Monday, January 2, 1989

On to the Lake District ...

It's another day of traveling today... this time from St. Andrews to the famed Lake District of western England. After gathering our gear and saying our farewells to the Pruntys for their generosity, Mr. Prunty drove J.P. and me to the train station, where we caught the train.

It was crowded, but we still managed to waggle ourselves two seats, which were free but were reserved for other passengers once we arrived at Edinburgh. Well, when we gave up those seats, we were fortunate enough to find two seats that were only reserved from Carlisle.

But once we arrived in Carlisle, our luck ran out. The train by now was completely packed, and at this point we had no choice but to stand in the "cattle car" for the bulk of our trip.

During our trip south through Scotland we passed by the Lockerbie train station, site of the Pan Am Flight 103 crash 12 days ago. We didn't pass by the crash site (picture #2 is of the Lockerbie crash site from the newspaper), but that's just as well.

Well it was a relief when we were finally able to depart that train and climb aboard the train that would take us to Oxenholme, and from there we caught another train to Windermere, the small town right in the heart of the Lake District, perhaps best known as the home of famed British poet William Wordsworth. (Picture #3 is me acting like a nerd at the sign welcoming us to Windermere. Yes, I said "acting." Shut up.)

J.P. and I first found ourselves a Bed & Breakfast room, then walked around Windermere for a bit. We found a trail to hike, which was very scenic and followed a stream (photo #4, below).

We soon happened upon the tiny hamlet of Bowness and began our search for a place to eat. Our search failed miserably, so we returned to Windermere, where we met with no more success. After resting in our room for about an hour, we returned to Bowness at about 6 p.m., and this time we found an open restaurant, Gibby's, where we could dine. Whew! We were starting to think that all of the restaurants were closed for the season.

We had a 15-minute wait, but that was nothing considering how long it took us just to find a place that was open. And it was worth the wait. J.P. had haddock while I opted for the turkey dinner. I paid for it with my Access card.

After eating, J.P. and I walked back to the room, watched "Desperately Seeking Susan" on TV, followed by a Woodie Guthrie special, and then went to sleep. We plan on checking out more of the scenery here tomorrow.