across a nice Indian restaurant, which had very nice food and atmosphere (although the waiter let it show that he was much less than pleased when we ordered tap water to drink).

Since there isn't much night life in the area, and we wouldn't be too interested if there was, we headed back to the B&B and spent the rest of the night relaxing and reading in the room. Very different than most of the travel we've been doing, but it was a nice change, and very relaxing for me after I'd just finished a pretty busy time at work.

Sunday, August 9th

Since it is a long drive from London, we didn't have a ton of time on Sunday. Our first stop was at the at the Lakeland Sheep and Wool Center for a sheep show. We'd missed out on a similar show when we were in Wales, so when we saw that this was just a few miles from where we were staying, we had to go. It was a little cheesy, but they brought out 18 different breeds of sheep that are bred in the area (there are something like 80 breeds in the country). They would let them loose from a back room and they would come running around the corner and right up to there place on the stage, where of course there was a bucket of food waiting for them.

The presenter talked about the different types, where they were from, and what they were used for. It was interesting to see the differences between types of wool, colors, horns, etc. I think if you'd have asked us 12 months ago how many types of sheep were in the world we'd have been pretty confident in saying "one". Now we know better. They also did a sheep dog demonstration. Since it was indoors, they couldn't have the dog herd the sheep around the small stage, so they used geese instead. It was pretty funny, as the dog walked these 4 geese around the stage, them flapping their wings and falling all over the place!

At the end they let us up on stage to pet the animals, including the cows they'd brought out at the end. The wool looks nice and soft when they make it into a sweater, but when it is on the sheep it is pretty gross. It is dirty from a life spent rolling around in the grass, but it is also very oily, which keeps it waterproof. Our hands were feeling pretty disgusting after the "hands on" time.

We left the show and headed off for another hike around the smaller Buttermere Lake. This hike was pretty much just a stroll, and a total joke compared to what we did on Saturday. It was still incredibly nice. There were several waterfalls flowing from the nearby hills down to the lake, and the views were still spectacular. It was basically just a 4 mile walk around this lake, with a few little ups and downs here and there. We ended up getting a little bored by the end, but it was probably better than trying to do another serious hike.

After the walk we went on our short driving tour. It was nice, but pretty similar to a lot of the scenic small towns and countryside that we've seen in other parts of the country and in Ireland. It was enjoyable, but I think we were glad we opted for the nap instead the day before.

By the time we'd finished the drive, it was about 2:00 and we were thinking about lunch and a long drive home. We stopped at the local grocer and picked up some picnic essentials. We planned to eat at a nearby stone circle (Stonehenge in only one of literally thousands in the UK, it is just the best). I was pretty hungry, though, and Jenna was feeling a little sick from the narrow windy roads, so I ended up just eating in the car on the way. We stopped at the stone circle, but it wasn't too impressive and there were a bunch of annoying kids screwing around, so we took off pretty quick, jumped on the road, flipped on the Top 40, and headed for home.

Belgium

Saturday, August 1st

Brussels is a quick train ride across the English Channel on the Eurostar. The amazing thing is that you can get to a whole different country in 2 hours on the train! We still cannot get over how cheap and quick it is to travel in Europe!

The train was fairly early, but with the time change we didn't arrive in Belgium until about 11:00. We immediately hopped onto an intercity train to Bruges, another of the major towns in Belgium. Bruges is probably more famous as a tourist destination, because the shops and sites are better compacted in one area, and the town is a little more quaint. We finally arrived a little after noon, dropped our luggage in a train station locker, and hit the city.

Everything sits close to the main square in the city. The square is surrounded by historic buildings, little restaurants and food vendors. We grabbed a quick lunch of the Belgian special - French Fries. Apparently fries were actually invented here, so there are vendors all over the place. They generally eat them with mayo, but we couldn't handle that and went with the classic ketchup. We hung around the square people watching and seeing the hundreds of people waiting in line for a carriage ride through the town. Even though we didn't take a carriage ride it was nice to sit in the sun and listen to the clip-clopping of the horses.

