Part 1- July 18 – 20: Edinburg and Glasgow, Scotland
July 18: K’s departure flight would be from Glasgow on July 21, we decided to spend three nights in Glasgow (I would stay in the UK till 31 July). We landed at the Edinburgh airport from Faroe Islands on schedule after 4 pm. After a 30-minute wait, we got on a double-decker coach without air-conditioning. It’s impossible to open the window. It was a torture!
By the time we arrived at the bus station in Glasgow, we had to wait more than 40 minutes for a taxi to the Jury Inn Hotel close to the train station (As the rate at Radisson had gone up a lot since our booking, we had to look for another hotel nearby for two extra nights). By the time we were ready to eat, it was well after 8 pm. We had dinner in a nice Italian restaurant. But the service was slow, and it was after ten before we finished our dinner. What a long day!
July 19: We had a leisure day in Glasgow. We explored the city on foot walking along the River Clyde and visited the Metropolitan Cathedral of St Andrew with a lot of history on St Mungo. Then we reached the Merchant City with magnificent buildings reflecting the wealth and glory of the city’s past before reaching Strathclyde University, the Necropolis and the Cathedral both of which are treasures. After learning the history of the patron saint of Ireland, I am mindful when visiting St Mungo’s Tomb in the Cathedral.
The UK was suffering from extreme heat wave. It was so hot that we did not want to do much at all. We walked to the George Square and spent over an hour in the nearby Gallery of Modern Art. I ended up buying a painting on glass of northern lights from an art gallery opposite nearby.
July 20: We took a taxi to the Burrell Collection at the Pollok Country Park. Out of its 6,000 items in the collection, some 2,500 are of Chinese origin. I am lucky to be able to visit the museum which was closed for renovation in October 2016 and only reopened this March. I joined a guided tour for an hour before looking at the collection by myself. We had a great time in the museum and took a free shuttle to the nearby train station to take a local train to return to Glasgow.
At 4:45pm, I took an express train to Edinburgh to visit Hazel and James who have moved to a new house about an hour by bus from the Haymarket. My short excursion into the suburb of greater Edinburgh is delightful. I had a great evening with Hazel, James and Rowena (Denise’s eldest daughter) who was visiting her sister. I have known the girls since they were babies. Time flies! I find the train service in Scotland fairly good, and I was back in Glasgow train station before 11 pm.
Part 2 – July 21 – 25: Lake District.
July 21: I bid good-bye to K after breakfast to catch the 9:06 am train to Windemere. When I arrived in the train station, I found out that the train was canceled owing to the ongoing labour disputes and strikes. I had to take another one after 10:30am and changed twice before arriving in Windemere around 1 pm. I booked in a nice BnB for two nights. When I wanted to stay one more night, it was already fully booked. I had to find another BnB.
I like Windemere which is less crowded and touristy. In the afternoon, I took the easy Orrest Head trail to a hilltop with magnificent 360-degree view of Windemere and surrounding areas. I enjoy walking at my own pace through the wood. I had an early dinner with grilled sea beam in a local pub. I also booked two full day tours for the next two days (£50 per trip with senior discount).
July 22: Full-day Ten Lakes Tour. It was a small group with 12 persons with Dave as our guide. The weather was fine apart from light rain in the morning. Dave is cheerful and experienced giving lots of information about the Lake District. We passed four lakes (Windermere, Rydal Water and Grasmere) before our first stop at the picturesque village of Grasmere. We all headed to Wordsworth’s grave in St. Oswald’s Churchyard. I enjoyed sitting in the Daffodil Garden next to the church in memory of Wordsworth.
On our way to a hilltop ‘Surprise View’ for panoramic views of the valleys, lakes and surrounding mountain ranges, we had sight of Thirlmere, Bassenthwaite and Derwentwater. Dave told us to take photos of the most photographed Ashness Bridge nearby. It is a very small stone bridge!
Then we travelled through the Borrowdale and over the Honister pass with a short stop at the Honister slate mine with fabulous views of the pass and dales below and the mountain ranges. On the way to Keswick, we saw Buttermere, Crummock Water, Moss Force Waterfall and Newland Dale. We had a lunch stop in Keswick. I bought a Cumberland sausage that was so big that I left half for the dinner and had a nice stroll in this small bustling town.
