KESWICK: Boating, hiking, giant hands

We 18 May

The answer to yesterday's questions:

• California is 3.25 times the area of England: 163, 696 square miles to England's 50,346.
• England has 1.4 times as many people as California: 55.27 million (as of 2016) in England, 39.56 million (as of 2018) in California

I knew California was longer than England (e.g. it takes more time to drive its length), but I didn't realize it was more than three times the overall size! 

Weather and light

Weather here is unpredictable, but fortunately in a way which has blessed us so far. This week was supposed to be rainy; on Monday there were thunderstorms predicted for the Cotswolds. We never had thunderstorms fortunately, and while we did have rain on Tuesday (our mostly driving day), today was another glorious day—warm enough and sunny. It's rainy now, at night, but tomorrow promises to be at least partly sunny. Though I certainly don't trust the weather reports much here! Things change too much.

Another bonus on the trip has been how long the days are. We didn't think about the fact that England is more than 10º further north in latitude than Menlo Park—that means it gets more hours of daylight. It's light here from 5am to 9pm! 

Sunset at 9:17pm, taken by Doug from our room

The Lake District (where we are)

The Lake District is a mountainous National Park area in northwest England that contains multiple lakes; it is also a World Heritage Site, as of 2017. It's a popular recreation site within England, where people can go to relax and hike and see lovely scenery, much as people like to go to Lake Tahoe in California. It's also been a favorite spot for various well-known writers such as William Wordsworth, John Ruskin, Beatrix Potter. At breakfast this morning, we had a pleasant chat with a British couple from Leeds; this is their 9th trip to the Lake District. 

Taking the ferry, doing the popular Catbells climb

Keswick, where we're staying, is right next to Derwent Water (a lake); it was only a short walk from our B&B to get to the ferry jetty. We rode the ferry from Keswick to Hawes End, knowing that from there we could climb Catbells. We climbed up close to the top; it was a steep, scrabbly climb but not as difficult as I feared. You were often clambering on semi-organized rocks, so your footing was more stable than it can be on dirt trails. Also it was easy to find corners to stop and rest for a bit, and the scenery was beautiful all the way up (no trees to block the view). From the point we reached, you could even see another lake off in the distance; the views were glorious.

Doug at the Keswick jetty

View from Friars Crag, along the shore

Search for the giant hands

After the Catbells climb, we walked some lower trails for awhile, in part searching for the Giant Hands. The couple at breakfast had told us about some Giant Hands at the part of the lake where we were going. They were created in 2002, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that area being bought by Britain's National Trust as public land. Unfortunately, since they are made of wood, they are rather worse for the wear at this point. Still it was exciting to find them.

Waiting for the check...

At the Packhorse Pub

Mostly I haven't bothered to post about food, not because there aren't things to say, but because it would take too long to write about everything. Maybe I'll do some summary food comments towards the end. One thing I thought I'd mention now, though, is how long it takes to get the check in a restaurant! For some reason, restaurants don't seem to be in any hurry to turn over their tables. Tonight I timed it and we still hadn't gotten a check 20 minutes after we'd already confirmed that we were done and not ordering dessert. We had to ask for it. Often, even after we've gotten a check, we have to wait again for a server to come with the portable card reader so we can pay. It's a little frustrating, when we're used to being able to leave more promptly, but we're learning to make a point of asking for the check early on. 

Next Post

Tomorrow the plan is to visit the stone circles in this area, and hopefully also the pencil museum!! 

Saw LOTS of sheep today