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11 July 2011

Lakes to the City

Day 43: Saturday, 2 July 2011

England has some interesting and fast-paced cities, but I feel that England is really best experienced in the countryside. The peculiarities of British culture (politeness, formality, simple home-style cooking) just seem to make more sense in a small town atmosphere. And Ambleside is such a great example of this. There's a university, so there are plenty of young people, but there are so many more outdoor things to do. Many people were hiking up and down the many hills and mountains nearby, and as I passed them, they would all smile and greet me. The economic downturn has benefited domestic tourism here, as UK residents choose to spend their holidays in England's most scenic area instead of going abroad.


Nick had gone to work early, and after another late morning, I went for a hike to the top of nearby Loughrigg. It was nice, sunny and warm, and the views were great as well. I returned to the apartment, and Claire, Vicky, and I went to the park, where we played some card games (Egyptian ratscrew), and tried to juggle/play with Claire's diablo. Nick arrived and joined us, opting to play catch/baseball with Claire's juggling balls, and then their friend Matt came too. We all walked to The Apple Pie and I got to try some Bath bake, which is kind of like a fruit-filled bread, which wasn't as good as usual apparently. I also got a couple bottles of local ale from the wine shop where Claire works, and then Nick drove me to the train station in Windermere.



The train ride back from Windermere was crowded and loud - full of rowdy guys clearly enjoying their weekend with several drinks. The train got even more crowded as it neared Manchester, and I decided to get off the train at Deansgate, so that it'd be a shorter ride for me to Kieran's place.

I took the tram back and Johnny welcomed me back to the house. We got some take-away food (and I had a pretty good veggie burger). It ended up being a quiet evening in, so I could get some more rest. Kieran had returned from a long day that included an interview he didn't feel very good about. There was another guy staying at Kieran's place - a Mexican named Fernando. He returned from a long day of taking pictures with his nice new camera. Everyone was tired, so we just slept.

Day 44: Sunday, 3 July 2011

We went to a festival in Chorlton, a town just down the road. The street was filled with vendors and food stalls, and it was crowded. Fernando found a Spanish bar playing live music and danced a little salsa with a woman there, generating quite a crowd. I got a Strongbow and an order of chips, and we all sat in a small patch of grass in the middle of the festival area, soaking up the sun with over a thousand others. I got a milkshake along the way. It was warm and sunny - perfect English summer weather.


Then, back to the house. Fernando was unusually relaxed getting ready for his bus that was leaving to Edinburgh, which actually stressed the rest of us out. Turns out, it left at 7:30 instead of 5:30. Andrea and Kate went to a hen (bachelorette) party/girls night out. The grocery stores closed very early, so I unfortunately couldn't buy food to cook dinner. Instead, I shared some rice with Kieran and Johnny.

Everyone was tired again, so we slept and I said good-bye, because I had my train to York relatively early in the morning.

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