Day 6 - Keswick and the Lake District

We started our morning with a view out our window of fog and mist moving through the Cumbrian Mountains that surround Keswick and the Lake District. After a wonderful breakfast, we visited the Castlerigg Stone Circle which is a circle of stones placed by inhabitants of this area in prehistoric times. The altar and main stones line up precisely with the surrounding mountain peaks. Additionally, on the solstice, light rays from the sun fall on specific spots of stones on the opposing side of the circle. Even more impressive was the view from this plateau. Simply breath-taking.

We next journeyed up the road a bit to Carlisle where we visited a cool, small (apparently I'll see bigger in the next few days) cathedral that surprisingly survived Henry the 8th relatively unscathed. Hank had a tendency to tear down cathedrals back in his time since they'd been built by the Catholic Church from which he split. The main stained glass window behind the altar was amazing. It dates from the 1860s and the details are striking. The ceiling of the main sanctuary is equally as impressive with a royal blue painted background with gold stars. I soaked up all I could since this was my first cathedral; I was struck by all the intricate woodwork and detail. Once back outside, we could see that the cathedral is a little unusual in that it's not symmetrical, something quite unheard of at other locations. We had lunch (ham and broccoli quiche) at the Prior's Cafe located at the cathedral.

Our next destination was a manor and gardens located near Penrith. Upon arrival, we discovered it closes on Friday and Saturday; how does a tourist attraction do that? Instead of seeing the gardens, we climbed back into our car and went touring through the countryside. Turns out that these back roads are very narrow, especially with our rental Mercedes! Dianne was driving and we laughed whenever the car's proximity alarm would go off as she got too close to the rock wall just to our left. As we approached Ambleside, we discovered a route called "The Struggle" that had a 20 degree downhill slope! We took this route and it was quite picturesque! After some shopping (kids now have gifts), we headed back to Keswick.

The downtown area of Keswick was quaint and included lots of shops with mainly pedestrian roads. Ye Olde Friar's was my favorite store as it's a local confectionary! After picking up some truffles and other chocolates, we headed down to a pub for an early dinner of steak and ale pie. The Keswick Beer Festival started at 7, so after dinner we made a quick stop at the B&B, then off we went.

The Beer Festival is a fundraising event for the local Lion's Club and is held at the town's rugby field/pitch. You buy an entrance ticket and then vouchers for drinks that are $2 each. You're given a half pint glass and you can then use your vouchers to select samples from nearly 400 different ales, ciders, and lagers. I really enjoyed the music and people-watching. Great cover bands played songs from the 60s through today. I've been shocked to see how much American music is played and enjoyed over here. 2 days ago at lunch, the restaurant had Billy Joel piped through their speakers and even yesterday's breakfast at the B&B included John Denver singing about his Rocky Mtn High. The festival was no different as all the Brits were singing and dancing to songs I grew up with and listen to now. Just proves that music is universal. Some of the locals even showed up dressed in costume; most impressive was a group of 8 ladies that looked like oompaloompas! I'll say this, the Martaus family sure knows how to find the places that provide local flavor!

We are off to Whitby and York next, and from what I've heard, the minster at York will blow me away!

Cheerio!