Easter Holidays - Day 2

The next day, during breakfast, chatted with our host, Peter, for a bit and found that he was a jet turbine engineer turned B&B owner and mountain biking guide. We've never done any mountain biking (in the mountains) before but ended up hiring him for a guided tour of the mountains in the afternoon (£25/person). It was a nice compact group. There was Bo and I and Peter brought along a friend. His friend was an awesome mountain biker and a very fit bloke. Actually, they're both very fit and they're nearly 50 years old!

We rented bikes from a shop by the lake and Peter got a us a deal, £10/bike, since we need them for just a few hours and they only do daily rates. We took the ferry across the lake (got a free ferry ride since Peter knows the guy) to where the mountains were. In the beginning of the mile, it was flat or had a slight incline and I started off well. Then there was our first climb. It was so steep that even the experts had to get off and push. I started to cycle the first bit of it but my front wheel hit the only rock that was popped up from the rest and I fell over. My speed diminished quite bit before that point so it didn't hurt (much). It felt like a never ending up hill push and I was having a hard time with it. Luckily, Des, the other guide, helped me out and pushed my bike for me. Even then, I was having a tough time walking up the mountain. By the time we got to the top, I felt like puking. Bo reckons that I didn't warm up enough and Peter thinks I ate too much for lunch. I think i'm a tad bit out of shape. My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. I had to walk around for a few minutes to calm my heart rate enough to talk.

There were a quite a few more uphills but they weren't as bad as the first. I was still at the end of the pack and the guides took turns with my bike but I didn't puke. We cycled through a town where there were bits of road and that felt good. It gave my butt a break from the bumpy trail. Biking down the mountain was exciting and frightening because it was my first time going down a steep uneven trail with rocks sticking out. One tip that the guide kept saying was 'Pick your route', but it's easily said than done, especially when the route I pick suddenly became more rocky or when a puddle suddenly appeared in front of me. Well, it didn't suddenly appear, I just need to look further ahead. At the end, we covered 12 miles in a little more than 3 hrs and caught the ferry back at around 4:30pm. Then we returned the bikes, thanked our guides and started our drive to Keswick. Keswick is pronounced as Kesick by the locals. Apparently the 'w' is silent... then why put it there? Anyways, it's another town in the Lake District about 30 minutes from Windermere. We would have stayed in Windermere, but our B&B was fully booked.

Easter Holidays - Day 1

We took an extended Easter break and went for a 5 day road trip that started on Thursday, April 5th. We spent 2 days in the Lake District area and 3 days in Edinburgh, Scotland. We finally decided on this trip less than a week before our holiday started. We knew we wanted to go somewhere for the Easter break but we just couldn't decide where. At first, we were planning to travel with Riley and go to Portugal. But then we realize that we wouldn't get our work permit visa sorted out before then so we decided to keep the trip to within the UK. Then we were planning to go to Isle of Wright but that fell though when we decided to travel with another couple. We were planning to go down South and go to Cornwall while visiting the Stonehenge, Bath, and other villages along the way. However, they cancelled on the last minute so it was once again just Bo and myself. Since there were only a few days left until Easter holiday, we had a tough time trying to find accommodations. I've been told that majority of the English people book their holidays up to a year in advance. It took us hours and hours of searching and calling to find accommodation and finalize our plans. Many of the B&B's in the Lake District had their own websites but don't list availabilities, so we had to make quite a few calls.

Thursday April 5th. We had an early start and left Tring at around 10:30am. There were quite a few cars on the motor way but we were able to keep on the 70m/h for the most part. There were many 'Welcome Break' areas along the way and we stopped at one with KFC for lunch. The 'Welcome Breaks' are a great place to stop for toilet breaks, food and petrol. There's one every 20-25 miles and are very popular with the Brits. I've been told that they usually stop at every 2nd Welcome Break on a road trip and they consider a 3hr drive to be very far away.

We arrived at our B&B in Windermere at around 3pm and checked in. Then we headed for Bowness town, where the largest lake was in the Lake District. We saw a large amount of outdoor shops and many Chinese and Italian restaurants. Some British tourists think Chinese food was exotic and special. I guess that's how the restaurants can justify the high prices they charged. However, compared to London, the Lake District is quite affordable. We found food and shop prices are generally 20% less than London. I bought myself a nice V-Shaped pillow for only £6 and it wasn't even on sale. I saw the same one selling for £10 at a shop in Alyesbury (a town close Tring). In one of the many outdoor shops, I got myself a pair of warm fleece gloves for £4, the same ones would probably go for £8 in Alyesbury or London.

Then we drove to the Lakes and took a stroll in the area. The weather was very nice, the sun was out but it was quite windy. Parking was £1/hr but it was the annoying park and display type. I prefer the 'return with your ticket and pay' ones because you just don't know how long you're going to be there for. Though we should of just walked there from the B&B since it was only a 10-15 mins stroll. But we were feeling lazy. The lake looked crowed with lots of different boats floating around. The wind seem to have picked up some more so I bought myself a lovely 100% lambs wool scarf, made from Scotland. I wanted to wrap it around myself immediately but I didn't have anything to cut the tag off. We went on a 30 minutes cruise before heading off to find some dinner.

We made the mistake of going into Windermere for dinner because there were very little restaurants and pubs to choose from compared to Bowness. We ended up going into a restaurant that advertised 'fresh fish' on the board. The restaurant was about 50% full when we walked in. I don't think we were picky eaters but the food was not good. Bo had one sip of his french onion soup and refused to have anymore. I had a taste and it was very very very salty. I had fish and vegetables and everything was very dry (no sauce). They're lucky to be in a tourist area, otherwise I don't think they will survive with the quality of food they're serving.