Grasmere

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We left London armed with our confirmed train tickets, 1 night confirmed accomm on 8 Aug and 1 tentative reservation for a manual transmission car. We'll work out the rest of the stuff when we arrived, with dunno what exactly to expect.

Upon arrival, the first thing we did was to pop into the Visitors Centre. Glad that they have an accomm helpdesk. The lady kindly asked for our requirements, made some suggestions and started making phonecalls. 1st night at Grasmere done! 2nd night... after a few tries, she chanced upon this accomm at Keswick which cost GBP 115 (our budget was GBP90/room). Well, we were about to agree when we overheard her speaking over the phone, saying they're in their early 20s... Mmm... is she talking about us? Then she looked at us and said GBP 95? Of course, let's confirm this. After she put down the phone, she told us that's becos we have good profile (great! let's keep it this way...) and maybe he's looking for a wife?!?!?!!?! When we looked at the confirmation, the owner is Des Taylerson. One of our frivolous duo suggested, is that short for "Desperate" Taylerson? Hmmm... We'll see.

After settling our accomm, we went with this Uncle, who came to pick us at the Visitors Centre, to collect our car. Didn't have much of a choice, we were left with a manual transmission car. Panic panic... how long have i not drive an manual car?! Slowly moved off from the garage with an extremely loud screech from overstepping on the accelarator... Off we embark on our journey... we'll survive!

Drove to I-dunno-where and gotten the best (as recommended by the car hire man) fish & chips in town before heading to somewhere nice to enjoy our f&c. The smell of the f&c in the car was so overwhelming and our stomach growling so loudly that we decided to stop by a not so crowded place to finish off our f&c.

The room at Chestnut Villa in Grasmere has a wonderful view. Mich confidently said she's gonna view sunrise at 5am on the following morning... but well well, if she insists.

Walked around the Grasmere Village in the evening. By 5pm, almost all the shops were closed and so was the traditional gingerbread shop which is famous in Lake District. Other than a cemetery and a church, there wasn't anything left to see and so we stopped at a bar, Dove & the Olive for dinner. A very homely place... Still feeling the "jerlatness" from the f&c earlier, so we only had soup, shared a main and dessert, washed down with some beer. Life felt really slow and relaxed here... Strolled back in a light drizzle, showered and had a early nite. Finally get to sleep early after a long work week...

Next morning when our alarm went off at 8am, our dear Mich was still stuck in bed, dreamily asking why must we wake up so early in a vacation. Haa... that's becos breakfast is only served between 0830 - 0900, and certainly Ash and I won't miss any opportunity to gorge ourselves with good food. Had sumptuous English breakfast in a typical English tea room before we depart for Keswick.

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Photos

Lake Windermere
F&C taste especially yummy when it's accompanied by such good views