The Old Man and the Lake

On the third nice day in a row, Kevin and I decided to head to Coniston and hike up to the top of Coniston Old Man. Hiking (or walking as they call it here) is a huge past time in the lakes region. Back in the early 1900s, a man named Alfred Wainwright hiked, catalogued and wrote a series of books about 214 fells (hills/mountains) located in England's lakes region. A popular past time is to hike the fells and try and "bag a Wainwright" by hiking all 214 of the fells catalogued by Wainwright. Standing 2635 ft high, Coniston Old Man is considered an "easy" fell so we thought it would make a nice start.

We set out early this morning to beat the heat, and once again did not properly prepare foodwise. We did however manage to bring water, but no map. Luckily, the English are very friendly towards American tourists who wait until they have been hiking 30 minutes to make sure they are going the correct way. The fell has a "touristy route" and an alternate route. We (unintentionally) chose the alternate route on the way up. Some of it involved gradual sloping paths, but alot of it involved scrambling over loose slate. The hike up went through a former slate mine in operation since the Norman Invasion, which was neat to see. Half way up, I thought I was in trouble. "If this is an easy fell, I would hate to see a hard one." However, we made it up to the top and the view was lovely. Once up at the top, you can continue along the ridgeline and hit two more fells on the way down, or simply descend. I would have liked to keep going, but as I mentioned before, we forgot snacks, and the journey was about 8 hours. I'm thinking of convincing Katie to try the 3 fell trip with me when she comes in November. However, I'll remember snacks then.

Katie and I's route in November?

I am tired and mad that the camera was being wonky

Coniston Lake from the top of Old Man

It was pretty clear today, so you could see Morcombe Bay in the distance. Luckily, we asked a nice couple if there was another way down since I am freakishly afraid of heights and was dreading the climb down. This is when we learned of the "touristy" way which was much shorter and much easier, but not as picturesque. Once we managed to safely navigate up and back down the slate filled slopes, I fell on tar of all places and banged myself up. Typical Amanda. At least I didn't fall in the pile of sheep crap in the middle of the road.

We grabbed a quick pub grub meal and headed down to Coniston lake (while Kevin grumbled that he was tired and his feet hurt). The lake is the 3rd largest in the lake district and was full of sailboats and kayakers. I'll have to take my mom there if she comes for a kayaking trip around the lake, which looked like great fun.



I'm now exhausted, but glad I hiked at least one of the fells. One down, 213 to go...

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To Rome and Back: A Lester's Tale

A conversation at the pub one day with Chatty the Grey set Kevinwise and I out on our quest to visit Hadrian's wall early yesterday morning. In addition, a former Roman fort in Mordor Corbridge was hosting a Roman reinactment that sounded like great fun. (I'm not going to lie - the main reason I wanted to go was so I could take pictures of the reinacters and tag them as Doyle on Facebook.)The journey started out wonderfully, with a bright blue sky and no clouds or rain in site. However, Kevinwise, myself and our trusty pony car Bill were no more than 30 minutes from home when Bill decided he did not want to go any further, shut off power and caused us to coast to the side of the road. It wound up being an Electronic Acceleration Control issue, so we had to bring Bill back to the stable and set out once again in a loaner pony car. 2 hours after we originally set out, we managed to make it further from Ulverston than I had ever been, thanks to the new car. However, our trip was then twarted by the wicked, tricksy and false GPS Gollum, who instead of sending us through Moria on the M6, sent us up the misty mountains of Kirkstone pass where Kevinwise tried to kill me with his crazy driving on the narrow, narrow roads. (Next time I am definitely taking a Zanax). One more scary pass later, and 2.5 hours from the time we set out, and we finally arrived in Mordor Hadrian's Wall country. By this point, we had missed elevenses, lunch and afternoon tea, so I hoped that the drive would bw worth it. We found Corbridge with no problems and checked out the reinactment. It actually was really neat. There were a ton of reinacters showing the battle fighting styles of the Roman soldiers. I (maybe not Kevin) definitly think it was worth the drive.

The fort itself was pretty interesting. It went through 8 different forms before the Romans finally abandonned it in favor of the forts closer to the precious Hadrian's Wall. It now was time to see Hadrian's Wall. All along the road, I had seen signs, so I assumed it would be easy to find. We set out following a sign that said "Hadrian's Wall 2 miles". 5 miles later, and no wall. We did however come across another Roman fort, which we decided to stop since we did just purchase an English Heritage membership. This site was even more impressive and extensive than the Corbridge site. It once sat right along the elusive Hadrian's Wall, in what is presently a sheep pasture. However, no wall was in site.

Finally,a piece of the precious! A bit of a let down after all the effort, since I know there are giant stretches of the wall. However, it was now dinner time, and having already missed the majority of the days meals, I did not want to miss supper along with dinner, so Kevinwise and I gave up the quest for Hadrian's Wall and set off home, ignoring Gollum when he once again tried to send us over the misty mountains. We'll set out again in search of the elusive wall, but this time, we'll bring snacks.

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Tut Tut, It Looks Like Rain...

...or maybe not. Today, I decided to check out the little seaside village of Grange-Over-Sands. On the train from Manchester to Ulverston, I had seen the town, its estuaries and its sheep inhabitants and was dying to photograph it. The morning started out in traditional Ulverston fashion - dismal, dreary and gray. Naturally, I outfitted myself in hiking boots, long pants and a rain coat and boarded the train to Grange-Over-Sands. However, once I arrived in Grange-Over-Sands, the sun emerged and the sheep went into hiding. Determined not to let that deter me, I decided to walk through the town and along the estuary walk, sweltering and wishing for sheep sightings.

