I'm On A Boat

Today started out as a typical Lakes region day - dreary and a little chilly. I decided it would be a perfect day to head to Windemere, since most of the tourists would hopefully not be there. Lake Windemere is the largest lake in England at about 10 miles long and 1 mile across. The area around the town of Windemere was the home of Beatrix Potter and provided the setting for her series of childrens books about Peter Cottontail and friends. While it is a beautiful area, it tends to attract tourists for this reason.

Early morning on Lake Windemere

I got to what I thought was the town of Windemere and got off the bus, only to realize I was in a little lakeside town called Bowness-on-Windemere instead. Not wanting to look like a stupid American tourist, I decided to check out Bowness and then walk up to Windemere, which according to the signs was a mere 1 mile away. However, once I started wandering around, I realized that I had actually meant to go to Bowness and not Windemere after all, so it worked out well. After a large coffee, I set out towards the lake where I bought a ticket for the Walkers tour of Lake Windemere. Basically, the ticket included a 30 minute ride on a steamship to Ambleside, a little town at the top of Lake Windemere. There, you could explore the town and then hop on a launch to Wray Castle, walk to the ferry launch on a footpath along the lake and then take the ferry back to Bowness. The woman who sold me the ticket claimed that the walk was only 2.5 miles, so my original plan was to spend an hour or so in Ambleside, walk to the ferry and head back to Bowness, grab some lunch and walk up to Windemere to see the sites up there.

One of the former Victorian Holiday homes, now a hotel

The steamer ride was a great way to see parts of the lake that you can't see from land. All along the shores where huge Victorian houses that once served as Holiday homes for wealthy Victorians. Most of them have now been turned into hotels, but they are still really impressive.

Wray Castle>

Once in Ambleside, I decided to immediatly take the ferry to Wray Castle since I was getting hungry. I figured I could always come back to Ambleside at another point. Wray castle is the UK equivalent of Gillete's Castle. Both were built in the 1800's by eccentric men with lots of money who were obsessed with castles. Unfortunately, the castle appeared to be closed, but I did walk around the property for a bit before I headed off on my walk.

One of the steam powered boats that belong to Wray castle

The footpath followed along the lake and was very relaxing and peaceful. However, I noted that I had been walking for about an hour and a half and had not seen the ferry yet. Finally, after another half an hour, I saw a sign that said "Ferry - 2 1/2 miles". Apparently, the woman at the ticket booth lied to me. She meant to say 2.5 hours, but told me 2.5 miles instead. By that time, I was starving so I picked up my walking to Brenda Deal pace and hurried to the ferry, stopping briefly to take a picture of some cows for my dad.

Once back in Bowness-on-Windemere, it was after 1. I had to catch a 3 oclock bus from Windermere, so I didn't have a lot of time to shop. I did manage to swing by the huge Beatrix Potter store to pick up the Complete Illustrated Works of Beatrice Potter for my cousin Ari.

Bowness Street

Windemere

I headed up the hill towards Windemere, figuring I would arrive in 15 minutes since the sign said 1 mile. 30 minutes later I finally saw the town. What is it with the UK and incorrect mileage! After a quick lunch, I barely had time to wander through the town before I had to head for the bus. My bus driver on the way home was awesome. She drove like a maniac and was yelling "Bloody tourists!" at all the cars in her way.

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