Slàinte Mhath

 

Wednesday we headed out of the Lake District and spent some time at Castlerigg Stone Circle just outside of Keswick. When we first arrived there were lots of people but they slowly drifted away and it was just Mr. B and myself (and some sheep) left to enjoy the stones on a beautiful warm day. 

 

Next we headed to the Lanercost Priory near Carlisle and the Scottish boarder. 

 

The small church was left intact but the priory which dates back to 1169 is now pretty much the bones of the building but striking in its own way. 

Nearby were bits of Hadrian's Wall & foundations of Roman forts that at one time stretched across Northern England near the boarder of Scotland. 

 

It was begun in AD 122 and was built to protect the Romans (who had conquered the rest of Britain) from those wild Scottish barbarians. 

One more stop on our way up to Glasgow......

 

What remains of my family's castle - Crawford Castle!

The Crawford Castle was built in the 12th century on the River Clyde which runs through Glasgow as well. It stands on the former site of a Roman Fort dating back to AD 80.  

On our first night in Scotland our cute Scottish waitress Isola says "Where are you from? You have quite an accent!"

Our response in unison "So do you!"

We all laughed and shared travel stories. 

Word of the day - Slàinte Mhath = Good Health (cheers) & pronounced slawn-ge-var (yes....really!)

The Lake District

 

We found ourselves in Near Sawrey this morning visiting Beatrix Potters home.  She had a dominating mother and at the age of 39 she found out that her little children's books had made her a wealthy woman so she was able to purchase this home & farm in the Lake District. 

 

Just guess who I found in her garden?  Mr. McGregor!

 

There was an apple tree there that was over 100 years old and the above bee box in the garden. 

 

We walked by a lot of Herdwick sheep that are an old variety of sheep from North England. Beatrix brought them back into popularity here. 

 

And here is a great name for the cottages around here "Bend or Bump".  Most places have signs to "mind your head" due to low ceilings or entryways. 

Next we headed to Hawkshead to see the National Trust Museum of her drawings.  Spectacular!

 

We are staying on Lake Windermere but we drove over to Lake Coniston to take a ride on the steam gondola. It was raining and cool so we did the next best thing.....

  

Mr. B drank Old Mans Ale and I had a glass of wine in the covered outdoor Bluebell Cafe and we watched the boats go by & the children play.  Cheers!

Word of the Day -----

 

Meaning?

....the road crew is taking out the reflector bumps in the middle of the road!  Of course!

Sweet Loretta

We got to meet Sweet Loretta today.  

 

The name is taken from The Beatles song "Get Back" and Monday we spent most of the day in Liverpool on the FabFour Beatle tour. 

 

Our driver, Tim was wonderful and so informative.  It was raining when we first arrived in Liverpool but was just cloudy for the rest of the day so it made getting in & out of the taxi so much easier. Here we are at Penny Lane. 

 

And at the barber showing photographs of every customer he's had the pleasure to know...

 

And Strawberry Field were John used to sneak into at night to visit the young ladies that lived there. 

Tim our very capable driver & Mr. B outside the graveyard were Elenor Rigby & Father MacKensie are buried.  

  

Heading into the Cavern where music is still played. 

 

Can you tell that I was pretty thrilled with our day?  For just a moment in history these four young men made such a lasting impact on the world and I treasure that memory. 

 

And after a two hour drive we are in the beautiful countryside of the Lake District. This is the view from our room of Lake Windermere.  Tomorrow we head to Beatrix Potters Hill Top Cottage. 

From Beatles to Beatrix - quite a leap!

Word of the Day - Teddy Boy = Ringo's gang name

Arrgh....it's a Pirate Faire

 

We had breakfast on the dock at our hotel.  Beautiful morning on the River Dee on a three day weekend here (bankers holiday on Monday) in Chester and next door is the Royal Rowing Club with lots of boats in the water this morning!

 

Traveled from Chester to spend the morning in Conwy & Llandudno in Wales today.  They are both seaside towns with a rich history. Amazing Castle that we were able to walk all over, up & down, along the walls, etc.,  built by King Edward I around 1283.  But.....

It was a zoo getting in and out of the town due to the holiday & children here have a week off school on holiday. 

Oh yeah....and it was a pirate fair!

Kids and parents were dressed in appropriate Pirate costume and we were thinking that they were way into visiting the castle until we saw this sign on the way out of town......

 

I accused Mr. B of fooling me.  Remember it's in Welsh like all the signs we saw here. 

After visiting several other Welch towns we headed back to Chester, England to walk around the Roman ruins and take a boat ride down the River Dee to hear a little more about the city's history.  

 

We passed our hotel (the brown buildings in the back of our hotels floating beer pub) which was extra busy due to it being a Sunday. They do a thing in Britain called Sunday roast and people are dining all day long on Sunday.  

Then we walked through olde town to see the half timbered buildings and the Eastgate clock.  

 

And the Roman ruins - below is the Roman garden but there is also the Roman amphitheater and walls. 

Heading to Liverpool tomorrow and The Fab Four Tour!  Just because... we grew up in that generationa and I loved it!

Word of the day - because we ran into so many signs about badgers crossing the freeways in Wales = mochyn daear