“Come forth into the light of things, let Nature be your teacher”

It’s easy to see why William Wordsworth wrote most of his well known works while living in Dove Cottage on the edges of Grasmere Lake.  While the whole Lake District is beautiful, I find this particular area the most beautiful of all the places I have been so far.

 

The first thing I saw when I stepped off the bus

When I stepped on the bus in Grasmere, my original plan was to visit Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum, and then walk up to town and spend the rest of the day there.  However, when I stepped off the bus, I immediately amended the plan to include a walk around the lake, as the sky was blue and there were some beautiful reflections in the lake.

Dove Cottage

  

The view from the garden.  In Wordsworth’s time, you would have been able to see the lake.

The tour of the house is well worth it as they have interns who are studying William Wordsworth guiding the tours.  They really seem to know their stuff.  The museum was neat, but kind of a letdown as the Longfellow exhibit that was advertised was no longer there.  I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for Longfellow ever since I got a turn of the century, illustrated copy of Evangeline from my Aunt one Christmas.  However, the exhibit on Wordsworth’s connection to other poets of his time was really interesting and worth the visit.

After my educational experience for the day, I set out around the lake.  I must have taken about 200 pictures, trying to capture the beauty of the area.  I managed to get a few.

 

The only thing not perfect about Grasmere are the sheer numbers of people walking around.  It takes away from the beauty when you are constantly dodging slow old people or having to listen to children shrieking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I finished my jaunt around the lake, I headed into the town of Grasmere.  While most little towns in this area are basically the same, Grasmere stands out in the food department for their World Famous Gingerbread. While not a big fan of the hard as a rock “gingerbread man” style gingerbread, I decided to give their version a try, and boy was I glad that I did.  The gingerbread was slightly soft, and tasted more like a spice cake  than gingerbread.  Biting into it, you can see giant hunks of ginger.  I bought 3 big pieces, intending to eat 1 and bring two home for Kevin, but it was so delicious that I ate another 1/2 piece.  In fact, its so good that as I am writing about it, I am stealing one of Kevin’s pieces.  (Shhh, don’t tell).  If you are ever in the Grasmere area, its worth a stop just for the gingerbread.

The last stop on the tour de Grasmere was St. Oswald’s Church to visit the graves of the Wordsworth family.