An Adventure in the Lake District -- 2024

Mary and I met at the airport and went to the lounge. Mary loved sitting in the lounge and tried to steal everything free she could! The time went quickly and we got on the plane to Reykjavik. Allen had upgraded us so we were very happy It seemed a short flight and once there, we opted to get our first snack of the trip and waited for our connecting flight.

Arrived in Manchester and transferred to the Holiday Inn. It was a great location and a decent stay. Rested a bit-hate that jet lag-and then walked to a great Indian/vegan restaurant we found on line. The drinks were fabulous; all different beers. We ate it all and then dropped, literally, into our beds.

We both were up and packed our suitcases and backpacks and headed to the Manchester train station. It was cold! Bought pastries and coffee there and then got on board for our first adventure.  Off we went and the countryside was beautiful. Spring had just sprung and it showed. We arrived at Sheffield Station and then transferred to a cab as the bus was going to be too late to arrive to keep on our schedule. I am glad we did this as it was a real opportunity to see the Peak District countryside. A real gem!  As we arrived at Chatsworth*, I was very excited as I had wanted to see this my whole life. Maybe it was the Darcy connection? It was amazing. We took a self guided tour and spent a lot of time in the shop, including kissing the Darcy bust for good luck! We had a pastie for lunch and promised each other we would learn to make them. It was another Indian filling and we loved it. We wanted to walk the gardens but I said to Mary we should check the bus schedule first. Thank go...

Checked out of our hotel and were sad to leave our warm beds. Took our stuff and selves to the Manchester train station to get the train to Windermere train station. We were proud of ourselves for knowing what to do, as it was very busy. We were excited as this was the first day of our Macs Adventure. We read and slept on the train and arrived at our B and B in Ambleside after getting there on a bus from the train stations. We loved Lacet House and the owner, Louise, was fabulous. Our room was very modern (except for the heat which was not abundant-but welcome to England!) and located at a wonderful location to get out to see Ambleside, the first Lake District town, in the south. We got out and explored by walking around and at our first pub. Walked back to Lacet House and slept well.

Today was our first Mac’s Adventure hike and oh what a hike it was! All together we hiked eleven miles after a boat dropped us first at Wray Castle which from we hiked to Beatrix Potter’s House.*   Glad to have had an English breakfast as the hike was way more than expected but lovely along the shore of Lake Windermere. We were so low on time, we had to rush to make the ferry back. Hustling was really hard: thank goodness for walking sticks. We did suggest to the tour company to let people know to start early this day; we did not start early enough! I ended up with runner’s toe from the hike but who cares. It was so worth it!   * Beatrix Potters Home : National Trust Hill Top is a time capsule of Beatrix Potter’s life. Full of her favourite things, the house appears as if Beatrix had just stepped out for a walk. Every room contains a reference to a picture in a 'Tale'. Bought with the proceeds of Peter Rabbit in 1905, Beatrix used Hill Top and its surroundings as inspiratio...