A Day on Lake Windermere

It's no secret that I absolutely love the Lake District. As a bit of an outdoorsy girl it's been a dream this last year or so to live so nearby and it's an amazing place to bring family whenever they visit. This weekend my mum and sister actually paid an impromtu trip to Lancaster, so as per usual we thought we'd spend Saturday in exploring the Lakes

Since we didn't have a car, Windermere seemed to be the obvious starting point for a visit since it's only 30 minutes away by train from Lancaster. We set off quite early so when we arrived finding somewhere to have breakfast was pretty high on our priority list. We ended up stopping at this place called the Lighthouse where I got the majestic-looking waffle pictured below.

Before we'd set off I'd had a cost-effective plan laid out in my head of how to get where we needed to go onwards from Windermere, but in a moment of spontaneity my mum decided she'd like to go on a boat cruise across Lake Windermere from Bowness to Ambleside which was a bit out of character for her so my sister and I just decided to run with it. 

Despite the fact it was absolutely freeeezing, the boat ride itself was really fun and we got to see some beautiful views. We also met a man from Malta called Tony who my mum ended up randomly having a Maltese mutual friend with. Apparently, because Malta's such a small country, everyone knows each other.

Once we got to Ambleside we stopped for lunch at a hotel by the lake called the Waterside before just taking a wander through the town. We eventually ended up in a beautiful and wintry Rothay Park, which I think was my favourite part of the day, before hopping on the last boat back to Windermere again- we opted to stay downstairs, inside this time!

I feel so lucky to live somewhere where I have the lakes basically right on my doorstep. I love getting out there to clear my head and spend some time away from everything.

What did you get up to this weekend?

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Coastal Adventures in Dundrum, Co. Down

Over the weekend a couple of my friends and I went on a little adventure to a place called Dundrum in Co. Down, a little town on the coast surrounded by the Mourne Mountains. We went up in the early evening on Saturday night so we were there whenever the sun started to set, which was beautiful, especially because the moon was so bright. We parked the car and headed down the pathway through Murlough National Nature Reserve towards the beach. It started getting dark quite quickly after we arrived so that was the only part of our trip I really managed to capture (my camera isn't great in the dark), but since Robin Williams's death my friend Chris (who was still a nutcase before this) has been moved to "suck the marrow" out of life- a reference from Williams's role in "the Dead Poets' Society"- so as soon as we reached the beach, he stripped down in the pitch black and ran half-naked into the sea. He has since caught a cold, but fair play to him I guess, I think we could all do with sucking the marrow a little more, because let's face it, life is short! I think Robin William's sudden death has really proven that to all of us in these last few weeks. I've certainly been thinking about it anyway.

When Chris had enough of frolicking around in the water and had dried himself off we headed back and up to Dundrum Castle which sits on a grassy hill overlooking the town. The castle was built by John De Courcy, an Anglo-Norman knight, during his conquest of Ulster around the turn of the 13th Century. As like many of the castles in Ireland, Dundrum Castle is now in ruins but at one time it was a strong and imposing structure, passed through the hands of kings, knights and earls over the course of its time, and so is seeped in history. If you'd like to read a bit more, I found this little PDF from Northern Ireland's Department of the Environment. I'll confess, the castle is pretty creepy in the dark and I was a little bit nervous but we still went up and had a good wander round anyways! Because it was so dark though the stars were really bright which was nice.

After that little adventure we headed back home (though not before stopping for a cheeky McDonald's!) and I went straight to my bed. It was a really lovely, fun night though, I really want to do it again soon!

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One Touch of Nature Makes the Whole World Kin

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree - W.B. Yeats

These are a few photos I took with my family today. I didn't really take them with the intent of sharing them, rather I like to take photos because it relaxes me, but today reminded me how much I do actually enjoy sharing my photos and writing about them. I took these on a walk around Castle Ward and some of the scenes reminded me of one of my favourite poems by Yeats that I thought I'd include.

Hope you are all well!

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Saturday @ the Lakes

"I wandered lonely as a cloud..."

I'm currently sitting on my bed in my uni room, mug of tea in hand and listening to some cheerful morning tunes. Despite the rather dismal weather outside my window this morning I'm perfectly content as my mind drifts back to the sunny Saturday I spent in the Lake District in Cumbria with my friend Chris a couple of weekends ago.

We got up early in the morning that day and caught the bus to Grasmere where we had a little wander around the village and stopped for a spot of brunch in one of the little cafes on the main street overlooking the River Rothay and St Oswald's church where there was a wedding on. Not going to lie I was having a good creep at all the bridesmaids and wedding guests and what they were wearing- I just love weddings! However, we had to leave before the bride arrived though, much to my disappointment! The weather was just perfect, sunny with a just lovely cool breeze. From Grasmere we began walking back towards Rydal through the woods where we stopped to rest and skim stones on the river which ran through it. Once we got to Rydal we took a walk up to the gardens surrounding a manor house called Rydal Hall and then up towards Rydal Mount, the family home of the English poet, William Wordsworth who's also actually buried in Grasmere.

We then kept walking, stopping every now and then to admire the beautiful views and ended up in Ambleside (It's quite far so that actually took us a while) where we went for a quick coffee before catching the bus home.

As always, I'm really supposed to be revising right now... But I still like to keep a good balance of work and leisure time which is why I don't feel too guilty spending an hour or two editing and writing up this blog post, though I do definitely need to get my head down now!

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