"For nature then to me was all in all"---Wordsworth, Lake District, England

"Come forth into the light of things, let Nature be your teacher". ---Wordsworth.   

There are two main reasons people come to the Lake District in England:  one, to walk where the Romantic poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey) walked, and experience the land that inspired them; and the second reason is to just plain walk!  

Most people that we have met in the |Lake District are here to do the latter.  There is a famous Lakes writer named Albert Wainwright who wrote a series of books about walking in the different areas of the Lakes.  The walking trails are charming, but somewhat mysterious to navigate.  One excerpt reads:  "No Keswick holiday is consummated without a visit to Catbells.  This favorite walk is delightful.  The path leaves the Newlands Road out of Portinscale 25 yards beyond the lane to Nickal End, where a gap in the bush hedge on the left admits to a wood.  The route is not quite clear until the private road to Lingholm is reached, but thereafter is signposted".  Good luck with that one!  Now that you are lost in the wood somewhere beyond Nickal End, may you find your way back without incident.  We did do the walk up to Catbells, and it is lovely indeed.    To the west of Catbells is the valley where Beatrix Potter lived.  It is pastoral and idyllic.  

We are staying on a working farm (Sandhill Farm) in Bassenthwaite, on the Mirehouse estate.  It is charming, and our host Helen has been great.  We have been learning the protocol of how to walk across the land on the public footpaths, which are marked somewhat haphazardly.    One of the small peaks near the farm is named Dodd Summit---we've included a picture here to give you an idea of the landscape.  It was great to just leave the farm and climb up this peak, which has a striking view of the town of Keswick, Derwentwater (a lake) and the surrounding peaks.  Unfortunately, pictures can only convey the obvious---not the sensation of being in this landscape.  It is absolutely charming, almost like something out of a fairytale. 

Yesterday we went to Dove Cottage in Grasmere--Wordsworth home for about 8 years, during which he wrote much of his best poetry.  The museum was fantastic.  For us, part of this trip has been experiencing the different foods.   We have had some excellent meals here, including one last night (for my 50th birthday) at Purdey's, on the Langdale Estate in Great Langdale.  Getting there via a recommended shortcut from Grasmere was a driving adventure, over an extremely narrow mountain road called Red Banks, on which we met a bus and were coached though the meeting between the rock walls by the bus driver, who was patient with us.  Also coaching us was Gwendolyn, our navigation system embodiment, fondly named by Paul, whose voice is soothingly similar to an English nanny.    Today we climbed up Carl's End, a fell (mountain) near the farm.  Up we went, almost into the low clouds,  until we elected to retreat just below the summit as the wind picked up and a white out threatened.  It is easy to see, after being here, why Wordsworth, Coleridge, and DeQuincy, among others, were so moved and inspired by the landscape.   As you walk, each freshening rain brings forth a new Eden.  It is a very special place, one deserving of its association with The Romantics. 

Tomorrow we  begin our journey to the Emerald Isle for the next chapter in this incredible adventure.  We will surely have a spot in our hearts for the Lake District and be grateful for the inspiration it has given to so many, ourselves included.

" I listened, motionless and still; And, as I mounted up the hill, The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more" ---Wordsworth