We Made It! - London Heathrow to the Lake District

We arrived to the UK on Tuesday at about noon London time after an eight hour flight from Minneapolis. Once we landed, we grabbed our backpacks and managed to find a bus to take us to our hostel located on a nice little London street. We stayed here for one night and were able to wear off some of our jet lag.


The next morning, we headed back to the airport to receive our prebooked car - a lovely Kia Picanto, which we used to drive to Windermere in the beautiful lake district. Driving a car in the UK is not a cup of tea. Getting used to driving a car on the wrong side of the street, getting used to driving on the wrong side of that car, trying to figure out how to get out of the maze of roundabouts and twisty streets the Heathrow Airport is, and trying to find the right motorway for us to be on was all quite an experience. Some would say it's stressful. But we found out which way we needed to go and we were on our way actually quicker than one would have expected. It was a fun experience cruising up the British motorways along with all the lorries (semis) and compact cars. The interesting thing was that there were no speed limits posted. We weren't sure if it was just an unwritten thing or not. We stayed in the middle lane, but had many BMWs and Audis cruise past us at speeds of I'm guessing 90 mph.



It was a beautiful drive though, once I was able to ease my knuckles from the steering wheel and look out the side windows. And it kept getting more and more beautiful as we got closer to our destination. We strayed off the main highway and made our way into the Lake District and on to Windermere. This brought our driving experience to a whole new level. Going down the narrow, two way highway and the tight streets of the town trying to find our hostel was crazy. For those of you who are acquainted with the Victoria bridge in Saskatoon and how tight and intimidating it can be, try driving down a Victoria bridge all the time down twisty and hilly roads with five foot high walls on either side and speed limit signs that say "40 mph". And in town, there are streets that can fit two cars, but usually there will be parked cars sporadically placed so that you will need to just know who has the right of way or you will not survive. And I forgot to mention the loads and loads of pedestrians marking the sidewalks and filling onto the roads so that I must assume the amount of injuries must reach an incomparable level here in Winderemere, but yet the cars are still driven at around 35 mph.



That being said, we have really enjoyed our time here in the Lake District. We have spent time in Windermere, but have also been to and around a neighbouring town of Ambleside, which has a very unique atmosphere about it. Both towns have a lot of beauty to share and we tried to make the most of it. We have enjoyed the streets and the cool, old buildings. We also have really loved the natural scenery. That is probably the best part. Both these towns have a lot of people that pack the streets and shops and piers (on Lake Windermere), but we have found some great spots outside of these towns, in the surrounding hills, where tourists do not seem to go, that offer some very pretty natural spectacles and outstanding views.


Lake Windermere with a view of the town behind

A great view of the lake and hillside from Bisky Howe Viewpoint

The town of Ambleside

St. Martin's Church peaking through the trees in Ambleside

The cemetery at St. Martin's

Part of the string of waterfalls that is Stockghyll Force

The rocky steps led the way

The falls at the top

A countryside house amidst the sheep pastures

A typical scene from our car window

Tomorrow (the 9th), we head off to Edinburgh, Scotland bright and early in order to return our car in time. We are excited to spend a few days there before flying over to Dublin.