Lake District, England

 Getting here was a long day: drive 130 miles to Bordeaux, 2 1/2 hour on an aircraft, an hour getting our car rental, then slow miles at rush hour coming out of Manchester while driving an unfamiliar car on the wrong side of a unfamiliar road to drive the 137 miles to Cockermouth. And I was sick due to my lactose exposure at our previous night’s dinner. Today at lunch when I explained my lactose intolerance (no dairy please), The server’s reply was, “There should be no problem because our bread is gluten-free.” Then I had to explain that gluten has nothing to do with lactose.  Perhaps the previous meal was prepared using the same mistake.

Still getting to know Cockermouth.  Today, I went to six barbers/salon trying to get a haircut.  Three closed and three fully booked.  Perhaps, I’ll try again during the week. Glorious weather; low 60’s and sunny; many folks outside wearing their shorts. We drove to Loweswater to take a hike.  The roads here are extremely narrow and winding. Dawn handled the driving well but was emotionally exhausted by it. Reminded us of a drive we took in Ireland where we finished an entire bottle of wine at the bar once we got safely back to our hotel.  The hike was also disappointing; instead of a trail, much of the route consisted of walking along those same narrow roads.

We did a complete circuit around Buttermere lake, about four miles.

More of Buttermere.  The large yellow patches on the mountain side are a plant called, "broom".  A nice Scottish lady, a fellow hiker, explained it to us and then sang a song about the broom flower.  We fortunately are there while it was in bloom.

More recently, we have taken very enjoyable hikes at Buttermere (4 miles) and Derwent Water (5 miles).  At Buttermere, we went completely around the lake and then stopped at the lakeside hotel for a late lunch. At Derwent Water, we walked much of the route (out and back) along the west shore in an ancient forest of huge mature trees creating a complete covering deflecting rain from occasional dark clouds.  At other times, we were under blue skies with fleecy white puffs of cloud.

Derwent Water; this is a bigger lake.  We hiked about 1/3 of the distance around and then retraced back, a total of about five miles.

More Derwent Water.  The English Lake District is full of lakes and low mountains.  Many hiking trails are present but, unless you are hiking a shoreline, most consist of large altitude changes as you go up and down mountains.  (We are too old for that.)

Cockermouth has little of the charm that the French and Spanish villages had.  It is in a less affluent part of England where many past factory jobs are gone. Many second-hand stores. It does include the ruins of a large castle about 800 years old. There are more sheep than people.in this region.  Lamb is on every menu. The people are friendly; people in general love to be asked about themselves and the area they live in. Finally, we are back in English-speaking lands.

Dawn on the path around Buttermere.

In the southern part of the Lake District things are more well-kept with more attractive architecture.  But that area is also closer to large cities and has a greater concentration of tourists. We spent our last night in England at the Holiday Inn, Manchester Airport. A beautiful hotel (best breakfast of the trip and we have had some great breakfasts) which is integrated into the Airport complex where you can walk to any of their three terminals in elevated enclosed passageways.

We stopped at a boat museum at Windermere, toward the south edge of the Lake District, on our way south to Manchester.  The legacy of boating on this lake extends back many centuries.

When making this reservation back in March, I made a mistake and booked two rooms instead of one (only time this has ever happened).  At the time, I quickly contacted the hotel to correct my mistake, but they claimed that no change could be made because the reservation was nonrefundable.  Checking into the hotel, I confirmed that we were still paying for two rooms.  The desk agent was sympathetic, but the manager was adamant.  In a trip of this length, the cost of one night at a hotel is a minor glitch.

That evening, Dawn and I took our daily walk using the terminal complex for exercise and to learn where we needed to be the following morning.  Returning to our hotel, we came upon an old man (older than us) towing his suitcases through the passageway.  He appeared rather tired; admitted that he had a bad day; but declined our offer of help with the suitcases.  He explained that he was supposed to have flown out that day to New York to visit his son, but, due to passport issues, he now was rescheduled for the following day and needed to get a hotel for the evening.

Bam! Dawn and I had the same thought.  We escorted him to our hotel; I went ahead while Dawn showed him the way.  When he arrived at our hotel, I presented him with the keycard for our second room.  We escorted him to his room and explained that he just needed to provide his room number to enjoy a free breakfast!  I am sure that he was dumbfounded.  What a great chance for us to "pay it forward".  What a story he has to tell his son!  And Dawn and I slept better knowing that a good outcome resulted from our situation.