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.

The Lake District

Our cottage

Hiking up CatBells

Postbox in the middle of the woods

 

 

 

Camouflaged

Town of Cockermouth

 

William Wordsworth's house

Village duck race

 

Although Franny and I still have over five more weeks of school, we did just have off last week for the June half-term. So we rented a car and drove north for six hours to the Lake District. It was really beautiful scenery, with green hills and blue lakes, and little villages. We stayed in Cumbria (home of Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth) in a cottage in a tiny town near Lake Bassenthwaithe. On our last night there the village held their annual duck race: sadly it wasn't real ducks like we thought, but rubber ones that you can bet money on for which will make it to the end of the stream first. It was a great area for hiking too, and it was so nice to come home after a long day taking walks and visiting villages to such a cosy and comfortable house. We were in a very northern part of England, almost to Scotland. The landscape was different to the other trips to the countryside we've taken this year- the Lake District has mountains whereas the other areas we've been to have small rolling hills, and while we saw the largest lakes in England last week, a few weeks ago in Dorset we spent time at the beach. I think I preferred the Lake District's scenery actually, despite the fact that I normally love everything about the beach and seaside towns. But it was so peaceful and calm, and the lakes looked amazing to swim in when it's hot...which it definitely hasn't been in England recently- starting last week we've had pouring rain almost every day. The lakes also had lots of tiny islands that you could easily swim to from the shore, which I would love to do. I guess we'll just have to go back...

Happy Diamond Jubilee!

This weekend marks the Queen's 60th year on the throne. The big celebration is called the Diamond Jubilee, and festivities are taking place everywhere. There are union jack flags and buntings on everything you can imagine, and we are all wearing red, white, and blue to all of the celebratory events; it is "best of British" to the hilt.

On Friday, Franny's school had a Jubilee festival, complete with decorations and snacks, a DJ, and everyone singing the National Anthem. Franny made a delicious batch of cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches to bring in, and some of the baked goods were incredible. It was a great afternoon and the perfect kick off to the Jubilee weekend and the half-term break.

  

On Saturday we attended the Queen's Birthday Parade-Major General's Review. Friends had given us their extra tickets and we headed into Central London early to grab our seats. It was the epitome of pomp and circumstance, with all of the soldiers in full regalia performing their birthday procession and military drills. It really was an amazing spectacle, and I'm so glad that we got to see it.

 


And today was the Jubilee Flotilla on the Thames, in which over 1,000 boats wove their way along the River in an amazing procession for the Royal Family, who were gathered on the Royal Yacht Brittania. We rode our bikes to a good spot on Wandsworth Bridge from which to watch the flotilla. We lucked out in being there before the rain started, but it was still a shame that it was such a grey day. Nevertheless, there were tens of thousands of people out watching the boats, drinking Pims, waving their flags, and celebrating. It was an impressive sight in many ways. They are calling this London's time capsule year, and sometimes I still can't believe that we are here to enjoy it.