Promenade

The town has a quaint feel to it, but the real beauty is the walk along the estuary walk. Built in the early 1900s, the promenade covered the unsightly drainage pipes for the town of Grange-Over-Sands. Today, its a beautiful paved walkway that runs almost 2 miles along the Morcombe Bay Coastline and is populated with coastal birds, marshes, and grazing sheep, unless I happen to be there wanting to photgraph them. Nevertheless, the town is picturesque, and worth a visit if you have a half day to spare.

Duck Pond

I love English gardens!

Finally, the Elusive Sheep.

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Make Way for Ducklings

This morning started out with sunny skies and not a cloud in site - a rare thing for Ulverston. I quickly jumped in the shower, only to emerge with dismal, cloudy skies and a bit of drizzle - a normal day. Determined not to let that deter me, I decided to check out the Canal Walk.

Built in the late 1700s, the canal was designed for building boats and trading. A tow path was created along the side of the canal for horses to pull the completed ships out to Morcombe Bay, where they gained access to the ocean. Once the railway was built and the shipping buisness boomed in Barrow (where Kevin is working building ships), the canal stopped being used. GlaxoSmithKline now owns it, but the tow path is still open for foot traffic.

The canal, once used to build ships, is now lined with reeds and is filled with ducks, geese and swans which I saw plenty of.

This Mom and baby ducks thought I was going to feed them and made a bee-line towards me. Unfortunately, all that was waiting them was an eager Norwich terrier.

The canal ends at Morcombe Bay. Across the bay, there is a train bridge that reminds me of the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter. I kept looking around for Hogwarts, but being a Muggle, I couldn't find it.

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Whoever Said the British Had Bad Food Was Mistaken...

...at least when it comes to grocery stores. I spent my first day in Ulverston working on my nap skills, followed by a trip to the local supermarket, Booth's. I was a little afraid of what I would or wouldn't find there, but after my first trip, I am in love.

The first thing I saw when we entered was the produce section. It puts the produce in New London to shame. 10 different kinds of potatoes (we all know how the Brits love their mash), every kind of pepper and lettuce you could imagine, fruit, and fresh herbs. It was in the next aisle - the meat aisle, where I really fell in love. You can buy fresh rashers, whole chickens (marinated or not), the biggest pork loin I have ever seen, and 1/2 or whole ducks. I'm excited that I can practice my duck cooking before the big Thanksgiving dinner we are throwing for Mini Deal and the Felty's.

Where I really lost my mind was in the dairy section. The cheese counter holds at least 25 different wheels of cheese that are made in the area and cut to order. I have already tried the aged cheddar, sage derby and basic goat cheese, and they do not disappoint. They have Creme Fraiche! And not just one kind - multiple kinds. I would KILL to get creme fraiche in the US. (No really, I would kill someone to get my hands on it). For those of you non-foodies (pretty much everyone but Amy W. and the Feltys), Creme Fraiche is a traditionally French, slightly soured, heavy in fat dairy product similar in consistancy to sour creme or cream cheese. Its traditionally used in finishing sauces, or with fruit and contrary to popular American belief, can NOT be substituted with sour creme, yogurt or the "homemade" version of buttermilk/sour cream. It has a wonderfully nutty taste, and the best of it comes from Normandy in France. Booth's has not only English Creme Fraiche, but imported Normandy Creme Fraiche. I can't wait for Katie and John to come out at Thanksgiving so I can make something with it and share it with my French food loving friends.

Right after the dairy section is the second best section in the store - the booze section. Now I know that Connecticut grocery stores are a poor example of America, but I am so used to only seeing beer (and crappy beer at that) that I had to contain my squeals of delight. A whole section of wine, a whole row of hard cider, hard alcohol, and several novelties awaited me as I entered this section. England, not content to meerly have bottled wine and boxed wine, also has bagged and cartoned wine. I grabbed a carton of French Connection Savignon blanc and a bag of Arniston Bay Cabernet Savignon/Merlot from South Africa. For the eqiuvalent of 12 USD and the volume of 3 bottles of wine, the Arniston Bay is fantastic. Its a decent, fruity table wine that would go with just about anything. I haven't tried the Savignon Blanc yet, but for 6 USD and 1.33 bottles worth of wine, it can't be terrible.

The novelty booze section contains a shelf of what looks like soda cans in 4 packs or individual, but they are really premixed drinks. I immediatly gravitated towards the Pims and Lemonade cans, and then noticed the gin and tonics, which the rest of the Trifecta would be sure to love. Picture it - you come home from work and want a drink but don't have the energy to mix it. Don't worry, just open the fridge and pop open a can. The only forseeable problem that was pointed out to me is that the % alcohol is just 8%. However, this is a benefit to me. Just think how much trouble you could get in if they were full strength and you didn't even have to make them.

Now that I've made you all hungry and thirsty, how about you check on plane tickets and book a trip to come visit!

Living La Vida Lester

The second floor of the blue house is Kevin's flat.

The idea for this blog came about in a conversation with Doyle about how it would be hilarious for Kevin to write a blog detailing all his travels and such while in the UK. Kevin, however, did NOT think this blog, or our cleverly crafted title, were hilarious. So, I decided to steal the title and write about my trip(s) across the pond to visit Kevin. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can convince him to keep it up in my absence...