Day 11: Kendal and Lakes

July 1, 2014

The next day we took the train to Kendal, an intermediate stop on our way to the Lakes District.  Not that we didn't find it lovely in its own right:

We went to visit the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry, that being the kind of thing we tend to like.  We got a nice view of local history, crafts (including some lovely old quilts) and let us not forget the Kendal Mint Cake- basically a mint-sugar candy bar with a long and storied history (they went up Mt. Everest, you know).

Naturally I had to try one...sweet and minty, as advertised.
We enjoyed a stroll around town- including passing by a half-timbered Chinese restaurant (what can I say, we're easily amused)-

-and enjoyed sandwiches while we waited for the bus to Windermere.  Not to be outdone, the Indians had their own half-timbered establishment:

We got to take a short stroll around Windermere, including our first glimpse of the famous lake:

And the town:

And then we took another bus, admiring the scenery all the way.

We had a gorgeous day- not that it was entirely due to luck, as we tend to structure our plans so we can swap indoor activities out if need be- but once again we enjoyed really fabulous weather for most of the trip.  We made our way to Ambleside, where, in obedience to the name, we got out and started ambling.

We did see a few passing clouds, but no rain aside from a few light sprinkles.

We acquired a map of the local walking trails in Ambleside and set out to walk to Grasmere, widely reputed to be exceptionally pretty.  We took the evocatively named Coffin Route.

We spent some time speculating as to why the locals would have carried coffins over the hilly path rather than taking the much flatter road.  We eventually found out that the road was a toll road, and decided that was probably why.

The path wound up through copses of trees and across streams.

And we found, much to our amusement, that yarn artists had come before us:

We passed fields where the sheep roamed freely but the baby trees were penned (presumably to protect them from the sheep).

And at every turn we enjoyed the spectacular scenery. At some point we really need to go back so we can spend several days hiking and walking.

As we came down into Grasmere, we spotted a parasailor enjoying the breeze.

The village was as pretty as its reputation.  We strolled through and found a cold drink.  (Alas, the line at the gingerbread specialty bakery was so long, we decided to give it a pass.)

And that was pretty much the end of another fabulous day of walking, sightseeing and exploring.

We retraced our path by bus and train to Carlisle, where we at last got our Mexican food.