The next stop was the Castlerigg Stone Circle which is described by the English-Heritage Organisation as “perhaps the most atmospheric and dramatically sited of all British stone circles with panoramic views and the mountains of Helvellyn and High Seat as a backdrop”. It was indeed a highlight. On the way to Windemere, we saw Ullswater and Patterdale Brothers Water, travelled through the Kirkstone Pass and had a photo stop at Townsend/Kaiser Lookout point. I was dropped off before 5pm. A nice quick introduction to the Lake District indeed!
July 23: Western Lakes. The weather was unsteady with a grey sky. We travelled on the less travelled part of the Lake District which is sparsely populated and more atmospheric. There were only ten passengers. Most of the time, we were on narrow single-lane country path. We drove through the Great Langdale, Little Langdale, got over the Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass which are said to be England’s steepest road. We caught a glimpse of Scafell Pike, the highest peak in the Lake District. We saw remains of the Hardknott Roman Fort from a distance.
We stopped at Boot for lunch. Instead of enjoying a nice lunch in a family inn, I wandered around in the rain to see the restored Ravenglass and Eskdale railway and visit the picturesque village with a water corn mill dating back to 1547.
On the way to the Muncaster Castle, we had a brief stop at Wastwater, England’s deepest and most dramatic lake. The weather had improved when we arrived at the 14th century historic haunted castle owned by the Pennington family. Overlooking the River Esk, the castle siting on over 80 acres of land has beautiful and well-designed gardens, a hawk and owl centre and ten walking trails. On arrival, we hurried to watch the flying displays of falcon and vultures that began at 2 pm. We were late and only saw the second half for about ten minutes. Anyway, I was glad to catch a glimpse of a majestic and most beautiful falcon in action and got a decent photo. In addition, there are two more displays: the world of owls at 11:30am and wild heron feed at 4pm. There is a lot to do: I can spend a whole day instead of an hour in the Castle.
On the way back to Windemere, we had a brief stop at Coniston Water. I like this tour and am glad to see the less travelled and less touristic part of the Lake District.
July 24: I had a lovely morning in Windemere as my train to Blackpool was scheduled at 3:44 pm. I took a leisure walk to the lake following the Birthwaite Road and the Rayrigg trail. I passed by the Jetty Museum before arriving at Bowness-on-Windemere. The weather was nice and hot. As tourists were everywhere, I took refuge in the atmospheric ancient parish church of St Martin built in 1483 and spent over an hour enjoying a scone tea-set for £10 in the veranda overlooking the lake at the stylish Macdonald Old England Hotel.
Part 3- July 24: Blackpool
July 24: As expected, the train I had booked was canceled. I had to change train in Lancaster and Preston and was late by 45 minutes. Luckily, I was able to stay in touch via email with my host Mike. I was relieved to be greeted by Mike whom Carla and I visited in 2019. I was hungry. He took me to a pub and we had a hearty dinner.
July 25: Buttermere Walk. Mike runs a BnB in Blackpool and goes hiking in the Lake District every week. I was glad when he suggested a walk in Buttermere. It was drizzling when we began the walk around 2 pm. The entire walk around the lake which is 2km long and 0.57km wide, is about 6 km. Buttermere is surrounded by mountains with several beautiful waterfalls. Mike said his favourite pastime is to sit and listen to the sound of the waterfalls. We had packed lunch sitting opposite the biggest waterfall across the lake and could still listen clearly to the thundering sound. I thoroughly enjoyed the walk around this atmospheric, peaceful and beautiful small lake.
Water from Buttermere flows to Crummock through a stream. We drove along the shore of Crummock which looks impressive with rugged high mountains as a backdrop. After an early pub dinner in Ambleside, we were back in Blackpool after 8:30pm. I am glad I have spent five days in the Lake District on this trip.
Part 4- July 26 – 31: Oxford & London
July 26-30: I spent two nights at the lovely house of Margaret and Steuart (my boss in Brussels) in Oxford and three nights in London to meet up with Carla, Robert, Lawrence, CT, Ada, Joy and Sunny, Emily and family over dinner or lunch. It is wonderful to see old good friends again. Apparently most of the people I met had COVID at least once. We felt sad to see the world in chaos. Where is paradise?
July 31: My flight to Frankfurt would depart at 11:30am. Given the horrific problems and delays at the airport, I took the 7 am coach from Victoria. The check-in arrangements in Terminal 2 were bad with long queues. There was no self-service machine nor fast drop-bag service. I waited for an hour though I had already checked in online. After check-in, there was another long queue for security check. What a mess! Luckily, the LH flight to Frankfurt took off as scheduled.