Ashley in London: March 21, 2012

A day out in beautiful nature! We escaped the more scholarly interests of the previous day to explore the countryside. We took a beautiful walk outside of the town that led us to millions of sheep and beautiful views. Really, sheep enthusiasts or weirdoes with a sheep-fetish (I’m sure there are some out there) should move to the Lake District. Along the way we stopped at a waterfall with a tiny little shack built at the base of the waterfall. It was built by people from Wordsworth’s time who felt that the best way to experience nature was to “frame” it. Inside the shack was a huge paned window that literally “framed” the waterfall. A very interesting idea. Some people from the group felt that by trying to frame the waterfall they were actually spoiling the natural beauty with a man-made building. But I liked the idea and thought it was an interesting addition to the view.

SHEEP

The waterfall and the shack

Framing the waterfall

I have NO idea what this thing was...

Heading over to the waterfall

At the base of the waterfall

Along the walk we stopped at a beautifully manicured mansion, another house Wordsworth lived in for a while, the church he attended, and his grave. It was a relaxing jaunt about the countryside and just what we needed after a previous day of stressing out our eyes trying to read chicken scratch. Oh, and in England (and especially in the Lake District) daffodils grow like, well, wildflowers. They are EVERYWHERE. Luckily they are really beautiful flowers and you see yellow everywhere you turn and in the corner of your eyes.

At the mansion

At Wordsworth's other house

Wordsworth's church

"BEWARE OF THE CHICKENS"
I don't need to be told twice

Wordsworth's grave (with his wife and daughter)

We then took a short bus ride to Beatrix Potter’s country home. Beatrix Potter was well recognized in her day and was wealthy enough to own several houses that she could escape to to write her books. Her house was adorable and had her drawings all over the place. It looked exactly like one of the cottages out of her books. Her gardens, however, did not look like they had inspired her books. That was probably because it was winter and everything was dead though. So, understandable I guess.

Beatrix's (dead) garden

Beatrix's house

Beatrix's rabbit

Then it was back to the countryside and another walk. But this one was more of a hike. It started off leading us up almost vertical stairs up the side of a mountain. Then it plateaued off for a bit and slowly increased the incline. Some girls decided to end the hike about halfway up the mountain, but not me. My friends and I literally climbed to the top of a mountain. It was just about the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done. The mountain was semi-muddy from rain and there wasn’t a real path for us to follow. It was rocky in some parts and steep the whole way up. To make it even scarier, there were random sheep really close to us all the way up. I was so exhausted from climbing that if one of those sheep had decided to attack me I would have been helpless and he would have found an easy meal.

Taking a quick break halfway up the mountain

You can barely make out my friends making their way up

Luckily we made it to the top in one piece and were rewarded with a clear view of the entire town. It was pretty chilly up at the top, with the wind blowing and being about 2 light-years away from where we had started our hike. Getting back down luckily wasn’t bad at all – it was just a matter of knowing which mud patches to slide down in and which demon sheep to keep clear of. You never know when one of those things is going to charge you. What I really wanted was to sneak up on one, latch onto its back, and ride it all the way down the mountain. But those sheep were too smart and starting backing up when they saw me approaching wearing a cowboy hat and swinging a lasso around. Sheep aren't as dumb as they look.