Great Britain
Day 10 - Saturday, 17 May
1997
Today we had another long drive, from Ruthin to the Lake District. The scenery was tremendous, especially as we drove through Windermere where we stopped to visit Wordsworth's Dove Cottage. He wrote some of his greatest works while living here from December 1799 until May 1808. The Lake District is also home to Beatrix Potter.
Stoneycroft
Our B&B was Stoneycroft Farm near Keswick (don't pronounce the "w"). We couldn't resist leaving our unscreened window open all the time we were here so we could hear the little lambs bleating. So cute! After we settled in here, we took a ride over what Jim referred to as the "valley of death" road, just because the road was so narrow and crooked and up and down - and the locals drove as if it were a straight wide road!
The bucolic view from our bedroom window at Stoneycroft
Our destination was Buttermere where the food was terrific. We saw another very small but wonderful waterfall (pictured on Day 11) and learned something about beer. In Great Britain, it is customary to eat in Pubs, and in this instance we were seated near the beer pumping station. One man came in and asked for a pint that was half one beer, and half another. The senior bartender advised him that he was ruining two good beers, and charged him for two half pints, as the prices differed. Another man asked for a "bitter ash," and the junior bartender who was on his own at the moment, had to ask what that meant. It meant a squirt of lemonade on top.
Back at Stoneycroft, we had a lovely walk along a stream and through thickets of yellow gorse in full bloom. The sheep and lambs charmed us. It didn't get dark until after 9 p.m.