Woke up bright and early to head to The Lake District today. It was a bit of a drive there but the scenery on the way was simply gorgeous.
It was my first look at the English countryside.
It was so breathtaking.
The landscape in all it's different shades of green, broken up by miniature moss covered stone walls and dotted with sheep.
I hadn't seen much of it from the airport in Manchester to Liverpool, and in Liverpool I'm in the heart of the city.
I couldn't get enough of it though and I only wish we could have stopped so I could've seen it better.
The Lake District itself was really beautiful too. We were more specifically in Windermere, a cute little town which (fun fact) was known as a holiday spot in the Summer for Beatrix Potter while she was growing up.
The lake with all it's boats reminded me of the Chesapeake and how much I miss it.
Can't wait to go sailing again when I get home.
There were also swans everywhere. And they were huge!
It was really odd.
It was such a beautiful and relaxing day. We walked through a huge field (all through which we sung songs from The Sound of Music) to the edge of the lake and sat on some rocks for a a bit, was just so calming.
It felt so refreshing just being there. Breathing in the fresh air and soaking in the sunshine.
It was so peaceful.
(I know I keep saying that, but I just couldn't get over it)
After that we walked around the shops a bit (I found a few things in a cute little antique shop) and then we stopped for tea (or in my case, hot chocolate) at a "posh" hotel and sat out on a veranda that overlooked the lake.
It really was the most beautiful day.
After that I was dropped off at the train station to start my journey to Edinburgh!
As nervous as I was the night before, I soon realized that the whole journey was a piece of cake. I think I had kind of envisioned a Grand Central Station like place where it was going to be crazy and busy with 45 trains leaving at once and left completely clueless as to how to go about finding the right one (I know, really silly) but it was so calm and smooth and a very easy experience. And everyone was really nice and helpful.
There was one sweet old man in particular who laughed when I addressed him as sir and in return called me "love" in his wonderful thick Scottish accent.
I got to see more of the country side on my journey and I have to say it really was my favorite part of the trip. I could hardly take my eyes away from it. It was so beautiful. And all different, from the cute little houses with their wooden fences and stone walls, to the rolling green, brown, and yellow hills with patches of trees and little ponds and the occasional stream here and there.
As cliche as it is to say, it really looked like it was straight from a book.
I wish I could have captured some better pictures of it.
It made me feel so alive.
And once again so grateful that I was able to have this experience and these adventures.
I really am loving every minute of it.
Navigating the Edinburgh train station to find Jackie and Will was a bit of a challenge, since it was much larger then the previous stations, but I finally found them.
It was so great running and giving Jackie a big hug! I'd really missed her.
They gave me a mini tour as we walked to their flat (like Liverpool, you can pretty much walk everywhere you need to go in Edinburgh too. Again, a novelty for me) and I got to see the city at night from the hill of the castle.
Will, being extremely smart and an endless source of knowledge, also was able to give me some history with the things we passed which was really neat.
I always find stuff like that really interesting, however my ability to remember said information is very limited so I don't have much to share about what he told me…
Jackie and Will have the cutest little flat and I instantly felt right at home. After some good conversation and a delicious dinner (what was that bean seasoning recipe again Jackie?) we called it a night with the promise of the city to explore in the morning.