The Lakes District

Keswick, England. (pronounced Kes-ick; the W is silent)

I will make this section short, but I couldn’t omit our side trip to the lakes district, it’s beautiful country.

We knew we were going arrive late in the day, so we booked 2 nights at a bed and breakfast call The Grange. It’s what a good bed and breakfast should be; charming, clean, and the proprietors could not have been more friendly and helpful. We decided to hike Walla Crag, and one of our hosts gave us a route walking directly from the Grange, which put us right on the trail without driving anywhere.

You can drive into Keswick, but parking can be a challenge, so we decided to walk the 15 minutes into town.

For breakfast, you are given a card in your room with several choices, which you leave at the front desk anytime during the day. Along with your chosen breakfast, you get a choice of juice, and coffee or tea.

While your waiting for your breakfast to come out of the kitchen, they also put out pastries, fruit, yogurt, and such. The food was excellent.

We hiked Walla Crag, which overlooks Derwentwater, which is the third largest lake in the area. If you are a hiker/walker, it will make you work, but isn’t terribly hard. The total elevation is 1,243 feet. The paths can be rough in spots and steep in sections, but are very clear to follow. I say it’s not too difficult, but as always, this depends on your own fitness level.

There is a ferry service to move you around the lake. There is information on this, and other activities on the lake, back at the Grange.

When we came off the trail, we had some time before heading to our room to shower before dinner. So we walked around town, did a little shopping, and continued our search for the best ale and cider. I tried a Hay Golden Ale and my wife went with Old Mout, a house cider.

When we returned for dinner, we went to the Skiddaw Hotel. The only reason we tried this place is because an old episode of Rick Steeves travel show recommended it. For dinner, I had an Ale Battered Fish and Chips, with an order of onion rings. On the row of photos below, on the far right, is the Atlantic Fish Pie, on a bed of snap peas, my wife had it with a salad. And we can concur with Mr. Steeves, it was all very good. The drink you see pictured with the fish pie is a Pimm’s Fizz. Pimm is a gin based liquor with herbs and citrus flavors. It’s a popular summertime drink served with fruit, in this case raspberries, it was very tasty.

We spent the rest of the night walking around town and talking about how glad we were to be on this trip. Our stop at Keswick got us out of the cities and into the English countryside, well worth it.