Windermere

We have been using our free time on the weekends to explore the fells and lakes around us. Over the past few weekends we have visited the deepest lake (Wastwater) and viewed the highest fell (Scafell). This weekend we decided to visit the biggest lake, Windermere. Windermere is also one of the "hot spots" for Lake District tourism. We've been told that the country roads are overrun by tourists in the summer so we decided to take advantage of a nice April Saturday to make our visit. There are a couple of seaside towns alongside the lake, and, with Bowness being the town recommended by our guidebook, we set our sat-nav and headed off for an hour or so drive through the fells.

Bowness is a quaint little town with lots of shops and restaurants, rowboat and small motorboat rentals, and the tamest swans I've ever seen! In fact, they showed no worries about approaching people and gathered in great groups around those who brought food for them. I even saw one swan put it's great beak on a lady's shoulder trying to snatch the bread she was holding and actually trying to eat as part of her own lunch!

 Scott aggravated the swan a bit to distract him from the lady with the bread just off camera!

This area of the Lake District is home to many famous authors, including Beatrix Potter. Her home is near Bowness, and within the town of Bowness is "The World of Beatrix Potter" attraction. Scott was a good sport and accompanied me into this attraction. We watched a short video about Beatrix Potter. It was interesting to see how her home and the animals around here were the inspiration for her stories. A week or so ago I watched a short piece on t.v. about this attraction as well. The narrator accompanied a tour group of families from Japan as they went through the exhibits. It was fascinating to learn that the Japanese know these stories by heart. It seems that the stories are used to teach the children to speak and write English in Japan!!

After riding around the lake on a boat, experiencing the Beatrix Potter attraction, and meandering the streets a bit we headed for home. Sunday's weather was absolutely miserable: heavy rain and wind and cold! After church we grabbed a bite to eat, ran by the grocery, and headed home to wrap up plans for our trip to London this week (not to mention laundry, which is a blog for another day).