Our England and Scotland Adventure: Day Six (22 August)

Today was our last day in the Lake District, so we figured after wandering on the fells yesterday, today would be a good chance to have a look at a few of the area towns and villages before bidding the lakes goodbye. We started by heading west to the market town of Keswick,
which has a lovely setting;


you can even enjoy a quaint stone passage while you use the cash machine (they all seem to be located in such passages in Keswick)!

The sandwich shop was doing excellent business,
but our one "food" purchase (you'll soon understand my questioning of this label) in Keswick was distinctly less healthy. It's not often you buy a bar that can boast this on the back,
or looks as downright scary as Kendal Mint Cake does, but we figured we would give it a try, since it's one of the things that the Lake District is known for--well, after having one piece, I understand why it would be useful on an Everest expedition: it's basically pure sugar with a bit of mint thrown in! "Sweet" doesn't even begin to describe it; I need to brush my teeth just thinking about it . . .
I liked this fat little door and the name of the house to which it belonged,
as well as this building's odd colouration and exterior winding staircase,
and this green stone was one of my favourites:
We walked past rows of bed and breakfasts on our way back to the car,
and I thought that this B&B had a funny name and an ever funnier resident dog.
The drive south to Grasmere wasn't as busy as we had worried it might be, but the scenery was as nice as we had come to expect of the area:

Grasmere has an even prettier setting than Keswick (Wordsworth described Grasmere as "the fairest place on earth"), and its small-village atmosphere is so wonderful that even throngs of summer visitors can't disturb it.



I thought this was a great address,
and, on a related note, Jo said that we had to try Grasmere Gingerbread, so we joined the (considerable) queue to do just that. At least our time in line
and in the shop gave me time to appreciate the tiny building which was the village school where Wordsworth once taught.
The gingerbread turned out to be unlike any I've had before, with a crumbly coating on both sides of a chewy ginger layer with an extremely fresh flavour and a nice bit of accompanying heat. I'm glad that Jo suggested it!
Neighbouring Grasmere Parish Church is lovely,

and is best known for being Wordsworth's church and the site of his grave (alongside those of his sister, wife, and children) in a churchyard where he planted eight yew trees.
The church lies next to a quiet river, completing the idyllic setting. We drove just outside the village to Dove Cottage, Wordsworth's home from 1799 to 1808:

Although the cottage is very pretty, the surrounding area was the sort of spectacular place that doesn't seem real--stone houses, quiet lanes, and nothing but picturesque turns everywhere we went.

Our last stop of the day was Ambleside, just a bit further south. A bustling place with a one-way street circling through town,

my second-favourite building was this NatWest bank, with its green stone fitting right into the rest of the town.

My predictable favourite was the well-known Bridge House,
which was orginally used as a combo covered bridge/ summer house, and has been used for storage as well as a permanent home (for eight people!) over the years. On our way out of Ambleside, I had to get a photo of this dog living the good Lake District life: With only the drive back to Penrith to go, I thought that the most scenic parts of the day were behind us, but I was wrong.

The view from Kirkstone Pass was amazing, and this pub seemed to be perfectly situated to enjoy the scenery.

Some people were setting off onto the fells when we stopped,
but we got back into the car for the winding drive home.

We had barely arrived when Grahame was bandying about the words "vanilla slice" and almost before I could say, "Yes please!" the four of us were sitting in the comfy lounge, enjoying a double-dose of vanilla: slice and ice cream.

I felt like the Ambleside Golden Retriever as I curled up on the couch to enjoy my evening treat--the good life, indeed.