annhig

On arrival into Keswick, we just parked the car and walked all over, had a Cornish pasty for lunch and just enjoyed getting our bearings.>>

a CORNISH pasty, aussie? are you sure? you do know that pasties can only be called cornish if they are made here, don't you? the pasty is in the same category as Champagne, parmegiano, parma ham and stilton - if it ain't made here, it's not a cornish pasty!

glad you made it to Keswick, anyway. Many years ago BC [before children] DH and I used to go walking in the Lake more or less every year and we always stayed in a village just north of Keswick, so we got to know it very well, usually when it was raining.

bilboburgler

Annhig, I'm ashamed I doubted you for a second

http://www.cornishpastyassociation.c...ked-questions/

annhig

i'm glad that you've now seen the light, bilbo.

aussiedreamer

Well ann you got me......but don't shoot the messenger....... That's what they called it in the shop. ;-)

annhig

aussie - i wouldn't dream of it [shooting you, that is].

I'll have to get the cornish mafia in Keswick onto it!

aussie_10

Great photos Aussie!
Such beautiful countryside.

aussiedreamer

We drove to York through the Dales, WOH is all I can say, we enjoyed this so much. The weather was cloudy and cold but mostly dry. What a barren eerie sort of place, just gorgeous. Stopped off at a small town and actually had a little sprinkle of snow!! We drove the Buttertubs Pass, dh was in heaven. We attempted to have a late lunch at the Yorke Arms Pub at Pateley Bridge but unfortunately we were 'too' late. It sure did look beautiful though. Ended up back in town at a small pub for fish & chips and it was just great, had a good chat to the publican. We enjoyed the drive into York, found our B&B without any problem. Another really great find, thanks I believe to a few suggestions on this site. Its in such a great location, www.thehazelwoodyork.com just outside the walls, so we pretty much utilised the free parking and walked a lot. We went for a walk around before we settled on cheese, crackers and wine in our room for dinner ;-) good sized room at the front of the house.

The next morning after a really delicious breakfast (try their vegetarian sausages...YUM), we headed off to walk the Wall and walk it we did ended up doing it all. Great views and photo ops, we also toured the Castle Museum and the Castle Tower. Then we had a phone msg from the sams that they were heading up on the train from Leeds for the afternoon. Yay, so we went for a walk around the lovely York Museum Gardens, had a great chat to the gardener and then met the kids at the station. We'd passed the Jamie's (Oliver) Italian restaurant earlier, so we headed back there and had a long lunch and a great catchup. The food really is good but I must say the service was a bit hit and miss.

We then spent the late afternoon and early evening exploring together, wandering in and out of the shops. They headed off to catch their train back, I decided that a fruit mince pie from Betty's had been earnt. I must say we did walk out of there with quite a few extras.........Christmas cake for my sister, Christmas Pudding for me and some Yorkshire Tea for a girl friend, OH and of course a Betty's T Towel.

The next day we decided to head out to Fountains Abbey........now let me be honest, until I'd started researching here, I hadn't heard of this place. I can not begin to describe its sheer beauty. When we first arrived, it was freezing cold but reasonably clear, a couple of light showers. As it was very very quiet the staff lent us two umbrellas out of the lost property room, which was just lovely. As we began to walk, and saw a lovely old manor house, then the Mill house, THEN the scenery opens up to the ruins of the Abbey, WOH, spectacular. We spent ages wondering all over and around this amazing site. But when we headed towards the signs that said Water Garden, we were really blown away, thank you all so much for this terrific recommendation. I think the photos speak for themselves. When we got to the edge of the main garden grounds at a set of gates, there was a lovely coffee shop on the lakes edge. My feet were very tired, so I had a lovely, dare I say <I><u>Devonshire</u> Tea?</I> ;-) while dh went and explored the Deer Park. What a really terrific day, it will forever be a highlight.

So the only way we could think to spend our last night after such a great day, was head to Betty's for dinner. Unfortunately the only table available was downstairs, but the meal was just lovely and we got two beautiful deserts to take 'home' with us. What a great day.

Next we are off to Halifax for the last game.


