We spent this weekend at the Lake District in England.....
The mountains create a new beautiful surprise at each turn of the road, which by the way is not fast, giving you time to absorb all you see. And the landscape is completed with miles and miles of stone walls, dotted around the hills. As we walked up one of the paths, we wondered how many years ago the walls were built, how heavy and laborious it must have been to bring all these stones up there and how difficult to build the walls in this type of landscape. The walls are made of stones only - no cement, in case you wonder.
I am not sure if this happens all year around, but the sheep (there are loads of them everywhere) were all marked with colours.... some red, others red and blue and there were even some red, blue and yellow. I am very curious to know what the colours mean... no need to say they also made the day prettier, bringing colour to the place and we decided to name them Benetton (United Colours of Benetton).
Very near us it was also Keswick, a small town, but there was a lot going one, a buzz in the cafes and shops, etc.
Eating in Kewswick..... Well, in that case I must admit I was a little disappointed, as I expected more fire places, more home made food, cosy places in this cold weather. There wasn't so much in that respect. Instead, there were plenty of cafes, I ended up having a pie in one of them, which had been clearly re-heated in a microwave. Some businesses complete miss the opportunity to impress, as I could not even cut the pastry one minutes after it arrived.
On the other hand, we had the most amazing meal in Windermere, in the hotel where we stayed. I didn't have high expectations, but they really impressed us. The meals were beautifully presented, the flavours and ingredients combined in an unexpected way and I had the best gnocchi I ever had. They also served us a free pre-dessert, such a nice touch... a small white chocolate and vanilla creme brulee. It was delicious, served as two layers, one was the white chocolate and one the vanilla. Fantastic!
This trip was booked a couple of weeks ago and, although I knew there was a risk of bad weather, all I expected was some snow. But not as wet as it was. The day before we arrived, it was extremely windy, some roads were closed due to mud slides, floods, etc.
Still, we were lucky as the roads re-opened on Friday and the persistent rain was intermittent, allowing for short walks. On Saturday morning the houses were covered in snow (which melted away later with the rain) ... Windermere was like a Xmas movie scenery when we woke up.
Snow... ahhh ... it is impossible for me not to smile when I see snow. Even if I now know about its risks, I still love it. It brings out the child inside me. As adults we are taught to be composed, responsible, etc..... but to be a child, even if it is for few minutes is very energising.... I felt like dancing around the room when I saw the house roof tops covered in snow.
Keeping the child inside us is so important! it is that pure feeling of joy when you experience something, a feeling without shame of how silly we may be, the fear of any risks the situation brings, or the expectations society have of seriousness or even of being funny ..... just the pure feeling of joy, without anything else. Being able to experience that from time to time re-charges our batteries. Perhaps that is why we need to be parents and grandparents, because during those moments when we play with our children and grandchildren, we allow the child we all were once to come back and live again for few minutes.
All in all, the mountains and the surrounding brought us a lot of peace, re-energised and amazed me by its beauty. I hope I can keep this feeling in my memory, to savour it for a while.
The mountains create a new beautiful surprise at each turn of the road, which by the way is not fast, giving you time to absorb all you see. And the landscape is completed with miles and miles of stone walls, dotted around the hills. As we walked up one of the paths, we wondered how many years ago the walls were built, how heavy and laborious it must have been to bring all these stones up there and how difficult to build the walls in this type of landscape. The walls are made of stones only - no cement, in case you wonder.
I am not sure if this happens all year around, but the sheep (there are loads of them everywhere) were all marked with colours.... some red, others red and blue and there were even some red, blue and yellow. I am very curious to know what the colours mean... no need to say they also made the day prettier, bringing colour to the place and we decided to name them Benetton (United Colours of Benetton).Very near us it was also Keswick, a small town, but there was a lot going one, a buzz in the cafes and shops, etc.
Eating in Kewswick..... Well, in that case I must admit I was a little disappointed, as I expected more fire places, more home made food, cosy places in this cold weather. There wasn't so much in that respect. Instead, there were plenty of cafes, I ended up having a pie in one of them, which had been clearly re-heated in a microwave. Some businesses complete miss the opportunity to impress, as I could not even cut the pastry one minutes after it arrived.
On the other hand, we had the most amazing meal in Windermere, in the hotel where we stayed. I didn't have high expectations, but they really impressed us. The meals were beautifully presented, the flavours and ingredients combined in an unexpected way and I had the best gnocchi I ever had. They also served us a free pre-dessert, such a nice touch... a small white chocolate and vanilla creme brulee. It was delicious, served as two layers, one was the white chocolate and one the vanilla. Fantastic!
This trip was booked a couple of weeks ago and, although I knew there was a risk of bad weather, all I expected was some snow. But not as wet as it was. The day before we arrived, it was extremely windy, some roads were closed due to mud slides, floods, etc.
Still, we were lucky as the roads re-opened on Friday and the persistent rain was intermittent, allowing for short walks. On Saturday morning the houses were covered in snow (which melted away later with the rain) ... Windermere was like a Xmas movie scenery when we woke up.
Snow... ahhh ... it is impossible for me not to smile when I see snow. Even if I now know about its risks, I still love it. It brings out the child inside me. As adults we are taught to be composed, responsible, etc..... but to be a child, even if it is for few minutes is very energising.... I felt like dancing around the room when I saw the house roof tops covered in snow.
Keeping the child inside us is so important! it is that pure feeling of joy when you experience something, a feeling without shame of how silly we may be, the fear of any risks the situation brings, or the expectations society have of seriousness or even of being funny ..... just the pure feeling of joy, without anything else. Being able to experience that from time to time re-charges our batteries. Perhaps that is why we need to be parents and grandparents, because during those moments when we play with our children and grandchildren, we allow the child we all were once to come back and live again for few minutes.
All in all, the mountains and the surrounding brought us a lot of peace, re-energised and amazed me by its beauty. I hope I can keep this feeling in my memory, to savour it for a while.
(I am sorry blogger does not allow me to upload the above picture with higher resolution, it was truly beautiful, but here it is not very good...)
The Lake District is stunning. A place that is beautiful in any weather. This weekend, it had a wild look - due to the heavy wind and rain. There were very heavy clouds at times and it looked like nature was rebelling. Nevertheless, everything also looks so tranquil, the grass was extremely green, and some of the vegetation has gone red bringing colour to the wet gray day.
The Lake District is stunning. A place that is beautiful in any weather. This weekend, it had a wild look - due to the heavy wind and rain. There were very heavy clouds at times and it looked like nature was rebelling. Nevertheless, everything also looks so tranquil, the grass was extremely green, and some of the vegetation has gone red bringing colour to the wet gray day.
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