Well, we are now on the train on the way to Manchester. We had to take from Windermere till Oxenholme and the change to another train to get the Manchester. This time, the power point for the lappie works! Hey something is working... Sorry, can't help it. The power pt we had on the other train from Edinburgh to Oxenholme did not work at all.
On the other end, the Singtel roaming in UK is not that good. I don't seems to get any signal at all to return an sms to my colleague. Whereas my pda phone (personal line) had line from Vondafone; and it's a line from M1.
So what now till we get to Manchester which is about an hour and half away. With rain on either side of the window, yes, it back to raining season again... Today we left Windermere the way we came - in the rain. Except that when we arrive, the rain were not that heavy. Today the rain were rather heavy and the weather forecast is that it will continue till Monday (well, that's how far the weather forcast could go on BBC).
Just did a calculation - there is 854 photos in the drive... Wow. Then again it included a couple, well, a lot of NG shots. Strangely enough, despite the weather, I did get quite a fair bit of IR shots in there as well... Hmmm... But I doubt I will see IR lens for the next few days... Yeah, now I know what I need to do. I need to clean my lens!!!! So that would be the things to do till we get to Manchester.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Windermere, 27 Mar 08
Today was one of the clearest day I had in UK. The sky were at least some part blue. We even had the sun shining down. Yet despite this, the air is still cold and the wind is still chilly. What do you expect for a max temperature of 10 degrees Celsius?
Sigh, not sure why, but it decided to have the freakiest weather they had since a quarter century. Yup, it had to happen on the few weeks that I am in UK. Well, it did start before the trip, but still, I mean why not last year or wait till next year... When had you ever seen snowing in mid to late march?
Anyway, we were doing the Wordsworth country this day. We stopped along the way to Ambleside and finally got some shot of the Windermere lake. There were lots of mandarin duck and geese and swans! Got a fair bit of photos of these birds...
Then it was onwards to Grasmere, where we stopped to buy the original Gingerbread which is found in Grasmere, a shop just beside the Parish Church where Wordsworth and family were buried. I heard that his descendants are still living in Lake District in the Rydal house which Wordsworth had passed away in.
Then it was onwards to Airy Point to add more photos, this time of a small waterfall. It was a climb but not as a challenge as the Hardknott Fort, but still, sheep poo bombing was also prevalent in this place. Not only we had to watch out for mushy places to avoid, we also had to avoid the poo as well.
Once we got back to the car, it was then a nice drive along Ullswater lake, and then onwards to Penrith. There we had lunch at No. 15 bistro that is along Victoria lane, one of the recommendation of the Rough Guide.
Had wanted to head toward Brougham Castle but due to the timing, we had to skip it, and heard back toward Windermere, taking the scenic route that had us driving along Ullswater again, and this time, we went through Glenridding, Patterdale and Troutbeck to get back to Windermere. It was rather winding and up and down slopes, just like the drive in the Great Langdale or even Hardknotts; just not much of snow in sight as this area is not as high as those in the Northern/Western lake area.
Finally once we reached Windermere, drop our stuff; we had to return the car. From there, it was a walk to Bowness-on-Windermere, where we stood at the bay (where the Lake Windermere cruise operates) and take shots of the swan, geese and birds there while waiting for sunset. Kind of disappointed that the sunset was not what had expected and thus not able to take any pictures of it.
After almost frozen to death (well, at least for the fingers) being there and facing the winds, we had our dinner at Jackson's Bistro. Nice meal, especially the mussels. The Prime Sirloin steak was not as good as I would like it as I ordered a medium, and got a medium well instead, but well, too hungry to bother further. Had a small glass of Rose wine as well - from Castle Creek. While the board says that it's sweet, I don't see much sweetness in it. But well, it's still a ok wine to have.
So what we did on the final night in Lake District? We walked 1 mile from Bowness-in-Windermere to Windermere, back to the B&B we stayed. 1 mile, and it's mostly uphill kind of walk, so we were very much huffing and puffing away when we reached the B&B.
Tomorrow will be the last leg of the trip - back to Manchester and to the Sunday match! Can't wait till then... Oh not forgetting a day trip to Liverpool on Monday.
