We said our farewells to Scotland, and traveled through the Scottish lowlands, to one of the spots I was really looking forward to, the Lake District in north west England. As we traveled south, the scenery was breathtaking!
Even through the bus window, the scenes were gorgeous!
In a few hours, we were back inside England, in Cumbria. I learned that Britonia, Caledonia & Hibernia were names for the areas that are now England, Scotland & Ireland! (which explains why I saw those "nia" names everywhere!)
Our actual stop in the Lake District (lochs & fells) was at Dove Cottage, in Grasmere, where poet & poet laureate William Wordsworth lived for a number of years. Although he never wrote a poem while poet laureate, he gladly accepted the cask of sherry given each year for the honor by the Queen! Gotta love that!
Looking down the main street in Grasmere. It was a lovely little town center! People were walking their dogs, and all the shops had biscuits and water bowls for them : ) A fellow walked by me whistling "Winter Wonderland"; I said, "It's too early!" and he responded "But I'm hoppy!" I called after him to make sure he knew I meant too early for Christmas songs, and he laughed and said "Aye!' The streets are incredibly narrow, watch out before stepping off!
Soooo green!
Views around Grasmere.
It seriously looks like a postcard everywhere you look!
The sheep are marked with red and blue paint (food-grade, I hope! LOL) in different spots on their backs to identify their farms.
At an adorable restaurant in Grasmere. That's Wordsworth etched in there (not the most handsome guy, just sayin') and I loved the blackbird perched in the same manner!
I literally couldn't stop taking pictures -_- It's SO beautiful!
Our bus driver, Joe (l), who we had all through England & Scotland, and tour director, Terry. Joe is from outside Glasgow, and Terry is from South London.
As we continued south, Terry took us to Chester, in Cheshire, England. It was one of the last towns in England to fall to the Normans, and is close to Wales (where we stop tomorrow!). The black and white Victorian buildings were striking!
The most photographed clock in England, after Big Ben. The
clock marks the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.
Our hotel for the night was Rossett Hall, about 1/2 mile inside Wales (per Terry...hope he didn't just say that, cuz I wanna say I spent the night in Wales), and was quite quaint! We had the best meal here of the whole trip, and I didn't get pictures : (
This was a looong day, but Terry stopped so many times for us to stretch and enjoy the scenery. It's much more fun to run around and sight-see than sit in a bus, but it got us from A to B!
Tomorrow:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, and a ferry to Ireland!
