While I was in England in March/April, I went and visited the town of Ambleside in the Lakes District. I started off the day there by going for a walk around in Rothay Park, a splendid park with a bunch of large boulders scattered around the back of the park, and you’d best believe I clambered up every single one of them. I spent a decent amount of time in the park, walking all around, climbing all the boulders, looking at the creek in the back of the park, investigating each and every corner of the park, and making friends with a dog owner and then playing with their dog. Lovely dog, his name is Parker. I even started up a hill that was quite steep and led to a trail to climb up the mountain, but I didn’t have time to climb to the top of the mountain, unfortunately. I needed lunch! Next time though… next time for sure.
For lunch, I went to an Italian restaurant called Zeffirelli’s Pizzeria, not to be confused with the attached building, Zeffirelli’s, the movie theater. I just got plain spaghetti with parmesan cheese, and it was quite delicious! I also had some garlic bread, which I always love, as a planned later post will prove. It was a gorgeous restaurant and I particularly loved the water features in the middle of the room. I can’t really say one way or another how pricy it is there, as my being a picky eater came in quite handy: my meal technically came off the kids menu without any spaghetti sauce or meatballs, so it was cheaper than it otherwise would have been.
After the delicious lunch, I walked around to look at some shops. Two in particular stood out to me. The first was Fred’s Bookshop, which is somewhat small on the inside, packed full of books, but with a second floor. It feels incredibly English; everything is a bit smaller and more crammed there, but as a result, they make the most of that space, and they do it in a way that it doesn’t feel crammed so much as it feels cozy. It’s wildly impressive to me, and I wish I could find a way to do that, as I am an exceptionally messy person. If only I could make my own space feel cozy and comforting rather than crammed and cramped. But who knows! Perhaps in an article a year from now, I’ll be harkening back to this side rant and saying that I figured it out! I have hope for it yet!
The other shop that stood out to me was Silver Moon, which had absolutely gorgeous, splendid jewelry. Unlike Fred’s, I did not buy anything here, as I reasoned to myself that I had enough jewelry and it was early enough in my trip that I didn’t need to be spending my money on jewelry, no matter how reasonably priced it was. Especially given that all the things that caught my eye were somehow all the most expensive things in the shop. Apparently my taste in jewelry is whatever is most expensive. Didn’t know that about myself… I nearly persuaded myself to get one thing, a necklace or bracelet, I think it was. Until I saw that it was 80 pound! That’s almost, if not over, $100. Most things were in the 30-50 pound range. Regardless, next time I find myself in Ambleside, I think the plan is that I’m going to climb to the top of a mountain and then congratulate myself with a gorgeous piece of jewelry. I guess I’d better start saving!
One thing in particular that’s interesting about Ambleside is the Bridge House, a tiny house built on a bridge over the creek that runs through the town. No one lives in it today, rather it is a landmark that people climb up the steps of and stand on the very small porch. I’d love to see the inside of it, but I don’t believe that it’s open to the public. I could be wrong though, which I suppose is just one more thing for me to find out when I go there next.
Because I do plan on going there again. It may not be within the next couple years, but it will definitely happen. I have a love of travel, and while most places may be one and done, there are still plenty of places that I leave with even more things in mind that I want to do. Ambleside is definitely one of those places. It’s so amazing there, as is every place I went in England, and I can’t wait to see even more of the country.
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Happy Halloween, everyone! Family is something that is very important to me, and the origins of this holiday, throughout many cultures, has been that this is the time when the veil between the living and dead is thinnest and the spirits of our ancestors come through to this world. We see that in Mexico as they celebrate Día de los Muertos, and in the time of the ancient Celts, they carved turnips, similarly to how we carve pumpkins today to ward off the bad spirits, even as they left out food for the spirits of their ancestors. I hope you all have had a great Halloween and are thinking fond memories of your family and the ancestors that came before.