Taking in the Lake District and Durham

Before we start this post, I would like to take the time to thank people for their feedback on the blog so far. It really means a lot to us that people are 1. Reading it and 2. Enjoying it! Mostly I want to thank people for supporting my side of the jam or cream first on the scone debate. I have had a strong backing of support for the jam first. My particular favourite was to hear that Simons mum felt she had missed teaching Simon this important lesson, as she also enjoys her scones with jam first – thanks Lorraine. Amy x

While in the UK and jumping around almost daily we are going to change our format up a bit.  It’s incredibly time consuming to write the way we have been so we will be keeping things simple(r) for a while and trying to spend more time away from the screen and more time writing postcards… or actually doing stuff.

We write a postcard to ourselves from every place or country we go to and send it home – we are committed but it’s pretty hard finding the time and post offices.

Getting to the Lake District we had two choices. 160 miles of relatively easy but boring motorway or 100 miles of back roads through scenic countryside, each taking roughly the same time. We chose the backroads… this turned out to be a frightening drive. Insanely tight roads, winding streets and undulations. This was offset (only just) by intensely beautiful scenery but there was nowhere to pull over and capture this. We can only describe this drive as a beautiful nightmare. When we arrived at our BnB and checked in we promptly found dinner and sank some drinks to settle the nerves. Luckily our BnB was just gorgeous and a welcome piece of luxury (our version anyway). Our host even made us omelettes instead of an English Breakfast, this was a change we needed badly. 

 We spent two days driving the Lake District and seeing so much. You could easily spend a week or longer here, but as always we try to cram it all into a completely unreasonable time period. It’s a good thing this trip has always been seen as a bit of a ‘sampler plate’. The Lake District is majestic, and has moments which are truly breathtaking, boasting beautiful lakes (surprising right), streams, forests, waterfalls, mountains and even a beach (if you can call it that).

 

Navigating the windy, hilly and often incredibly narrow single lane roads was all part of the experience and ‘charm’. No matter how narrow the road and what truck, tractor, bus or car came at us we somehow dodged them and lived to write this blog although it added a few grey hairs. Amy’s first drive in Maddy was a true baptism of fire here. The only pitfall of this gorgeous place is the locals are onto driving days and will sting you for parking everywhere. At about 3 pounds a stop it adds up quick. 

Our days were really just spent driving and stopping at amazing spots for quick walks, so rather than write you daily details, we thought we would just let the pictures speak for themselves and add random thoughts or stories along the way. 

 

The Lake District seems not only to be a tourist must, but also a long weekend getaway for the English. I would equate it to Dalesford (for the Victorian readers) or the Blue Mountains (for the Canberrans). 

As with all the places we are going to there are beautiful little towns with gorgeous little shops, but they are all starting to blend now. Not to mention we have no room for things in our pack and it just gets depressing looking at what you cant have! So we try to avoid this and just get out and see the highlights.

We cant help but feel like the odd ones out in some of the places we are staying in and travelling to. It seems like we are the only young people travelling these parts of England. You should see us at breakfast in our BnBs it goes a little something like this. Room 1 in their 70's, Room 2 in their 50’s Room 3 and 4 in their 60's, Room 5 late 40's, Room 6 definitely in their 60's and Room 7 Amy and Simon the 20 somethings... clearly we are bringing down the tourist age mean in some of these places.

The Lake District in particular is a congregation of the over mid 50’s and it really shouldn’t be. Why do you need to be older to enjoy the beauty of nature! 

For us this place was a highlight of not just England but our trip so far, and we would encourage everyone to come and spend some time here if you travel to the UK. We would have loved to hike here and fully enjoy the huge variety of outdoor activities and sights if we had a little longer. 

Whilst going up ‘the struggle road’ (seriously this is the actually name of the road) we were greeted by sheep. We just turned a sharp corner slammed on the brakes and watched a heard jump the rock fence – they are pretty remarkable jumpers. 

The weather has really changed on us and the layers are out. It was absolutely brutal up on the hills, basically the weather was hostile, sharp, unpleasant, with ferocious wind and in fact we hear that Snoop Dog was in town and brought an umbrella for the drizzle (sorry that was bad but we heard it on the radio and needed to share it). 

 

We headed to the beach and on arrival we realised this wasn’t so much a beach as grassland with ocean in the distance. Whilst being a dismal beach it was everything we expected a British beach to be and in that way it was fun. In its own way it was really beautiful, and whilst we couldn’t see ourselves enjoying a day at the beach a stroll along the boulevard was really special. 

 

We felt driving through the Lake District that this was the quintessential England we have come to imagine, that is, rain, green grass, sheep, stone fences and little European cars everywhere.

Parting thought. Who built these stone fences, where did all the stones come from, and who has the time to do this?

Durham and surrounds

On arrival to Durham the weather was awful so had some downtime in the Inn we were staying at and had the largest dinner ever! We ordered the Giant Yorkshire pudding, the name should have been some sort of indication - just as a note when they say giant that is an understatement.

You know you’re in the North when the breakfast menu includes smoked Haddock, Kippers and black pudding. We respectfully declined these additionals. 

 

Before driving to Edinburgh we headed to Blackhall where Simons dad is from and saw his childhood home. We attempted to find Hartlepool rock (a family favourite rock candy) but this is damn tricky on a Sunday with everything closed. We journeyed to the local ‘beach’, the wind was harsh and the rain stinging but the locals didn’t seem to mind as they walked their dogs wearing shorts and a t-shirt. 

It's everything we imagined it would be.

We went to the spectacular Durham Catherdal which is regarded as one of the finest examples of Norman architecture and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once inside we enjoyed the heavenly sound of the choir, so we savoured this for a while before bracing ourselves to head outside again. 

No photos allowed inside :(

Simon’s dad had long praised his home as having some of the best fish and chips, so we made it a must to enjoy some whilst there. We did a little research and found that one of the best fish and chip shops in England was around the corner. Needless to say it was some of the best we had eaten. So why did it taste so good? Easy it’s cooked in premium Beef fat (aka dripping). 

SCOTLAND here we come!

Simon and Amy xoxo (indulgent double selfie)