We left the square and went walking through the town. The town is nice because it is just lined with little food shops and other "cute" shops. We meandered out to the edge of town where they had a few windmills, which were originally used to grind (or "mill") grain into flour. On the way back we stopped in a few chocolate shops (one of Belgium's other claims to fame), got some great samples, and took a box home (which we are still enjoying, even tonight as I type!).

The highlight of the day ended up being an accidental walk by a small candy shop. There were two guys cooking giant blobs gelatin, and then they started forming it, molding it, and turning it into candy. It was mesmerizing. We literally sat in the shop for about 45 minutes and watched these guys form a few giant blobs into thousands of tiny pieces of candy. It was very interesting to be able to watch the entire process and then enjoy a piece of candy at the end.

After being lured in by this display, and feeling obligated to buy a jar of the candies, we headed back to the train station and went back into Brussels. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed off to dinner, where Aaron enjoyed the 3rd Belgian specialty, Mussels, while non-fish Jenna went with a local chicken dish. The mussels were good, and yes, there were cliche references made to mussels in Brussels.

Sunday, August 2nd

Sadly, this was a rainy day in Brussels. There is a ton to see in the city, and while we did enjoy everything we did, I'm sure it would have been a hundred times better with the sun shining.

We started out in the main square - the Grand Place, which is lined with several huge historic looking buildings. Since it was raining and was fairly early, it was completely empty. It's a famous plaza, but I think the main draw is the people watching from the cafes that line it, which were all closed, so we headed off pretty quickly.

Our next stop was the Mannekin Pis - a small statue/fountain of a naked boy peeing. Not sure why this is such a huge draw - the statue is really very small, but even in the pouring rain at 10am, the corner where it sits was packed with tourists. We of course took the opportunity for a photo like everyone else.

At this point we were pretty well soaked through (I literally had to stop and ring out my socks at one point), so we thought it was time for an indoor activity. Brussels has several museums, and while we probably wouldn't have stopped into any on a sunny day, priorities change when your feet are squishing, and your pants are wet up to your knees.

Partially for proximity, partially for uniqueness, and partially for Steve Luthye, we decided to see the Museum of Musical Instruments. We ended up being really happy that we went. It was just so different than the museums we're used to seeing. There were basically 4 floors with all sorts of instruments from all different time periods and regions. They had everything from 1000 year old flutes to bagpipes to accordions to a full Chinese orchestra. What they didn't have was explanations in English.  However, they gave you a headset, which when you stepped in front of a display, it played the tune from the instrument. It probably sounds boring or cheesy, but it was actually a lot of fun.

Before leaving the museum, we grabbed lunch in their top-floor cafe, which had a good view of the city. From here we were able to see all the people on the street start putting away their umbrellas, as the clouds started to break a bit and the rain stopped. By the time we got outside, the sun was starting to peek through a bit, which was a welcome change.

With the sun on our backs (kind of), we set off for more of the outdoor sites. We saw the other two main historic buildings - the Royal Palace and the Palace of Justice, which were both pretty magnificent, but I guess about the same as the other similar buildings we've seen across Europe.

The big highlight of the afternoon was stopping for a waffle. Of course all Americans are familiar with the Belgian Waffle, but what we found interesting is that they don't eat them for breakfast. It is just one more of the many snack items that are at your disposal. The batter is extra sweet, almost like a dessert in it self, but then they smother it with more goodness. We had one with chocolate and powdered sugar, and another with strawberries and whipped cream. Both were delicious!

By now it was mid-afternoon, and we'd seen most of the main sites of Brussels but still had a few hours to kill before our train. We decided to just head off and wander through the streets around the Grand Place, which have lots of shops and people to watch. Since the sun was out and it was later in the day, the plaza was now completely packed with people. We stopped for a drink at one of the cafes and watched the tourists for a while (including the worst hacky-sack player of all time).

By the time we had finished, it was time to go back to the hotel, grab our bags, and head for the train station.

We ended up having a great time, and between the chocolate, candy shop, and waffles I don't think there was a single moment when we weren't running on a sugar-high, which I think is a great way to spend the weekend!

Mayfair Walk

Saturday, July 18th

So we had another free Saturday and we couldn't just sit at home. We decided to go to Books for Cooks in Notting Hill for lunch, which is one of my (Jenna) favorites! It is a cookbook shop and in the back they have a test kitchen where they make lunch using recipes from the cookbooks. If you get there early enough you can eat lunch there and it is always delicious!