Yorkshire Dales
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1046325...7637722867653/

York
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1046325...7637737047963/

Fountains Abbey
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1046325...7637740179295/

bilboburgler

Glad you liked Fountains, a special place

Morgana

Fountains Abbey and Bettys - pretty much the perfect day!
I live 15 mins drive from Fountains and as it is open all year round we visit very regularly.
It's possibly at its most beautiful after snowfall. But for a few weekends in late Autumn they also floodlight the Abbey buildings and I love visiting on those evenings too.
Really glad you enjoyed it.

aussiedreamer

Well, this is pretty much the conclusion, we woke the next morning and took a lovely early morning stroll around the Cathedral in York, it was Sunday morning and we weren't allowed in. But the streets were lovely and quiet, so we had a really good walk.

Then drove onto Halifax, found our Premier Inn,http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/H...ax-town-centre again another great find, lovely staff, great restaurant and a terrific room. We just had time to check-in and make our way to what was to be the final game for Italy. They played Tonga, in a must win for Italy and unfortunately it was a big loss, so they were out of the finals. But we still had a great day, lunch in the dining room which overlooked the stadium. Sam got to join us and was interviewed as part of the lunch time entertainment, which was a real treat for us. The MC even came over to our table and introduced us as Sam’s fan club that had followed him from Australia ;-) It was a freezing cold afternoon and it was nice to be able to see the game from inside.

A long walk back, as we had no clue which direction to walk but kind of followed the crowd, we did end up in a cab though. Dinner was in the hotel restaurant and it was really good, its a steakhouse chain I believe, Beef Eater.

The next morning was to be our goodbye to Samantha and her in-laws, they were heading to London for their last few days (meeting Sam down there) and we were heading to Oxford for one night before our flight home. Enjoyed the drive to Oxford, found our B&B, which was really good, a bit older than we're used to but perfectly adequate http://www.cotswoldhouse.co.uk/. The location alone is pretty perfect, its on the main road into town with buses passing every few minutes. Which was just as well as it rained most of the afternoon. We jumped on a bus and got into town, we wandered all over for a few hours, there are some lovely buildings there. I'm not sure if it was due to the weather, or the fact that it was our last night but we were glad we hadn't bothered with any more time in Oxford. We'd managed to miss it on each trip, so definitely glad we did this, especially as we've done the airport hotel before a flight previously and its downright depressing. We had a fantastic meal in AL-ANDALUS TAPAS BAR http://www.tapasoxford.co.uk/, and I have to say the tapas, paella and Sangria, were as good as any I've had in Spain.

So that’s it, we drove to LHR the next morning both wishing we were still just heading north....dropped our car and got the bus to the airport. Uneventful trip home.........long..........but uneventful.

Thanks for coming on the ride with me, now to finish my Eastern European TR.

Italy vs Tonga
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1046325...7637755328255/

Oxford
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1046325...7637746878233/

aussie_10

Aussie love the photos of your York visit. I last visited a long long time ago. So definitely on the list for our visit early May.

We are visiting our son in Glasgow starting in April, he is working for the Commonwealth games. Our first weeks of exploring will be Scotland. The boys have a whisky trail planned.
Later on in May we will be wandering England for 2 weeks. So your trip report has been very helpful.

Thanks for sharing.
Fabulous photos!

annhig

thanks for starting and finishing this great TR, aussie - you are an example to those of us who manage to start but can't......

aussiedreamer

Ha ha ha ann, I have every faith in you!

I do have the Russian segment of our Eastern European trip that I can't seem to finish....don't know why as it was an absolute highlight.

Off to Sydney for the weekend, no tr needed ;-)

annhig

enjoy Sydney, aussie.

Do i gather that the temps there are somewhat lower than in the rest of Australia?

have a great time, anyway.

aussiedreamer

Yes , thank goodness, Brisbane expecting 36deg this weekend YUCK.

How are you guys doing in rain sodden UK?

annhig

A picture is better than 1000 words:

https://www.facebook.com/sarah.plink...52980603280021

aussiedreamer

Woh, your not wrong. Good to see the young Royals doing there bit too. Sending some sunshine..........god knows we can spare it.

annhig

aussie - we have sunshine today too, albeit with temps below 10C.

but I'm still looking forward to a week in Sorrento where the temperatures are closer to 20C. I can't wait!