Sigh, not sure why, but it decided to have the freakiest weather they had since a quarter century. Yup, it had to happen on the few weeks that I am in UK. Well, it did start before the trip, but still, I mean why not last year or wait till next year... When had you ever seen snowing in mid to late march?
Anyway, we were doing the Wordsworth country this day. We stopped along the way to Ambleside and finally got some shot of the Windermere lake. There were lots of mandarin duck and geese and swans! Got a fair bit of photos of these birds...
Then it was onwards to Grasmere, where we stopped to buy the original Gingerbread which is found in Grasmere, a shop just beside the Parish Church where Wordsworth and family were buried. I heard that his descendants are still living in Lake District in the Rydal house which Wordsworth had passed away in.
Then it was onwards to Airy Point to add more photos, this time of a small waterfall. It was a climb but not as a challenge as the Hardknott Fort, but still, sheep poo bombing was also prevalent in this place. Not only we had to watch out for mushy places to avoid, we also had to avoid the poo as well.
Once we got back to the car, it was then a nice drive along Ullswater lake, and then onwards to Penrith. There we had lunch at No. 15 bistro that is along Victoria lane, one of the recommendation of the Rough Guide.
Had wanted to head toward Brougham Castle but due to the timing, we had to skip it, and heard back toward Windermere, taking the scenic route that had us driving along Ullswater again, and this time, we went through Glenridding, Patterdale and Troutbeck to get back to Windermere. It was rather winding and up and down slopes, just like the drive in the Great Langdale or even Hardknotts; just not much of snow in sight as this area is not as high as those in the Northern/Western lake area.
Finally once we reached Windermere, drop our stuff; we had to return the car. From there, it was a walk to Bowness-on-Windermere, where we stood at the bay (where the Lake Windermere cruise operates) and take shots of the swan, geese and birds there while waiting for sunset. Kind of disappointed that the sunset was not what had expected and thus not able to take any pictures of it.
After almost frozen to death (well, at least for the fingers) being there and facing the winds, we had our dinner at Jackson's Bistro. Nice meal, especially the mussels. The Prime Sirloin steak was not as good as I would like it as I ordered a medium, and got a medium well instead, but well, too hungry to bother further. Had a small glass of Rose wine as well - from Castle Creek. While the board says that it's sweet, I don't see much sweetness in it. But well, it's still a ok wine to have.
So what we did on the final night in Lake District? We walked 1 mile from Bowness-in-Windermere to Windermere, back to the B&B we stayed. 1 mile, and it's mostly uphill kind of walk, so we were very much huffing and puffing away when we reached the B&B.
Tomorrow will be the last leg of the trip - back to Manchester and to the Sunday match! Can't wait till then... Oh not forgetting a day trip to Liverpool on Monday.
Edinburgh On way to Oxenholme/Windermere, 24 Mar 2008
Past two and half days in Edinburgh has been... Well, cold. In fact, for the 1st time in my life, well as far as my memory goes, I had snow down on me in a city. I have been to ski slope where it did snow, but never in a city and, I had experience it in Edinburgh. So, I don't have to remind you how I felt... COLD! BLOODY COLD!!
So, what have I been doing for the past few days. well, we arrived in Edinburgh Waverly station at about 15:16 on Fri afternoon. It was to Albyn Townhouse, where it will be our "home" for the next few days. It was quite an eye opener as we were "stuck" at the front door and being me, a novice, in this area, trying to find the door bell so as to get out of the cold into the house. Took a while as they were also do some renovation in their private area, but once she, Lydie, appeared, it was a breeze. We had a lovely large room, which I was told was previously a drawing room, in a Georgian house. This house previously belongs to the priest who was serving in the church which was diagonally across the house. Looks like priest at that time were rather rich.
