"The silence that is in the starry sky,

The sleep that is among the lonely hills."

~ William Wordsworth

The Lake District is the most picturesque place I have ever been to. Words cannot adequately describe how breathtaking the Lake District is. The area really is right out of an English novel. It's not surprising that so many literary figures chose to spend their time here. The Lake District is truly awe inspiring. Open space and fresh air is exactly what I needed. I just wish we could have had more time. I was sad to leave and come back to the city. Of course I love London, but I'm not a city girl. I could live in the Lake District the rest of my life and never get sick of it.

Our first stop was to Dove Cottage, the house where William Wordsworth spent the eight most productive years of his life and hung out with Colridge (who really should have laid off the Laudanum). It's a little bit gloomy, but it was a different time. I wondered how Wordsworth could have composed so much poetry in that kind of atmosphere, and with such a large family and visitors coming and going so frequently. But he had a wonderful view (at the time, not so much anymore since the road was built and other cottages were constructed.) and a really pretty garden. Did you know, while Wordsworth was poet lauriet, he didn't write anything. 

 

We also visited the school house where Wordsworth went to school as a child.

From there we went to Beatrix Potter's house. Much nicer, much more cheerful. Everyone in her family was an artist to some degree. She has cartoon sketches by her father and paintings by her mother and brother hanging in her house.

We took long walks through the countryside, from Near Sawry to Far Sawry. We were expecting rain the whole weekend, but it turned out that Saturday, the day we essentially did everything on the itinerary, was beautiful. It wasn't too cold and the sun was shining. It made for some great pictures.

There are so many sheep in the Lake District! They're everywhere. The native (sort of) sheep of the area are the Heardwick Sheep. They were brought to the Cumbria area by the Vikings. But those were third generation Vikings, and by then they were past the raping and pillaging phase. The sheep have white faces and long brown/grey hair. They don't make wool from them anymore, because it doesn't turn a profit, and synthetics work just as well. The sheep actually have a kind of homing device, like turtles, and they return to where their mothers were first with them.

Our last adventure was a hike up a hill. It was a little more strenuous than I was expecting, but as our guide told us, if you don't like walking or hiking around, the Lake District is not the place for you. The exercise and clean air is exactly what I needed to recharge me. Living in a city has made me a little too inactive. The tube and the buses are so convenient, all I really do is walk to class. But anyway, the view from the top of that hill was unbelievable. I took so many pictures. It was incredible. Well worth the hike.

The weekend was a really great bonding experience. We spent a lot of time together on the bus there and back, and walking around all day, it was great. The group meshed so well and I had a really enjoyable weekend.

Our hostel was pretty nice too. Friendly and atmospheric. I thought it was cute that our little family gathered around the fire and played board games. Although, the English version of Trivial Pursuit proved to be a little to difficult for us. The food was good too, mostly local and organic. 

And the view was pretty impressive too.

I can't get over how much I loved the Lake District. I feel absolutely rejuvenated, just what I needed. I hope to go back some day.

Big Kids in a Candy Store

In the spirit of Easter, Ashley, Sarah and I went to a toy store. Hamleys is the FAO Schwartz of London. It's five stories and filled with anything you could want. There's even a Build-A-Bear inside. I think the three of us had more fun there than some of the kids.  

There was a really great Lego section. But Legos aren't really my thing.

Sarah owned Guitar Hero. She and got the high score. Ashley and I were endlessly impressed.

There was a display of moving wooden figures, which I thought was really cool. I

loved the piano player. 

Our main objective of the day was to get candy. I found jelly bellies and was really happy. I really wanted to find marshmallow peeps, but I guess that's just not something they have here in London.

There was a fabulous hat section on the girls floor. I also had my nails done, sort of, while I was there. A woman demonstrated nail pens on my nails. I'm so posh now.

There was also a big Hello Kitty section. Ashley was pretty excited about that. We found a cute Hello Kitty mug and bought it for Jenny. She's done so much for us that really it was the least we could do.

I think my favourite part was the Narnia displays in the stairs. I got really excited about it. They even had props from the movie there.

 

Although, I did really like the section of puzzles and chess boards and mancala boards too. Sarah pointed out, "You are such a nerd." I've never denied it. :)

"It's a Phoenix!!"

Good guess friends, but no. It's not a phoenix. As it turns out, it is a golden pheasant or Chinese pheasant, otherwise known as the coolest bird I have ever seen. I think it deserves a much better name than "pheasant" but no one asked my opinion when they named it. It's native to mountainous regions of China, and feral populations have been established in the UK.

(Yes, I looked up the bird for this blog post. And yes, I am a nerd.)

This particular bird is a male. You can tell by the red breast and black spotted tail, and the females' colour is duller. Why is it that the males typically get the better plumage?

They're rarely seen in their natural habitats and are clumsy fliers.

Apparently if they're out in the sun too often, they're susceptible to bleaching. Maybe that's why I saw him when it was grey and raining.

That's enough education for one day.