Friday 29 April 2016

The Lake District Part II - A Place Called Buttermere


Today I'm going to share mostly just photos with you from our last day in the amazing Lake District because as I looked through the photos just now to see which I wanted to post, I realized they all really represent well the quintessential English countryside that most of us Americans picture and dream about.  Rolling green hills dotted with sheep and cows that can quickly give way to barren and rugged landscape, churches that are many centuries old, stone buildings, beautiful lakes… there is nothing I can say that these photos won’t say better.  


That said, I am going to share just one thing with you before I turn this blog post over to the photos because it needs a little explanation or you maybe won’t get it, and it’s terribly interesting!  When we were staying in the B&B in Ambleside, we asked the owners for their recommendation on a place to eat in town.  While the very friendly man that owns the place told us about the delicious Michael’s Bistro we had eaten at on Friday night, he also told us about another restaurant in town called The Priest Hole.  


It’s hard not to love the names of the pubs and restaurants you see in this country and I’m sure many of them have very interesting stories behind them, as is the case with The Priest Hole in Ambleside, because you see, there is something actually called a “priest hole.”  Back in the later 1500s when Queen Elizabeth I assumed the throne, the Catholic Church fell out of favor with the monarchy.  Apparently they were plotting to dethrone her and in return, she did not look kindly on the Catholic priests.  So many of the old Catholic families in England built a hiding place inside their house for the priest to hide should Queen Elizabeth and her “pursuivants” or priest-hunters come looking.  This building in the photo above is part of one of the oldest standing buildings in Ambleside dating back to the 1600s and during some renovations they discovered an odd little hole, the perfect size for someone to hid in, under the floor.  It is suspected that this is a priest hole, hence the name of the restaurant.

Now, on to the photos.  For our last day in the Lake District, we headed deeper into the national park to a tiny little town nestled between two lakes called Buttermere.  There is a beautiful trail that wraps right around one of the lakes and that was our destination.  Before leaving Ambleside that morning, we had stopped at a little shop called The Picnic Basket where we picked up some sandwiches and other items for lunch to take with us on our hike and off we went.  So I share with you these photos, taken on the drive through the national park to Buttermere, in the tiny little town of Buttermere, and during our amazing hike around the lake.  Hope you enjoy!


















 

















Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to talk much during this post, but I feel a picture of a Ferrari after all of those beautiful Lake District photos needs some explanation.  It is not at all strange to see a very posh, very expensive, and very fast car anywhere here in the UK, even in a teeny, tiny, literally about five buildings and a bunch of sheep village like Buttermere.  These British like their fancy cars and we have seen them everywhere.  

Now, that is all I officially have to say.


Except this - Man was that a great day in the Lake District!


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