I have to say this. This is my first time where I travel and stayed in a B&B setting. I don't really know what to expect, but this is a quite nice experience. I have to say this though, maybe it's the size of the room we had, but boy, it's a little cold in the morning when we wake up. The other is... it's very, very quiet... Nice if you like it and if you had not heard the sound of silence before, you would in the quiet night, without any noise and sounds (especially not from your ipods and mp3 players!) The sound can be deafening, that's how I felt anyway. But of course it was broken by some snoring, courtesy of my coz... *Grin*
Just a reminder, as I look out of the window and see the snow/fog that currently lit the scenery as I travel down to Oxenholme then to Windermere for my next part of my travel. It was unbelievable, it's snowing outside of the train, but I am sitting in the train, wearing just a t-shirt. Of course, my thick and heavy jacket is right beside me and hooked onto the side of the train, which I will be wearing once destination is on sight...
Oh where was I, yes Edinburgh. Well, we had a short trip on Friday, since it was already late when we reach Edinburgh, and first thing we see there is HMV. Yeap, went in a bought another 2 DVDs - Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and some DVD on ABBA (which is not a official release from their production company, but well, you can't get it in Singapore).
Sat was spent on a 1 day tour to the Loch Ness and highlands. We took this Grey Line tour which Lydie has helped us in getting the tickets to. Was actually planned for this Rabbies Tour one, but since she has recommended this one and that they do pick you up from your accommodation area, it was good. The tour cost £36, without meals of course, starting at 8 am and back in Edinburgh at 8 pm. The driver/guide was Ross, and he's quite a funny guy, although I have to say, with different countries represented in the bus, some of his joke could fall quite flat if they had not known some of the background to it.
Had my first fish and chips from one of the stops we had in this tour. Not sure if it's the location but the fish was good, the chips, was, not very that great. Maybe I am not a chips person, more of a mash potato person... My chips had to be really fried right for me to enjoy it... As the bus journeyed on, the beauty of the landscape and views that we encountered reminds me how much that there has to be a creator. There has to be God in this world to provide us with such wonderful and magnificent mountains and vales. It's impossible for it to be a random big bang and then mass appears and it happened quite unexpectedly such views and scenery which had not changed much since its creation. Of course, there were slightly more population or industrialization in some tiny pockets, but still, the vast majority of these lands are not changed, and occupied and modernized like what we would see in Singapore.
Call me a cynic, but I doubt those pictures I see in the person's mobile phone is real. Maybe I am one of those that when I see it I believe it clan, but seriously, it does not look real. We had this cruise in Loch Ness, yes, remember Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster? Yeah, we had this cruise and this guy were telling us about the 18 of this mammal/creatures in the Loch Ness and the latest sighting by him was late last year where he was kayaking in the Loch and it appears about 25 seconds in between him and the shore. This cruise ship that we were in has this sonar thingy which allows you to create 3D of the Loch as well as some statistic of the depth of the bottom bed, etc. It was quite interesting to view those "live" feed of the Loch and the location we were at. And get this, there is a school of fish that is carnivores that swims at a certain depth and is rather large. If you happened to be swimming and it's their cycle where they would appear above the normal depth to feed on salmon and trout that can be found nearer to the surface till they breed to a certain sustainable level before they goes down into their usual depth and then cannibalized their own breed till the cycle starts again. If you happen to be swim then, well, you might just become fish food!
Then it was a nice drive back to Edinburgh with a pit stop at Pitlochy where we had the fish and chips. That was our dinner (and shared too).
Sun was supposed to be another day trip to St Andrews and the Kingdom of Fife. However, since it's funny that we are at Edinburgh and yet have not really gone round Edinburgh, so we had to drop the day tour. The day started with a Full Scottish breakfast but without the black pudding. I have yet to find out what is in this black pudding but I heard one of the ingredient is lamb's or pig's blood. This was a no-no for me, so no black pudding please. Oh, you want to know what is in this Full Scottish breakfast? It's Eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown, mushrooms, baked beans, and of course, if you want, black pudding. I am sure toast is somewhere in there, but already had a bowl of cereal, so no toast please!
Once we are "fatten" up, we left the b&b heading towards the Old Town area. It was a good 15-18 mins walk and this time, we stop at the bus stop opposite Sheraton to hop onto this Edinburgh tour bus. You pay £10 for a day, and you could hop on & off to the different sights/places of interest, like Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, The Dynamic Earth, Scottish Parliament House, etc. We even pass the house (17 Heriot Row) which Robert L Stevenson who wrote Robinson Crusoe, etc was born and stayed. There was also a place where JK Rowling was supposed to be sitting and writing Harry Potter stories as well. Then there was a school along the route where the school in Harry Potter was inspired from.
