Travel Week Part 2: The Lake District and Ambleside

After our time in Scotland, we left to the Lake District. This was where a lot of famous british writers and artists lived (Like John Ruskin, and William Wordsworth). I really enjoyed the coach ride there because everything I saw out of the windows was absolutely gorgeous! As if things could get any prettier here, but they totally did. It was crazy! When we got to our hostel (which was right by the lake and town...awesome!) we immediately dropped off our stuff and headed on a hike. A big group of us hiked a trail up to this beautiful viewpoint that overlooked the lake and all the green below. It looked like this:



Insanely beautiful right?! This place was like a dream. The hike was sooo fun! At one point three of us split from the group and hiked up a trail called Selwick's Scar. We though it sounded promising because it had and awesome name, haha. It was pretty awesome! We found these old ruins on top of a hill, and this awesome bench by a stream that overlooked green fields, the lake, and gorgeous scenery below. We sat there for an hour just talking. Loved it!



The rest of the day was pretty relaxing: dinner at the hostel cafe, magnum bars, sketching by the lake, and writing in my journal before bed. Funny story, I was in my hostel room writing in my journal when I heard someone in the hallway that sounded worried. They kept repeating the same thing over and over. I asked one of the girls in my room what it was and she responded, "crazy people...", haha. I decided to go check it out and it ended up being this cute old lady that must have had dementia. She was all alone in the hall yelling for her son Barry, over and over again. She was so confused as to where she was and what was going on. She was soo sweet. I tried to calm her down while some random guy went to go get her son. So happy I could help her out, she was seriously so adorable! I have decided the Lake District is one of my new FAVORITE places. It is like the ultimate hiking, camping, boating dream destination. :)

The next day we went to the cemetery where William Wordsworth was buried. We then visited his first home Dove Cottage. It was really cute and quaint. I loved the gardens there. It was here that he wrote his best poetry. After that we took a long hike through the country to his next home Rydal Mount (the one he bought when he became more wealthy). This home was much larger, and had larger grounds! I loved it here as well. After that we loaded on the coach to head to John Ruskin's home. We were dropped off pretty far from the house, and had to walk through tons of rain (AWESOME), pastures with cows (tons of the girls thought the cows were angry and would charge at us...ha), hills with rolling grasses, over streams, in lots of mud, through many gates, through peoples land, and on streets. Seriously one of the most epic hikes/walks ever. We sang Barbara Streisand songs as we walked...why? I don't know, but it was so fun! When we got there the rain stopped a bit and we were able to wander. The grounds were huge! We hiked some different paths, saw a cave in the mountain that they used as a fridge, toured the home, and hung out on the pier by the gardens. Totally wish my sister Cami could have been there, cause he had some pretty flowers there that I am sure she would have LOVED to take pictures of! ;) Fun stuff! Of course when it came time to leave it started pouring rain and we got to go back just the way we came. This is what I wrote in my journal about it, "We started our hike back! It was raining soo hard! The ground was super muddy, and some people didn't even have umbrellas. My shoes, backpack, pant legs, and left arm were soaked! We got muddy and dirty but I loved it all. I was so exciting to just have a mass group of us all walking with umbrellas through green pastures, cows, and gates to get back to the bus." We all reached the coaches soaking wet. It was an experience I will never forget! What an adventure. :)







On the way back to the hostel we got stuck on the tiny winding roads in our huge coach. We had to let this moving truck get past. Our Polish driver Ray was so skilled though, he got us past them with like two inches between us, seriously. It was pretty crazy!

The next morning before we left we hung out on the pier, got blueberry scones from this little cafe by the lake where the owner teased me about being from Vegas...he swore he knew Tony Bennett...right! He was soo funny though. Then we walked into town and explored the shops! After that it was back in the coach to go home. I was super sad to go. I really I LOVED Ambleside! I really hope I can go back someday! It was just so beautiful and quiet which was a nice break from busy London life. I now know why all these famous writers and artists lived there!