Week in Review: Week 31
We’ve had a busy week traveling through northern England. We’ve covered a lot of ground and have seen so many things. We started the week in the Lake District, taking in the beautiful sights and dramatic landscapes. We then headed south and spent a few days exploring the beautiful towns of Cambridge and Stamford before heading to Westbourne on England’s southern coast. We are in Westbourne for a few days now, house sitting an adorable boxer named Sid.
Highlight of the week
Sharleen and Darrell: Driving the Wrynose and Hardknott Pass on the way to the Hardknott Roman Fort ruins. While in the Lake District we only had one full day to explore the area. We definitely made the most of it and travelled all over the National Park. Our favourite part was the drive through the Hardknott and Wrynose mountain passes. The road in these areas was very windy, steep, and narrow. We passed many areas that had inclines of 25-30%! We have never travelled on roads that were so steep! For the most part it was a single laned road, which made it interesting when oncoming traffic came. The road was very scenic, and we could imagine how gorgeous it would have been on a clear day.
We travelled on this road to reach Roman fort ruins, and the ruins looked absolutely gorgeous in the remote mountain area. We visited on a day that was quite cloudy and rainy, which made it look very dramatic. The fort was built between 120 -138 AD, so it was crazy to see ruins from something that is almost 2000 years old.
*Bonus highlight of the week: Gingerbread at The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. While exploring the Lake District we read that the original gingerbread was created in a small village called Grasmere. We love gingerbread, so we made a stop while we were driving past the village. Sarah Nelson created this delicious treat in 1854, and hands down it is the best gingerbread we have ever tasted. Our mouths water just thinking about it! It has probably ruined all other gingerbread for us now, but fortunately (or unfortunately for us) they deliver to Canada.
Least favourite part of the week
Sharleen and Darrell: Weather in the Lake District. We expected the weather to be rainy and cloudy in England, however we were disappointed that it was so overcast during our time in the Lake District. We only had one full day to explore the area, and our views were very limited due to the foggy and cloudy conditions. A perfect example was our view from the Surprise Viewpoint – one of the nicest views in the Lake District. When we reached the viewpoint we had zero visibility and it was mainly a wall of rain. We were a little bummed, but at least there were other things for us to see as we drove around the area.
Favourite city/town/village visited
Sharleen: Keswick. This was one of the only villages we visited while in the Lake District. I loved its charm! It was a typical mountain village with coffee shops, outdoor clothing stores, and plenty of boutique shops. While we were visiting there was an outdoor market full of tents and vendors. It was decorated so beautifully for Christmas, and there were lights everywhere. It was a picture perfect mountain village, and felt really cosy.
Darrell: Cambridge. Again, big surprise, but I found myself in awe of the history of a city! The countless academic and scientific achievements that took place here throughout the centuries is amazing. We walked by the laboratory where the atom was split and the electron was discovered. We had lunch at The Eagle, which is a pub where scientists announced that they had discovered how DNA carries genetic information. It seemed like every street has a building where something was discovered or invented. It was pretty cool to walk up and down the same narrow streets and alleys where people like Newton and Hawking completed or compiled their work.
Favourite meal
Sharleen and Darrell: Afternoon Tea at The George Hotel in Stamford. While travelling in Oban we met a couple visiting from Quebec, Canada. They highly recommend we visit The George Hotel in Stamford for a proper English Tea. We had one English Tea while we were in Thrussington on a house sit, so we were really excited to have another one!
This afternoon tea was HUGE! At least twice as large as the one we had in Thrussington. And the food was amazing. We loved the small sandwich bites, the scones with clotted cream and fresh strawberry jam, and the tasty sweets. This afternoon tea had so much variety, and every bite was so delicious. We had to pack some of it to take home because it was so large.
We also really enjoyed the atmosphere of the lounge where we had our meal. It was a cosy room with a huge fireplace, large old chairs, and small tables – the perfect place to enjoy tea and keep warm from the cool rainy winter weather.
Our next few weeks will be jammed packed with house sit in southern England. We are really looking forward to doing some day trips to see some beautiful places! High on our list for this week is Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast. We’ve been looking forward to seeing these sites for a while, so hopefully the weather will cooperate with us while we make our way to see them!