It was then headed for Edinburgh Castle. It was not the right day to visit it, with an hour waiting in line for the tickets, in the (very) cold, and strong wind! Wanted to head toward Holyrood Palace but by the time we finished the Castle, it was rather late and my coz wants to head to Princes St to get her stuff. So, we had to skip that location. Anyway, I had seen that place about 12 years ago, when I first landed in Edinburgh and had about half a day before heading for Dundee, so it was not all that bad. Funny thing is that she could not find her stuff at £1 at M&S, instead we bought ingredients to fix up a sandwich dinner. It was lovely, and at £3.785 for dinner. One of the cheapest meals we had.
So, now that we had hit Carlise, the scenery has changed, it's sunny, no longer snowing. In another hours time, we should be reaching Oxenholme and well, Lake district here we come!
Till then... Will write more.
Oh, did I mention Lydie has a hound dog name is Maya.
So, what have I been doing for the past few days. well, we arrived in Edinburgh Waverly station at about 15:16 on Fri afternoon. It was to Albyn Townhouse, where it will be our "home" for the next few days. It was quite an eye opener as we were "stuck" at the front door and being me, a novice, in this area, trying to find the door bell so as to get out of the cold into the house. Took a while as they were also do some renovation in their private area, but once she, Lydie, appeared, it was a breeze. We had a lovely large room, which I was told was previously a drawing room, in a Georgian house. This house previously belongs to the priest who was serving in the church which was diagonally across the house. Looks like priest at that time were rather rich.
I have to say this. This is my first time where I travel and stayed in a B&B setting. I don't really know what to expect, but this is a quite nice experience. I have to say this though, maybe it's the size of the room we had, but boy, it's a little cold in the morning when we wake up. The other is... it's very, very quiet... Nice if you like it and if you had not heard the sound of silence before, you would in the quiet night, without any noise and sounds (especially not from your ipods and mp3 players!) The sound can be deafening, that's how I felt anyway. But of course it was broken by some snoring, courtesy of my coz... *Grin*
Just a reminder, as I look out of the window and see the snow/fog that currently lit the scenery as I travel down to Oxenholme then to Windermere for my next part of my travel. It was unbelievable, it's snowing outside of the train, but I am sitting in the train, wearing just a t-shirt. Of course, my thick and heavy jacket is right beside me and hooked onto the side of the train, which I will be wearing once destination is on sight...
Oh where was I, yes Edinburgh. Well, we had a short trip on Friday, since it was already late when we reach Edinburgh, and first thing we see there is HMV. Yeap, went in a bought another 2 DVDs - Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and some DVD on ABBA (which is not a official release from their production company, but well, you can't get it in Singapore).
Sat was spent on a 1 day tour to the Loch Ness and highlands. We took this Grey Line tour which Lydie has helped us in getting the tickets to. Was actually planned for this Rabbies Tour one, but since she has recommended this one and that they do pick you up from your accommodation area, it was good. The tour cost £36, without meals of course, starting at 8 am and back in Edinburgh at 8 pm. The driver/guide was Ross, and he's quite a funny guy, although I have to say, with different countries represented in the bus, some of his joke could fall quite flat if they had not known some of the background to it.
Had my first fish and chips from one of the stops we had in this tour. Not sure if it's the location but the fish was good, the chips, was, not very that great. Maybe I am not a chips person, more of a mash potato person... My chips had to be really fried right for me to enjoy it... As the bus journeyed on, the beauty of the landscape and views that we encountered reminds me how much that there has to be a creator. There has to be God in this world to provide us with such wonderful and magnificent mountains and vales. It's impossible for it to be a random big bang and then mass appears and it happened quite unexpectedly such views and scenery which had not changed much since its creation. Of course, there were slightly more population or industrialization in some tiny pockets, but still, the vast majority of these lands are not changed, and occupied and modernized like what we would see in Singapore.
