Cumbria, the lake district UK tour 2007

Faced with a 4 day weekend for Easter, but a completely booked dog kennel, we decided it was time for another English road trip. We decided on Cumbria, more specifically the English Lake District around Windmere Lake Long popular with the English as a holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes (duh!), its walks, its mountains (the English say they are the kinder, gentler version of the alps), and has lots of literary connections with the likes of William Wordsworth, Beatrice Potter, and John Ruskin. Leaving on Friday, we struck out for the town of Ambleside, routing thru the southern part of the Yorkshire Dales. We stayed on the smaller roads, and got to see lots of lambs - cute, cute, cute!

The weather was spectacular - warm, dry, and sunny (very unlike the wet and cold weather all the English people told us to expect…”be sure to takes your fleeces and your waterproofs”) which apparently explained why there were so many people at the lakes.

After scouting around Ambleside for dinner with no luck, and not being up for a curry takeout, we headed into the hills to the nearby town of Troutbeck…looking for the restaurant “Queen’s Head” recommended by our English friend Marion. Go if you ever get a chance…it was some of the best food we have had in England in our year and a half….we shared a table with some locals and entirely enjoyed the experience.

Here’s what you do in the English Lakes….eat the full English breakfast (hammy type bacon, eggs, broiled tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, sausage, brown toast), lace up your hiking boots, get the dog, walk, lift a pint in the afternoon, eat dinner, and fall into bed.

Our Saturday hike also involved a steamer boat ride (George’s first ride on a boat – he proved to be a good ‘boatsdog’) from Waterhead to Castle Wray, then walked from the Castle along the western shore of the lake to the Ferry Building (about 5 miles), taking a ferry over to Bowness at Windmere, then another steamer back to Waterhead. Had a good dinner at a spot called the Glass House in Ambleside.

Sunday we did a circular walk from along the river from Ambleside to Rydal Mount (famous for its William Wordsworth connection), stopping in at St Mary’s Church (his church and burial site), Dora’s Field (where his daughter was buried), and Rydal Hall (where the Burnsides had a much needed tea break). Arriving back to Ambleside, we enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon sun and some pints (bevies) with a friendly English couple. Dinner was at LucyFour, pretty good tapas, but I’d try for Lucy restaurant if you can get in – it was supposed to be really good.

Monday we departed the Ambleside Lodge and headed off to the local car boot sale at the soccer field, we managed to score a nice old English ¾ gallon watering can, and then set out for home on the northern Dales route thru Hawes.

Overall impressions: good trip, beautiful scenery, better food than York, lots of Eastern European service people.

.... see ya,

b'bu

There's no place like home .... back to the future

As an American, I took for granted the technological advantages of my world. Little did I know that our basic washer and dryer would be one of those advantages but it is and for me it’s right up there at the top of my list.

Our combo under counter washer dryer fried its brains three weeks ago. Now I’ve long thought that the four hour end to end wash dry cycle for a single load was more than amusing. Of course, Betty has ingeniously cut that cycle to a mere three hours by removing the damp clothes and hanging them about the apartment. I guess I know why they invented heated towel rods and such.

Believe me we were not ready for the complete withdrawal of the wash and dry device. Any way, my Betty has devised a once a week trek by taxi to the local laundry mat where the deed (wash, dry & folding) is done in a few hours while she’s about her business. I don’t know what betty’s going to do with all that free time ....

see ya,

j'bu

Our place in the Sun; Goa, India 2007

It is a grim prospect to have a horrible cold and have to get on a plane for a 12 hour trip…but that's what we did when we went to India in March. Faced with our second cold since Christmas, I put the blame for that squarely on Jim's petri dish of an office, we loaded up with antihistamines and set sail to London-Mumbai(the old Bombay)-Goa. Let's just say by the time we landed at the Goa airport we were ready for bed (at 1:00 in the afternoon) but had already experienced Indian food, cows on the loose everywhere (you know they're sacred in India), seen beautiful old colonial Portugese houses, and been driven over some of the worst paved roads I've ever been on (and that's saying a lot for someone who grew up in Mississippi). We found the Goa Park Hyatt to be an absolute oasis .... just what we needed under the circumstances.

Our days passed in a lulling blur of monotonous activity – breakfast on the outside terrace, securing the perfect shady spot by the pool (and conveniently located to the pool bar for those all important ice-cold Belo beers– affectionately known as the Goa Corona),

out to the beach for a morning swim and then back to the pool lounging, rousing ourselves just in time for lunch (the gazpacho soup was incredible), then a little naptime, some swimming, more beers!, a late afternoon walk on one of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen. We did see some local color on our beach walks, the infamous beach shack restaurants and bars….we actually spent several delightful hours at the Wen Den in their hanging basket chairs watching glorious sunsets. We did vary the routine one day by taking a boat trip to the well known Wednesday market at Arjuna.

It doesn't sound it but it was a very exciting trip that involved a jetski ride to get to and from the boat and a hour long boat ride, each way, that was like something out of a James Bond movie.

We were reassured by the plasticVirgin Mary on the dashboard of the boat.

We did have a little trouble (!)on the way home when, through no fault of our own, we barely missed the flight from Goa to Mumbai (somebody at the Hyatt got a wakeup call, twice, at 5:00am!). In somewhat of a panic to get out of Goa so we could make an afternoon connection in Mumbai, we were desperate enough to flash our York Minster Card (we're going to hell for lying with church property) in a misguided attempt to get into the Minister's Lounge - I thought it must be like the Delta Crown Room where we could use the phone, get on the internet, get drinks and snacks, etc. Once we managed to momentarily talk our way past the surly door guard, we saw it was no better than the public waiting room- it was in fact it was a completely empty room with a bunch of badly mismatched furniture from the 70's, no telephones, and a door guard was astute enough to immediately determine we did not fit the "profile" of an Indian Minister. He couldn't even be bribed!

What made it happen was the beach nights ....

It was a long trip home .... see ya,

b'bu