To the Lakes

Right let’s try this again. Hopefully the app won’t glitch and delete it!

“Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die

I don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you

Those Windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry

I'm setting off, but not without my muse”

-The Lakes, Taylor Swift

Yesterday, May 2nd, was a very big travel day but it was pretty much all enjoyable because the people I came across were lovely! Amazing what a difference that makes.

Woke up at 7am and got ready to head out of Newtongrange. Packed and showered, I head out to the train station platform and caught the one to Edinburgh. Then I ascended to the street and caught the tram to the airport off St Andrew’s Square. Made a friend on the tram! Then the one of the Tram workers showed me where to catch the bus to the car rental spot and I got there easy peasy at about 10AM.

Rented my car and they gave me a nicer model for free because they didn’t have any left in my class, so I drove out in a brand new 2023 Peugeot 2008 with 1 mile on it!! Somehow that makes me more nervous if I even get a scratch on it they’re gonna fine the living hell out of me.

After having a minor freak out in the parking lot I got my bearings and started driving on the left side of the road…. It’s SO WEIRD. The worst thing for me is the fact that the drivers seat is on the right side so your view of the road is completely different. Kept drifting to the right side so I had to overcorrect and just think “left, left, left” for a while. The car drives amazingly though, and I was cruising at 70 on the main road in no time. After a 2.5 hour journey through beautiful Scottish and English farmland, I arrived at my destination: Keswick. Zero traffic, actually enjoyable drive.

My bed and breakfast, the Goodwin, is situated right in the center of town. It’s this old classic Victorian house with three floors and a dining room! My room is small but literally perfect - a twin bed with a little bathroom and the best view in the house according to my host, Liz. Ugh photos still aren’t uploading :( which is so sad because it’s so pretty here.

After settling in I set off for the Derwentwater Lake which is this absolutely fantastic lake about a 10 minute walk from the B&B. I can’t describe how amazing it is here, everything feels like it’s in harmony with nature and animals. The whole area is a UNESCO world heritage site and I can understand why - The mountains surrounding the glassy lakes, with sheep dotting the hills and baby black lambs wagging their tails. The sheep came down to the edge of the water to drink! I almost cried tears of joy. Everywhere you look would be the most gorgeous place in any city but here it’s commonplace. Also I saw two horses on my way back from the water and fed one. One was brown and one was pure white and stunning. The brown one came up to me and I couldn’t help but feed it the tastier grass on my side of the fence.

Then I went to a restaurant called the Wainwright and got a steak and ale pie with mashed potatoes and veg on the side…. Yum!

Back to the lake I went for sunset and then I retired to my room and watched BBC Chanel 4 on cable. Idk why but that really excited me!! Xoxo

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