Call me a cynic, but I doubt those pictures I see in the person's mobile phone is real. Maybe I am one of those that when I see it I believe it clan, but seriously, it does not look real. We had this cruise in Loch Ness, yes, remember Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster? Yeah, we had this cruise and this guy were telling us about the 18 of this mammal/creatures in the Loch Ness and the latest sighting by him was late last year where he was kayaking in the Loch and it appears about 25 seconds in between him and the shore. This cruise ship that we were in has this sonar thingy which allows you to create 3D of the Loch as well as some statistic of the depth of the bottom bed, etc. It was quite interesting to view those "live" feed of the Loch and the location we were at. And get this, there is a school of fish that is carnivores that swims at a certain depth and is rather large. If you happened to be swimming and it's their cycle where they would appear above the normal depth to feed on salmon and trout that can be found nearer to the surface till they breed to a certain sustainable level before they goes down into their usual depth and then cannibalized their own breed till the cycle starts again. If you happen to be swim then, well, you might just become fish food!
Then it was a nice drive back to Edinburgh with a pit stop at Pitlochy where we had the fish and chips. That was our dinner (and shared too).
Sun was supposed to be another day trip to St Andrews and the Kingdom of Fife. However, since it's funny that we are at Edinburgh and yet have not really gone round Edinburgh, so we had to drop the day tour. The day started with a Full Scottish breakfast but without the black pudding. I have yet to find out what is in this black pudding but I heard one of the ingredient is lamb's or pig's blood. This was a no-no for me, so no black pudding please. Oh, you want to know what is in this Full Scottish breakfast? It's Eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown, mushrooms, baked beans, and of course, if you want, black pudding. I am sure toast is somewhere in there, but already had a bowl of cereal, so no toast please!
Once we are "fatten" up, we left the b&b heading towards the Old Town area. It was a good 15-18 mins walk and this time, we stop at the bus stop opposite Sheraton to hop onto this Edinburgh tour bus. You pay £10 for a day, and you could hop on & off to the different sights/places of interest, like Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, The Dynamic Earth, Scottish Parliament House, etc. We even pass the house (17 Heriot Row) which Robert L Stevenson who wrote Robinson Crusoe, etc was born and stayed. There was also a place where JK Rowling was supposed to be sitting and writing Harry Potter stories as well. Then there was a school along the route where the school in Harry Potter was inspired from.
It was then headed for Edinburgh Castle. It was not the right day to visit it, with an hour waiting in line for the tickets, in the (very) cold, and strong wind! Wanted to head toward Holyrood Palace but by the time we finished the Castle, it was rather late and my coz wants to head to Princes St to get her stuff. So, we had to skip that location. Anyway, I had seen that place about 12 years ago, when I first landed in Edinburgh and had about half a day before heading for Dundee, so it was not all that bad. Funny thing is that she could not find her stuff at £1 at M&S, instead we bought ingredients to fix up a sandwich dinner. It was lovely, and at £3.785 for dinner. One of the cheapest meals we had.
So, now that we had hit Carlise, the scenery has changed, it's sunny, no longer snowing. In another hours time, we should be reaching Oxenholme and well, Lake district here we come!
Till then... Will write more.
Oh, did I mention Lydie has a hound dog name is Maya.
Windermere, 26 Mar 2008
Wow, it's already been 3 days since arriving in Windermere. I have to say, I have seen peaks and vales enough to last me a month, before the work and all gets into me again. The first day when we arrived, it was already mid day and by the time we got to the B&B, it was exactly at 1.30pm which was the check-in time. This time, we are given the top level which looked a lot like an attic, especially with the slanted ceiling and a small window. Settled in, started to walk toward the car hire shop to see if we could rent a car. The person had told us in the previous email that it's quite busy and cars were snapping up, but we took the chance in not booking it first. The cab person, whom we asked, do feel that it's best to rent a car, but they also do tours for us if we wanted to. The fees however, were at £25 per hour. Nope, no can do.
