The Lake District

I had such a good weekend!  Friday night the girls came over for taco night, round 3.  We bought way too much food for the first night, so we keep having more taco nights to get rid of it.  I’m not complaining!  Then we went out on the town.  Leeds clubbing is a lot of fun, and I find it hilarious that regardless of what club we’re in, I hear “Get Low”, “Hot in Herre” and the Fresh Prince theme song each time we’re out. Also “Gold Digger”, they love that one.  

  

Annik's photo, stolen from facebook

Then on Sunday we went to the Lake District!  The Lake District contains the highest peaks, deepest valleys, and the longest lakes in England, according to my guidebook.  It’s a beautiful area focused on agriculture, fishing, and tourism.  We saw Windermere, the main lake.  We left Leeds early and bussed to the district.  On the way we stopped at a family-run farm shop that was perfect.  They had a ton of locally produced cheese, vegetables, and more.  Annik and I stocked up on cheese, crackers, sausage, and some local chutney for our picnic.  And chocolate.  And carrots. 

We hopped on the bus and arrived at Windermere.  We hiked up a mountain hill and enjoyed the SUN and beautiful scenery while munching on our goodies.  Seriously, the views were amazing.

Hi puppy!

Next up was Bowness-on-Windermere.  It’s a cute little town on the banks of the river, hence the name.  The town is also home to Beatrix Potter!  Alice and I relived some childhood memories in the World of Beatrix Potter exhibit.  After playing around with Peter Rabbit for a bit, we met up with everyone else and went on a boat ride!  We went up the lake and soaked up more sun and scenery. 

Don't let their coats fool you, I was down to my short sleeves.  It was warm!

After the boat ride it was time to head back to Leeds.  I had such a great time with Annik, Sophie, and Alice (my flatmate).  The food for the day was fantastic, the weather was absolutely perfect, and the tour was a lot of fun.  I would have liked to do more hiking, but the rest of the group was not feeling it.  Honestly, who wears a dress when you know we’re climbing a mountain?  Also, it would have been fun to rent a little canoe and explore the lake, but at £18 for a boat plus £6 a person, it was definitely a tourist trap.  And since the name of the tour is called “Don’t be a Tourist”, then that would not have worked with the theme.