What made it even better was on the way there we saw an American Store! This actually means we saw a convenience store that happens to sell a few things from the States, but they have a giant American flag sign :D. We picked up some Applesauce, Milk Duds, Cream Soda, Mountain Dew, Peanut Butter M&M's, and Orange Slices (for Aaron's Grandma's Famous Orange Slice Cookies). This was a huge treat! I especially am really missing food from home, mostly candy I guess! :)

From there we had planned on doing a guided walk. We bought a London Walks book a while ago with 30 different walks in it around London. Today we were going to walk around the Mayfair area, which is a high scale part of town with large homes. This was a short 3 mile walk where walked by the Marble Arch, Hyde Park, the U.S. Embassy, Rigby and Peller, where the Queen supposedly buys her undergarments and also 2 yachts stores.

After the walk we had some extra time before meeting some friends for dinner and it was a nice day so we sat in Green Park. I love to people watch and soak up some sun so this was the perfect opportunity! (It really wasn't that sunny, there just wasn't 5 layers of clouds between me and the sun, only one small layer!)

After lazing about in the park we went and met Eric and Anne and also Kia (another girl Aaron works with) for dinner at Taqueira. They had some delicious Mexican food there. It was nothing like Mexican in the States but one of the best places that we have found! We had a great day in London seeing some things that we hadn't before and enjoying the decent weather.

The Art Project

So Jenna has been a little bored lately.

She spends a portion of each day browsing around the Internet, reading random blogs and "window shopping" for clothes and decor. Luckily, we don't have any excess money, so it generally stops at window shopping.

One of our friends, Keri Mitchell, recently had a new baby, and one day Jenna was browsing through her registry at Pottery Barn. This led to her poking around the site for her own good. She stumbled upon a $400 piece of artwork that she loved, but knew we couldn't buy even if we had the ability to ship it somewhere. Then she got to thinking..."I can do that".

A few weeks later, we had this:

It is basically a bunch of small slats of wood that we painted and nailed to a bigger piece of wood. It is huge (4ft x 4ft) and quite heavy. We won't be able to hang it anywhere, so it will end up having to sit on top of things wherever we decide to put it (at the moment, in our bedroom).

Aaron did most of the labor - measuring and cutting the wood, nailing the boards, while Jenna came up with the layout, color scheme, and did all the painting. It took us a while to complete, and our house was littered with building materials for several weeks, but we had a lot of fun doing it, and were very pleased with the finished product, which ended up costing less than $50 in supplies (take that, Pottery Barn!!).

Brighton

Saturday July 25th

Since I've been working quite a bit lately (hence no posts for quite some time), we didn't have many trips booked, and hoped to take the occasional day trip within the UK. Jenna's been dying to see some ocean and the sun, so we got lucky with a sunny Saturday and headed south to Brighton.

Brighton is a beach town on the south coast, just a 45 minute train ride from our place. It is a hot-spot for Londoners due to its easy access from the city, but it is actually a not the best beach. When they say it is pebbly, they are certainly not joking. If anything, they are understating the fact that the beach is made up completely of enormous rocks. Add to that the fact that it is usually very windy and the water is frigid even in the summer, and you don't exactly get the best combination for a day at the beach.

We were able rent some cheap beach chairs, though, and the sun was shining bright, so that was really all that we needed to enjoy ourselves. We brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed the day lounging around and reading.

In the afternoon it started to get a little cloudy, and the wind (which was gale-force most of the day) got a little nip to it, so we decided to pack up and walk down the boardwalk. It was fun to see all the crazy people and shops. It felt very much like Santa Monica, except for the fact that it was pretty chilly and everyone was wearing clothes rather than swimsuits. We also had a stroll down the pier, which is full of arcades, candy shops, and even a small amusement park with carnival rides (bumper cars and small roller coasters). We've never been to Coney Island, but this is what I imagine it is like.

Anyway, not much else to say. After sitting on the beach for a while and seeing another side of England, we hopped on a train and were back at home in time for dinner. A short trip, but a great break away from the City.