So we were hoping that the car hire will have a car for us... which turns out to be true, in fact there were 4 manual cars, and 2 auto. Well, we took the auto at the rate of £40.50 per day along with £3.50 per day for additional driver. It all came to £120 which was paid by card... Had to, I had only about £80 left to last the remaining of the trip! The person was rather nice and pointed out where we should go for our tour of the lake area. He also pointed out that we could take a route which were one of the shortest route in the lake district for our remainder of the time of the day. We drove to the ferry (where we had ice cream while waiting for the ferry - chocolate favour for moi and vanilla for my coz), took it across lake Windermere, and the drive up to Hawkshead, then onwards to Amberside where we had our 2nd fish and chip in this trip. Then it was a shorter drive back down to
Windermere. Dinner was at this Lamplighter Bar & Restaurant where I had mushroom soup and my coz had carrot soup and we shared a dish that had local shrimp - which looked a lot like our hare-bee. Had my first glass of Cider too.
The next day, we started our day with the full English breakfast - minus the black pudding (which was not offered anyway) and it consist of baked beans, fried egg, bacon, Cumberland sausage, hash brown, grilled tomato and mushrooms. We also had some toast, cereals, orange juice, and of course, tea! First order of the day was to get our laundry done... Imagine that, you get to a scenic place like Lake District and what we do on the 1st morning, laundry! Ah well, it had to be done sooner or later and clothes were in short supply.
Anyway, once that was done we were on our way. This time we drove pass Ambleside, onwards to Keswick, along the way we stopped for photo sessions at Thirlmere (lake), onwards to Keswick. Off Keswick we came to Castlerigg Stone Circle. Took a couple of photos there, and off we go to the long drive down to Borrowdale valley, passing the Derwentwater, onwards to Honister Pass (but we did not stop to see the slate mine), and then onwards to Buttermere. There we stopped for a deluxe local ice cream which taste heavenly, especially if you love full cream ice cream. I had a caramel crunch flavour while my coz has the cherry flavour.
We then headed towards Cockermouth before turning and head back to Windermere, passing the Bassenthwaite Lake, Keswick, Grasmere, Rydal and Ambleside. This time, we headed to Bowness-on-Windermere to do a little shopping (my coz) and we had our dinner there. This time, we had dinner at Sutherland Bar and Restaurant. I had Roast Leg of Lamb and she had Roast Turkey. Had this horrible drink of blackcurrant squash, which tasted a lot like some medication or some horrid mixed drink.
Again, this morning with a full stomach, we headout to the Great Langdale, passing Ambleside (again!), Skelwith Bridge, Elterwater and Chapel Stile. Once we pass it, we then headed onward to Hardknott Pass where Hardknott fort walls that is still there. It was a little off the road and a climb. Was huffing and puffing by the time I got there, and in this climb discover that sheep maybe everywhere but they also poo everywhere. Almost a lot of steps that I took I can see poo everywhere. So, I had to try not step on the poo and also not on the squishy mud which is around due to the cold and wet weather.
When I got down, found that my coz found a easier way to get the lower walls of the fort, and did not have to huff and puff to get up there... Darn it... But was a good exercise I have to say. Then it was onwards to Eskdale, and we had our lunch - Potato and leek soup and we shared a plate of scampi and jacket potatoes - at King George IV Bar & Restaurant. Not too sure why, but the Brits seems to love this soup, had it in Edinburgh and now in the Lake District.
From there, we drove on to Broughton-In-Furness, thinking that it's a port, but it did not seem like it. Anyway, we then headed towards Coniston, stopped by this Mother Earth thingy kind of shop. Then we drove on back to Windermere, passing Skelwith bridge and Ambleside. It was actually near Tarn Hows, and although it was highlighted as one of the 18 things to see/do by the rough guide to lake district (which is on loan from NLB), the lighting at this time is already getting dark, so it won't be as good as it should be, so we skipped it.
We had our dinner at The Queens. Not that it's a recommended place or what, but there is a large plasma TV for us to watch England vs France friendly. Had the traditional Roast beef which did not taste that well as the beef was really really tough, but it was an interesting experience to be sitting in a pub in England and watch a football match. It was a good thing that we got there earlier as it got crowded once it hit 7.30pm. Not that it would as crowded as Crabshack (where MU fans gather to watch matches in Sg), but still... Most were men and they were having a couple of beers while watching it. The match was not too exciting, and france got an early goal, courtesy of a penalty. Walked back to B&B at half time.
