So this is a picture of the first hostel I've ever stayed in! It's called the Smart Hyde Park Inn. It was surprisingly nice! It had breakfast and wifi (both were just okay though). But it was 16 bucks (Canadian) a night, the front desk people were really friendly, it seemed to be in a nice neighbourhood, and all in all pretty good!
This is one of my favourite pictures because when I went for a walk right after I had gotten settled in my hostel I went to Hyde Park for a walk, and it was on that walk and looking up at this statue that it really hit me that I had made it to London!
I was out for a little walk/ baby hike through the woods, and I came around the bend and ducked under a tree, and all the sudden I saw this view of the rolling hills and the sheep grazing and I remember it took my breath away. I thought it was like a gorgeous hidden gem.
So this made the list o favourites because I think it does a good job of bundling my peaceful getaway into one picture. The sheep were everywhere, I could look up anywhere in town and see the fell (we would call them hills or little mountainy things) and Keswick itself was just adorable and nested in between.
So, since I spent my trip alone, I did a lot of three things: people watching, chit chatting with local senior citizens, and petting stangers' dogs. Took this picture while doing the first one. I was in Hope Park and I was just loving watching families out having picnics and playing golf and doing fun cute things that we would do back home. And it just struck me that the simple life really is wonderful, and how nice it is to enjoy the little things in life.
One of my favourite spots that I found was on the edge of Derwent Water lake.
A close up of the house on the island from the last picture. Its actually an old mansion where the local aristocracy lived until a few hundred years ago. But I loved sitting on the lakeside and imagining fairy tales about the island.
On that note, I guess I'm not the only one imagining make believe stories about the lake. One of the nights I went to see a movie called Swallows and Pirates, a kids movie based there!
Flower beds in Hope Park. This one made it in because they're gorgeous!
A holly bush!! I always thought that holly was just Christmas decoration but it grew all around!
This one is here because I wanted to show everyone how charming the cottages were! And I was worried you'd miss it among the other 410 pictures on Facebook lol.
LOOK HOW BIG AND FLUFFY AND LOVELY THESE HYDRANGEAS ARE!
SAME STORY HERE THIS PEONY BLOSSOM WAS THE SIZE OF A TENNIS BALL! WOW! 10 POINTS TO MOTHER NATURE!
One day I went to the Keswick Museum (I have a ticket valid for the whole year if anyone wants its and can forge my signature) and they had a special exhibition on Arnold Wainwright. He loved walking on the fells and wrote a whole series on them. Here are a couple of the quotes from two of his books. Personally I think he was spot on with the bit where he said "The Lake Districts are the complete antidote for urban depression", which I relate to because I sure felt better after spending a few days in the fresh air.
My favourite pub that I found. Three reason? Super friendly bar tender, I tried Yorkshire pudding here (beef stew filled pancake, can I get an amen?), AND the nice old couple who let me pet their dogs.
See that green tub? Those are smushed canned peas, and they are the best part about fish and chips. No lie, I dreamt about them on the flight to the UK and ate them every chance I got.
Last year when we were decorating our hallways, Deb taught me what bunting was. This was hanging up in a second hand store and it just looked pretty as a picture. When I was here I bought a top notch, super secret Christmas person for a certain momma, SHHH!
Another nature pic! It's astounding how few critters I've seen since I got here. No squirrels, no raccoons, no little birds aside from pigeons and crows. So I found this little guy and was super pumped.
This reads "In loving memory of Kathleen and Edward, They loved Keswick as much as they loved each other". Cue me getting mushier than peas and welly-eyed (again).
This one's for you Sabrina! :D
The Theatre by the Lake, its here because it provided me with hours of fun an they put on some seriously awesome productions! Nearly went to go see Dial M for Murder twice, and I would have if I'd had another night, it was a wonderful show. hated one of the main characters at the start and loved her by the end, and I just love when a play can do that :)
If you're sitting there thinking "Holy shit that looks big", well you'd be correct. It was this massive statue in St. Pancras, a train station in London that I wandered into by mistake and was really glad I did!
I was a little pulled tight emotionally this trip, and as anyone who knows me knows, I get really grateful/ a titch sad over anything veterans related, and especially things to with men my age going off to war. So I immediately loved this part of the statue.
The statue had a ring of smaller decorations around the bottom showing life in Britain themed things. The first one I saw was the one above this, life years ago. But next up I saw the one of modern life. In case it's hard to see, it's a couple embraced and the woman is paying more attention to her cell phone she's holding behind her head. Pretty moving statue, really speaks to how we choose to value each other. (boo hooing in public again Emma? No, just allergies)
On my last full day in London I went to the Sherlock Holmes and Victoria and Albert Museum. On my way there, I found the Wonder Walk! It's this tunnel from one side of the road to the other, but they'e made it realy interactive and wonky! It had little facts about the area all the way along, candy cane stripes and funny shaped mirrors and I took about 10 minutes to "cross the road" and felt like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory.
Last favourite picture is from the Sherlock Holmes museum!! This was mostly a depiction of what somebody imagined Sherlock's rooms looked like. They did an awesome job! There were mementos from different cases, and rooms for Dr. Watson and Mrs. Hudson. All of the rooms were filled to their ears (rooms have ears?) with little things. It looked bang on like I imagined it would from the books. Neat fact: the townhouse they used still had its original EVERYTHING, floor boards, plaster work, room configuration, which is apparently pretty unusual in London, since people tend to remove those things now.
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