We purchased a bus pass that is good for the entire Lakes District this morning. While on the first bus, we saw some beautiful scenery, but the driver had the heat blasting. I’m wearing shorts and a raincoat and feel like I’m going to pass out.
It reminded me of the time my grandparents, aunts, and uncles came down to visit us in NC one summer. We took a trip with them to Durham for shopping. The boys in one car, the girls in the other. While there, our grandpas wanted to sit at a table in the outdoor food court while we went inside. An hour later we came out to find one of them passed out face-down on the table with the other eating lemons slices out of their lemonades like it’s his last meal before the fallout. On the drive back home, my uncles were sitting in the backseat of the van with my younger cousin sitting between them. My dad is driving and hadn’t thought ot turn the air conditioning on for the backseats. I look back to see both of them nodding off with their mouths wide open. My cousin is 8 years old, and he’s cracking up. A couple minutes go by, and one of them musters enough energy to croak, “John, can you turn the air on?”
After catching a couple buses, we arrive in the Lakes. It’s like the setting of all the fairytales I’ve ever heard just came to life before my eyes. We’re told that a lot of them were actually written here. The weather is rainy, and the clouds cover the tops of the mountains, but it’s still awesome.
Britt has a hankering to go to Grasmere, the birthplace of gingerbread. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her eat gingerbread or build a structure with it, but I’m willing. William Wordsworth lived here for a while and Grasmere is “The lovliest spot man hath ever known,” according to him. He taught there for a while and is buried in the chuch’s graveyard. I haven’t read anything by him except for that quote, and I’m still not sure who he is, but at least I know where he is now.
We sit down at a cafe’s outdoor seating. There’s huge umbrellas over each table to keep us out of the rain. We each order a bowl of potato and leek soup with a piece of bread. I haven’t eaten anything more satisfying. The weather was a little chilly now with the rain, but the soup hit the spot. Eager to eat more things here, I order some tea and a scone with raspberry and vanilla jam with whip cream. I wasn’t disappointed in the least. Brittany is at a loss as to how I’m not obese.
A couple of ladies walking by had a weimaraner. It reminded us of my dog, Jack, and I wanted to go pet him, but decided against it. We realized that every weim we’ve ever seen is almost half the size of Jack. Big boy.
We walked along a river path after lunch and saw some good views of the mountains. Then we went into a small shop that is the birthplace of gingerbread. It was surprisingly very good.
Deciding the weather wasn’t nice enough to hike or camp, we go on a whim and get train tickets to Liverpool. I called Gav beforehand to see if we could stay with him. He gladly accepts, and says he will be at the station to pick us up as well. Gav shows us a few things in the city before taking us to his relaly nice apartment overlooking the waterway. We then went to an Indian restaurant with a couple of the guys we met in Glasgow. I didn’t have a clue what we were eating again, but I was able to name everything on the table when we were done.
We took a cab over to Ipcus’ girlfriend’s, Keerthi, house to hang out. Britt and I taught them some American card games, which they were very excited about. Apparently they actually study in college as opposed to us Americans that use our inginuity and creativity to come up with ways to drink a beer while playing a game.
