lake district.

{ambleside backpackers lodge, kitchen}

this past weekend two other international students (from italy, and switzerland)and i took a trip to visit the lake district. the lake district is rumored to be one of england's most beautiful, and quaint places. despite the immense amount of rain, we were not let down. we arrived to the ambleside backpackers lodge late on friday night. we settled into our room, then checked out the facilities, which proved to be quite adequate.

{taken in excitement that the weather was clearing up}

we then began the slow decent into what we would later refer to as our "elderly ladies weekend". we pulled out our books and knitting supplies, poured ourselves a cup of complimentary tea and lastly settled down in comfy chairs located in the lounge amongst fellow "backpackers". keeping up with our theme we ended the night with my friend playing "Comptine d'un autre été" on the piano, and playing several rounds of my new favorite card game called "dutch blitz".

{taken as we found the correct path around the lakes}

the following day we awoke early enough to partake in the free breakfast. as we had been told that it would, the day started off with a pretty steady flow of rain. luckily we were each prepared both physically, and well...mentally. we headed off into town, discovering a few rather neat shops. the town was a quaint Victorian style village, filled with other visitors dressed and ready for a days hike. we stopped into the information center to get some help about where to start. after some advice and a point in the direction we were off. unfortunately, the advice wasn't as clear as we'd liked. i'll just say we did eventually find our way, but it took some time. brilliantly, just as we began on the right path, the weather started to clear up. And for the first time we got a peek at our beautiful surroundings which had previously been hidden by the rain and the brim of my hood shielding my face.

{the closest i've ever been to sheep, not counting a petting zoo}

the weather stayed rather clear for the remainder of our hike, allowing us to see the colorful changing leaves, green hills, many sheep, a river, two lakes, swans, ducks, and the beautiful scenery combining it all. our path brought us to grasmere, where we rejoiced at the sight of food and a warm place to sit. grasmere is the village in which the famous poet william wordsworth and his family are buried, not to mention a gingerbread factory that makes your mouth water with one wiff.

{lake windermere}

after a bit more confusion we finally found our way back to ambleside, exhausted. we decided to utilize the open kitchen and make a meal together. remembering that it was halloween we decided to venture out into the "busy" night life of ambleside. after, passing a few pubs packed with witches, ghosts and disco lights, we settled on a much quieter pub off the high street in which was hosting free live music. here, we seemed to fit in a bit better as the average age was about 55. we slide into a long booth next to our soon to be new friends. we spent the rest of the night sipping cider and talking about how wordsworth was actually not that great of a poet, the best secret places to visit in north wales, and why switzerland has never gone to war. it was a delightful night.

{the hikers}

the next day we had planned to spend partly exploring ambleside a bit more, partly traveling back to bangor, and then lastly giving myself time to finish a paper that would be due the following day. unfortunately, these proportions shifted a bit as the day went on. we were able to spend the morning in ambleside, however due to the rain we spent it reading inside of a coffee shop.

{swan lake}

we then began our journey to the train station. it was during the bus ride that we began to realize just how much it was raining, as the roads began to seem narrower and narrower due to the flooding. after making it to the train station we were very confusingly informed that our train may or may not make it, and that they had arranged for us to take a coach bus to our connecting station, but that the decision was up to us. last minute we hoped on the bus, making it to the next rail station in time to find that this train had too been canceled. we caught the first train to leave the station. as did every other person who was there, making the trip to our next destination leaving us feeling like cattle. needless to say, due to the flooding we had three trains canceled, leaving the three alternate trains with standing room only, and a fourth train finally making it back to bangor after 8 total hours of traveling. that was double the amount of time it should've taken us. i'm choosing to refer to it as...character building.

{wordsworth family graves}

despite the rain, eight hour train extravaganza, and having to stay up until four in the morning finishing my paper, it was quite a memorable trip. as the three of us discussed in detail, there is something so unique about building friendships with people who've grown up in unimaginably different places, with different languages,and different ideas of comfort and challenge. yet, we've all ended up in the same place, simply looking for a place to have an "elderly ladies" weekend and enjoy the simple beauty of life.

until next time.
Cheers.

{for more photos click on the b&w photo to the right, near the top}