Tomorrow will be the last day to go round the area and this time will be the area known as Wordsworth Country. Till then....
Oh, did I mention that I bought Sex and The City Complete Series? I'm now into the 4th disc. 1 day 1 disc, so by the time I get back I would have done like 9 - 10 discs.
So we were hoping that the car hire will have a car for us... which turns out to be true, in fact there were 4 manual cars, and 2 auto. Well, we took the auto at the rate of £40.50 per day along with £3.50 per day for additional driver. It all came to £120 which was paid by card... Had to, I had only about £80 left to last the remaining of the trip! The person was rather nice and pointed out where we should go for our tour of the lake area. He also pointed out that we could take a route which were one of the shortest route in the lake district for our remainder of the time of the day. We drove to the ferry (where we had ice cream while waiting for the ferry - chocolate favour for moi and vanilla for my coz), took it across lake Windermere, and the drive up to Hawkshead, then onwards to Amberside where we had our 2nd fish and chip in this trip. Then it was a shorter drive back down to
Windermere. Dinner was at this Lamplighter Bar & Restaurant where I had mushroom soup and my coz had carrot soup and we shared a dish that had local shrimp - which looked a lot like our hare-bee. Had my first glass of Cider too.
The next day, we started our day with the full English breakfast - minus the black pudding (which was not offered anyway) and it consist of baked beans, fried egg, bacon, Cumberland sausage, hash brown, grilled tomato and mushrooms. We also had some toast, cereals, orange juice, and of course, tea! First order of the day was to get our laundry done... Imagine that, you get to a scenic place like Lake District and what we do on the 1st morning, laundry! Ah well, it had to be done sooner or later and clothes were in short supply.
Anyway, once that was done we were on our way. This time we drove pass Ambleside, onwards to Keswick, along the way we stopped for photo sessions at Thirlmere (lake), onwards to Keswick. Off Keswick we came to Castlerigg Stone Circle. Took a couple of photos there, and off we go to the long drive down to Borrowdale valley, passing the Derwentwater, onwards to Honister Pass (but we did not stop to see the slate mine), and then onwards to Buttermere. There we stopped for a deluxe local ice cream which taste heavenly, especially if you love full cream ice cream. I had a caramel crunch flavour while my coz has the cherry flavour.
We then headed towards Cockermouth before turning and head back to Windermere, passing the Bassenthwaite Lake, Keswick, Grasmere, Rydal and Ambleside. This time, we headed to Bowness-on-Windermere to do a little shopping (my coz) and we had our dinner there. This time, we had dinner at Sutherland Bar and Restaurant. I had Roast Leg of Lamb and she had Roast Turkey. Had this horrible drink of blackcurrant squash, which tasted a lot like some medication or some horrid mixed drink.
Again, this morning with a full stomach, we headout to the Great Langdale, passing Ambleside (again!), Skelwith Bridge, Elterwater and Chapel Stile. Once we pass it, we then headed onward to Hardknott Pass where Hardknott fort walls that is still there. It was a little off the road and a climb. Was huffing and puffing by the time I got there, and in this climb discover that sheep maybe everywhere but they also poo everywhere. Almost a lot of steps that I took I can see poo everywhere. So, I had to try not step on the poo and also not on the squishy mud which is around due to the cold and wet weather.
When I got down, found that my coz found a easier way to get the lower walls of the fort, and did not have to huff and puff to get up there... Darn it... But was a good exercise I have to say. Then it was onwards to Eskdale, and we had our lunch - Potato and leek soup and we shared a plate of scampi and jacket potatoes - at King George IV Bar & Restaurant. Not too sure why, but the Brits seems to love this soup, had it in Edinburgh and now in the Lake District.
From there, we drove on to Broughton-In-Furness, thinking that it's a port, but it did not seem like it. Anyway, we then headed towards Coniston, stopped by this Mother Earth thingy kind of shop. Then we drove on back to Windermere, passing Skelwith bridge and Ambleside. It was actually near Tarn Hows, and although it was highlighted as one of the 18 things to see/do by the rough guide to lake district (which is on loan from NLB), the lighting at this time is already getting dark, so it won't be as good as it should be, so we skipped it.
