BRUNETTANS

Almost right after my mum had left England I went to the Lake District one last time before I leave the UK. I took the train up to Kendal on Thursday 15th where Judy picked me up and brought me back to their house. We had a tasty dinner, took a short walk up to Kendal Castle and then the three of us(Judy, Chris and I) walked to a pub called The Riflemans for an Irish music session. Apparently there wasn't as many people as it usually is but enough to play some good tunes. I really have to start practice my clarinet again, it's such an inspirational enviroment being around these people! We stayed until 12ish.

 

The next day Judy and I walked into town to buy some food and have a look in the second hand shops. I bought some snacks and two shirts(ops..). When we came back we had some soup and then we packed their camper van to head off to a place called Borrowdale where we were spending our weekend. On the way we stopped in a town named Keswick, very cute, like all the other places up there :) Once at our final destination, High House in the middle of nowhere(literally, not even any phone service!), we were welcomed by Judy and Chris's friends whom were all very friendly. I chose to have a look around and then do some drawing(which I still haven't finished..). The sun was shining which made everything even more beautiful :D I wonder how many times I've mentioned that word in my blog... Anyway, after my drawing session we had dinner and then played some games and talked. I came last in a game called Quirkle(?) and surprisingly I won a wordgame haha! Now remember that the people I played against were about 40 years older than me and grew up in GB so that made me feel even more proud hehe ;D Around midnight most people went to bed including me.

 

Saturday and the weather was once again wonderful. This thing they're telling me about this place being the wettest part of England, well it most certainly does not live up to its reputation! I borrowed a pair of walking boots and soon I was off climbing the (HIGH) mountains with some very fit and experienced people for my very first time. They worked out their route as we walked and we ended up being out for nine hours!! This was obviously no beginner's route so the skin under my feet was very sore afterwards but it was definitly worth it and I was not put off at all, although I think next time I will settle with a shorter walk! Since we came back kinda late dinner was basically ready so after a short, and probably one of my top five showers, we had a amazing meal cooked by a lady named Jen who spent all day preparing. This lovely meal was followed by a buffé of puddings, bye bye beach2014! After dinner I was totally worn out so did some reading and went to bed before eveyone else(!?).

 

Sunday - woke up, packed my stuff and had breakfast. Weather was alright today as well so the people who wasn't doing big walks took a stroll to a nearby stone bridge over a spring where a man called Morris  took his annual dip in the ice cold water. After some photo shooting we headed back to the house, enjoyed the weather, had some leftovers for lunch and eventually said goodbye to one another. We steered our van towards a village called Grasmere where one of the most famous poets of England lived when he was still alive, William Wordsworth. I have never heard about him but his most famous poem is kind of nice. Find it here. In the village there is also a small gingerbread shop which we went to. The biscuits didn't taste anything like the gingerbreads I'm used to but they were okey. After that we went back to Kendal. I went for a walk around the park Serpentine Woods and the views from the top of that hill was just gorgeous as well as the forest surrounding it. When I came back we had dinner and watched "Mr Drew's school for boys" before hitting bed early.

 

The following day Judy was going to clean for her cousin Alan who lives in a village called Bowland Bridge. I came with them and she provided me with a map so that I could go for a nice walk while she was busy. I followed the map and its description but at some point I accidently took a wrong turn and ended up completely wrong. Met a young couple but they didn't really know where we were either so I had to call Chris and he and Alan had to come and get me haha! Luckily I had food and water and the weather was hot and sunny so I still had a nice but slightly shorter walk than planned :) Judy had finished cleaning when we came back so we drove back to Kendal but stopped along the way and walked up to a hill with an amazing panoramic view. Back in Kendal I went into town and looked in some shops and some chocolate just happend to come with me back, don't ask me how... After dinner that night the three of us went to a village called Troutbeck where Judy and Chris's dance group Crook Morris was going to perform. Morris dancing is traditional English dancing from different parts of England and it looked like a lot of fun :) we didn't stay too late since Judy was working the next day.

 

At 9 o'clock the following morning I caught the train to Manchester to meet Ásdís from Iceland who I got to know when I was in Bosnia last year. She had just arrived to the UK and will work for a few weeks as an au pair. This was her first time in the city centre so we had no clue where everything was so we just walked around until we found a café. After a few hours we decided to go to her house and wait for her host child to come back from school. I just stayed until 5ish before heading back to Kendal. It was very nice to see her again as I don't know when we will meet again, hopefully soon! In the evening I sat down with Chris and Judy and we searched on Youtube for different Swedish folk traditions and other Sweden related videos.

 

The last day arrived far to quickly but there's an end to all good I'm afraid. Judy and I walked into town and checked out the second hand shops, I knew I shouldn't have bought something but when it's second hand and fits you like a glove I just couldn't resist. There is a shop called The Chocolate House(dangerous place that shop) where they also have a café so we bought some nice cakes and sat down. Since I had a train to catch we returned to the house, had lunch, packed my things and drove to the station. It was sad saying goodbye to them since I don't know when I will see them again but I adore The Lake District and Scotland so the chances of me creeping around there are not too small... !