Holiday in the North (Part Two)

Ancient Stone Circle

St. Bega's Church

As Greta has already written, last week was the girls' final Half Term Break and we headed up north for a great week of amazing hikes, exploring small towns, delicious pub meals, horseback riding, and visiting with family. This is our kind of UK holiday! After a complete fiasco with our car rental, we finally got on the road and headed North, stopping in Banbury (of Banbury Cross fame- we saw the fine lady on her white horse) for lunch. Our first half of the week we stayed in a charming cottage on a small river in the Lake District, and then the last few days were spent in Shropshire at Susan and Robert's. None of us had ever been to the Lake District and it was breath takingly beautiful up there, with rolling green hills, sheep dotting the landscape everywhere, crystal clear lakes, and quaint little villages that weren't too crowded with the summer season visitors yet. There was a fantastic pub right around the corner from our cottage and walks right out our door, it was absolutely ideal (other than the not great weather).

We always have such a nice relaxed time staying with the cousins, eating wonderful meals with ingredients from their impressive garden, collecting eggs from their hens in the mornings, playing games around the table at night, long walks through the countryside, and the kids dancing for hours to the Wii "Just Dance" game. And this time we also arranged a horse riding expedition in a nature reserve in Wales, which was fantastic. It was such fun to see the kids trotting along through the woods, and brought back nice memories of  horse-back riding as a young girl. Franny hadn't had any real experience riding and Greta had only been a couple of times, but they both did very well on the trail and looked like naturals.

It was a long ride back down to London on Sunday and the grey and rainy weather didn't help matters. But Franny was excited as can be because she was getting ready for her big trip to France this week. So, I am writing about last week to keep my mind off of this week- I miss my baby! But I'm sure that she is having an amazing time and will bring back lifetime memories of her school trip to Normandy when she was just eleven. In fact, I think that we have created quite a few lasting memories this year...for all of us. And as a result of this week up North, I now have a new favorite dessert: sticky toffee pudding with ice cream- good stuff.