We had our dinner at The Queens. Not that it's a recommended place or what, but there is a large plasma TV for us to watch England vs France friendly. Had the traditional Roast beef which did not taste that well as the beef was really really tough, but it was an interesting experience to be sitting in a pub in England and watch a football match. It was a good thing that we got there earlier as it got crowded once it hit 7.30pm. Not that it would as crowded as Crabshack (where MU fans gather to watch matches in Sg), but still... Most were men and they were having a couple of beers while watching it. The match was not too exciting, and france got an early goal, courtesy of a penalty. Walked back to B&B at half time.
Tomorrow will be the last day to go round the area and this time will be the area known as Wordsworth Country. Till then....
Oh, did I mention that I bought Sex and The City Complete Series? I'm now into the 4th disc. 1 day 1 disc, so by the time I get back I would have done like 9 - 10 discs.
Hello from UK
Yup, had decided to pay 5 quid for the 1 hr internet access (Actually is to get idea of how to get Anfield tour booking info... Don't want to face the same issue as I did today at Old Trafford... Tour is fully booked till Sunday 16:10 where finally there is places available for the tour!!!) Anyway, here are my entire journal/reflection - well, almost since it was done during the nothing to do period - since the start of the trip... So... Here goes... The photos will have to come after I get back. My lappie does not have the right tools...
Of course wrap up will come when the photos are ready... :D
Of course wrap up will come when the photos are ready... :D
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Oh... Wow...
Finally, got all my UK trip lodging booked and with confirmation - after days of internet searching and mass emailing to the different B&B to look for room rates and availability.
Boy, when I calculate the $, it comes up to 343.40 GBP which if you take the rate of 2.80, it will be SGD961.52!!!! That's only the lodgings... Then, the flight would most probably comes up to SGD1720, note that only SGD998 is the flight ticket, taxes, surcharges, etc cost up to SGD772!!! Finally there is the match day hospitality (match ticket, 1 meal, vouchers for merchandise, etc) which cost about 200GBP including VAT and etc (SGD589.20 to be exact, paid already via CC)... Oh and then BritRail (for the train rides to to the different part of UK) will be around SGD400.50...
Looking at it, not adding in meals (and car rental for the 4 days in Lake District), it's already SGD3671.22!!!! This trip is going to be SGD5K by the time I come back... *faint*
Now I know why I went the tour route for my Spain trip... No more long-haul travel for next 2 years!!!!
Actually, not just travel, no more new gadgets, new lens, everything!!! Think must "eat grass" as well....
Haiz... On the profession front, I am basically out of town again... I only have 3 days in town, before this trip... Oh well, look on the bright side... I won't be paying much bills for this month... Then again, the trip bill is already sky high... But, company pay for the other 2 weeks... Not that bad lah... right?!?!?!
Boy, when I calculate the $, it comes up to 343.40 GBP which if you take the rate of 2.80, it will be SGD961.52!!!! That's only the lodgings... Then, the flight would most probably comes up to SGD1720, note that only SGD998 is the flight ticket, taxes, surcharges, etc cost up to SGD772!!! Finally there is the match day hospitality (match ticket, 1 meal, vouchers for merchandise, etc) which cost about 200GBP including VAT and etc (SGD589.20 to be exact, paid already via CC)... Oh and then BritRail (for the train rides to to the different part of UK) will be around SGD400.50...
Looking at it, not adding in meals (and car rental for the 4 days in Lake District), it's already SGD3671.22!!!! This trip is going to be SGD5K by the time I come back... *faint*
Now I know why I went the tour route for my Spain trip... No more long-haul travel for next 2 years!!!!
Actually, not just travel, no more new gadgets, new lens, everything!!! Think must "eat grass" as well....
Haiz... On the profession front, I am basically out of town again... I only have 3 days in town, before this trip... Oh well, look on the bright side... I won't be paying much bills for this month... Then again, the trip bill is already sky high... But, company pay for the other 2 weeks... Not that bad lah... right?!?!?!
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