Teas and T's: Monday, Wales-Lake District-Edinburgh

I had to do both arm and leg exercises today since I skipped yesterday.

Today was a driving day. We had a mid-morning stop for bathrooms (toilets if you’re European), and snacks. I bought some cheese and onion potato chips (crisps if you’re English).

Some more of that cute Welsh sense of humor.

Driving through the Lake District is a real treat. At least I think it would be. Our driver flies along as if being pursued by demons, even through the little towns. It’s a good thing our guide can talk really fast, or she wouldn’t get everything in before we were five miles beyond the subject.

Grasmere is one of the prettiest lakes ever. We were there at a perfect time of day so that the mountains and trees had a perfect mirror image. I got to see it for about five seconds as we flew by. We stopped for lunch in the town but it was too far to walk back to the lake for a picture.

You can see the Lake District HERE in all seasons. If you click on the heading "Windermere" you can go to Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit.

We were trading candies and chips and cookies on the bus all morning, so I wasn’t really hungry for lunch. I found a cute little café at the garden center and had a bowl of cream of mushroom soup, a hunk of brown bread, and a pot of tea.

Henry Wordsworth lived here and is buried in the graveyard of the little church by the bridge. Beatrix Potter was born in Grasmere and lived here all her life. She married but didn’t have children and donated all her acquired acreage for a National Park, preserving this beautiful countryside for future generations.

Read about William HERE, and read his famous "daffodils poem" HERE.

I bought a loaf of bread at the local bakery and went back to the bridge and fed the ducks in the water below. They asked me to come back tomorrow. (I’ve since learned that bread is not good for ducks. Hope I didn’t hurt them.)

Can't believe it - this is the first time I noticed the tables and chairs in the upper right corner. It must be a restaurant. I could have had lunch there, right by the water.

I saw my third kitty (also black and white) at the church. He was headed over the stone wall to go down to the water’s edge to catch a duck. No babies, so I’m sure his mission failed.

Back on the road to Edinburgh. End of August, and some color is beginning to show.

I'm always fascinated by the way people always use what's at hand. I especially like looking at fences. It must take a certain skill to be able to build with stones and no mortar.

Still flying along like we're late for dinner.

We had one more stop before Edinburgh at a woolen mill-gift shop. The sweaters, scarves, and jackets were beautiful. They had all the popular plaids (tartans - read about their history HERE), and a cashmere department which could wreck any budget. I found a great little chronology of Scottish History, and some little Scottish cookbooks, and a tea towel with a map of Scotland. My suitcase is getting heavier and heavier.

By the time we reached Edinburgh and checked in, the sun was going down. I walked and took a few pictures but needed more light.