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.