I left York Friday for a, roughly, 4 hour journey to Grasmere via bus, train, and bus again. Generally I walk to the rail station from campus, but it decided to rain just as I was leaving, so I took a bus--I figured I was going to spend a good part of the weekend rather wet anyway, why start early? It took three trains to get to Windemere (York to Manchester to Oxenholme to Windemere). Windemere is one of the main destinations of the southern Lake District, but really only because it has a rail station--all of one platform. From Windemere, I got a bus to Grasmere and found the youth hostel. The group I was with was made up of mostly people I'd never met, so I had a few minutes before my friend showed up. Friday was concluded with dinner and a trip to a pub.
Saturday we set off on a hike. Total walking, I'm told was 10 miles, but I'm not sure if that included vertical distance. I'm not really a hiking person. But, I will, from this point on, always make an exception for hiking in the Lake District. Always. We left Grasmere and headed to Ambleside where we had lunch. From Ambleside we walked to Elterwater, where we stopped for a snack (read: ice cream). We then headed back to Grasmere. Despite the unexpected hills/mountains we had to climb, I really enjoyed it.
Sunday a few of us caught a bus to Windemere for Mass and lunch. We then spent the afternoon in Ambleside and went to a movie in the early evening. The movie I saw was Belle. It was good, but that is a discussion for a different time. I, and the group I was with, missed the last bus by about ten minutes, so we ended up taking a taxi (a couple others got a lift back from one of the guys).
On Monday people were leaving at different times. I was the last to leave. So after having lunch in Windemere with a few people, I wandered a bit, had some tea and a scone, wandered some more, and waited. I caught my train and a beautiful sunset. I only had to change trains once at Manchester. I lucked out both times in Manchester in terms of platforms: the trains I was on and the trains I needed to catch were on the same platforms. When I got back to York, I got the bus back to campus because I was knackered--the effect of a super great weekend.
And know, pictures. The real reason for this post!
The next two are from Saturday morning, between Grasmere and Ambleside.
So, that was my trip to the Lake District. The real question is, when can I go back?
Just a couple more notes: I have just about five weeks left here, four till my mom comes. I have my dissertation to finish, which at this point is only a significant amount of editing. I'm not sure if I'll write another post before I leave, but I will do a few when I get home--my mom's visit, finishing up here, reflecting--that sort of stuff.
I hope everybody is having a grand summer! I know I have been!
