Lake District...we have finally arrived! Again! We visited the Lake District before but this time we decided to see a few different sides of it.
We based ourselves in the Premier Inn hotel in Cockermouth. We had two rooms for our family and somehow it was very cost efficient for the area--better than any Airbnb that I could have found.
That evening we walked through the town.
We couldn't help but be amazed again and again how cute and old and British everything looked.
We miss this...this atmosphere, this look...
We took a walk after the rain storm. Most shops were closed so the streets were pretty empty.
We walked to Aspava, a Mediterranean restaurant.
It was delicious! We got to chat with the Turkish owners and discuss the current state of affairs...everywhere.
Kids were happy too, and we were almost over our jet lag--yay!!!
The following morning, we headed to Keswick. We parked and walked over to the boat house to figure out what we could do.
We kind of wanted to take a rowboat out on the water, but it was very windy and pretty chilly.
The kids were not too disappointed for us to skip the rowboat.
Instead, we opted to take a boat ride all around Derwentwater Lake.
It was beautiful!
People could get on and off all along the route if they wanted to start their hikes at different parts around the lake.
We just went all the way around the lake.
Gorgeous views!
And the clouds were absolutely amazing!
We survived the ride!
We needed to repark as we needed to get closer to our next stop. Everywhere we looked, cars had the "parking clock thingie" on their dashboard so that the policeman knew how long they were parked. In any case, Robert got creative and made that parking clock out of our cereal box. It worked!
Our next stop was quite unique! We were in England, right? We had Mark's racket, right? So...the next logical thing was to find a grass tennis court! And guess what???!!! Somehow, they had a PUBLIC free GRASS tennis court right in the middle of town.
Of course, the ladies at the tiny "club house"/cafe were happy to let Mark borrow a couple of tennis balls.
We all had SO MUCH FUN!
But Mark was the happiest! I mean, it's SO rare to find a grass court in the US. Mark was in heaven!
It was great to break up our driving and exploring by doing something so fun.
Sadly, it started drizzling soon and that made the grass too slippery to continue to play. But we got our fill!
We drove a few minutes and reached our next stop on this windy day--Castlerigg Stone Circle.
This mysterious stone circle was raised in about 3000 BC! Did you know there are more than 300 stone circles in Britain?
Castlerigg is about 97 ft in diameter, comprised of 38 stones.
These stones do make a nice wind cover.
Sheesh, it was soooo windy that day in the open field!
Here is a better view of the stones.
We just can't get over these amazing panoramic views of the sky!
So! After this we headed to the village of Rothstwaite. We literally had to follow road signs and guess where we were because our phone did not have good reception here. It was hard to find a place to park, but this village was our starting point for a hike.
We walked along the road, following a footpath.
Up, up we went, to hike Castle Crag.
As we walked, and walked through the village, pass the pastures and streams, we got a little confused and had to ask two other walkers for some directions. They were using a map (smart hikers) and were able to point us in the right direction.
We crossed the streams and hopped over from rock to rock.
Passing another village sign.
I seriously don't know when Katya managed to be taking flower pictures as she seemed to have been hiking with us the whole time and at our pace-hahaha.
Representing Carolina!
We walked and walked... At parts the trail was quite steep but I managed!
The views were unforgettable!
This signature green of the English countryside....
And finally, we arrived to the top, i.e. the slate hill!
I walked a bit up that hill, but got a bit worried about coming back as it was very steep and slick with smooth slate rocks.
Everyone else went all the way to the top and snapped another gorgeous picture!
That's a picture from the half way point on the slate mountain where I turned around because I am a wimp now when it comes to heights and slippery rocks.
Well, hello there! We also missed you!
Views of the village on our way back from the hike.
Just an average village building.
And more views of the countryside.
Ice cream treat was in order after our amazing walk/hike. Even finding it was an adventure!
A view of yet another lake the name of which I do not know😂.
We drove through Honister Pass with crazy narrow and windy roads.
And that got us to Crummock Water, another Lake in the Lake District.
Lots of picture taking happened here...
I am pretty sure all we were trying to do is make Mark laugh!
I mean, I could say, Robert and I, but it's not like we will forget who we are!
The kids took turns getting a picture with Robert.
And these two played with the rocks for a while, the water was absolutely freezing.
Back to pictures with Robert.
Wait a second, why don't we have pictures of the kids and their mama???
Nope, still with Robert...
Katya's favorite picture--so candid, so vivid and so real-hahaha.
Finally, convinced someone to take a picture of me! Actually, I have another picture from here that is absolutely horrendous! Truly! And Robert decided to use it on my birthday book, not just IN my birthday picture book with birthday wishes from all my friends, but on the COVER of it! That picture is so funny and everyone agrees I look funny, but, "apparently", Robert couldn't see how "funny" it is while the book was in progress online. Hahaha!
Robert dreaming about buying land...somewhere.
Well, after a long day of exploring we went to a pizza place in town, the kind that makes homemade pizzas and yummy salads.
We were able to get some needed sleep again and by now fully recovered from jet lag.
Very British--even in case of emergency.
To Be Continued...
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