Our Experience in Keswick
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| Beautiful houses in Keswick |
First of all, we had a long trip ahead, we left Bath by train and had to change once at Bristol and then at Manchester, thankfully we didn't wait long for our connecting trains. We carried on and after a few hours we finally got to Penrith, the closest train stop before heading deeper into Lake District. It was a bit funny for us, that we had been listening to the name "Lake District" and imagining something like Finland, where millions of lakes are all around, but in Britain the Lake district only has 4 lakes. It was an amazing area non the less.
At Penrith we went to have some lunch at Jennings Agricultural Hotel which was near the station. We came in and had some delicious burgers while we caught up with the news we had been following throughout the trip: the horrible killings in Oslo, and the scandal of News of the World. We finished our meals and beer and we went back to the train station to figure what bus to take to get to Keswick. The bus trip was around 40 min to 1 hour. It felt long but the views were very nice, I think i slept for a bit on the bus (I always sleep during trips)
Finally we got to Keswick. We chose this destination for our trip very randomly. A friend from school (from York) recommended that we went to Keswick, that it was a very nice town. To my amazement, that was MY favorite place in the UK, at least from the places we visited.
The town was very compact and yet packed with beautiful looking homes. We noticed that most of the homes were actually Bed and Breakfast homes, and most of them had NO vacancy. The town was swarming with people, most of them looked like travelers, but brittish travelers, not so many foreigners like us. It seems that Keswick is a very good destination for camping and trekking. It was a bit late by then, so we went straight to our B&B to check in and drop the luggages. After checking in, we went out to take a look around the city and we went into the King's Arms to have a beer. It was so funny, there was a beer called Hobgoblin, it was so epic that i had to have one. It wasn't particularly good, but it gave me the right to say 'I've drunk hobgoblin beer'
We checked a map we had and saw that one of the lakes was not too far from the town, about 1 km or so, and we chose to give it a first look. We walked for a bit and through a very nice park, apparently donated by a rich woman, it was very colorful and full of flowers.
The evening slowly arrived while we were sitting on a field staring at the lake and its million inhabitants. There were many sheep, geese and ducks all around, and also some people enjoying the area as we were.
After chasing some sheep we called it a day and went back to the B&B where we watched some tv and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up to have a very nice home made breakfast. As usual Robin was very nice and helpful and he pointed us to some walks we could do during the day. Sadly my back has been giving me problems ever since the hectic walking in Japan, so we opted for something that would be less demanding. I was eager to see the Castlerigg Stone Circle, so we chose a series of trails that would get us there and back in about two hours, or so we thought.
So we started our 'trekking' through the city. We began at the Moot Hall and went towards the old Train Station whose tracks are nowadays just a walking trail. We walked for a while, taking breaks for me to sit down often on along the way, and eventually we reached a road and began climbing a steep road. The road was long and very tiring for me, the inclination was weighting heavily on my back, i could feel it. But we found a way to make it work.
We finally reached the top and noticed that no other 'turist' was walking the 'path'. It was more like everyone DROVE up the hill. I felt cheated. But we came to a gate, went through it and up the final hill towards the Circle. It was quite nice and it had a very relaxed feeling to it. No tickets, no vendors, no nothing. It was just the people that got there, a few kids jumping up and down the stones (not too nice from my point of view) and other people having their picnics around. The pro was that it was very relaxed, we had a nice time there, but the con was that you couldn't really get a picture where no people was in it.
In any case the wind was very nice and fresh, but the sun was scorching. I ended up taking out our umbrella and using it to cover me from the sun. A few moments had passed and we took out the water we carried, some peanuts and ... wait a minute... whats that sound?? Oh! it was an ice-cream truck! Brilliant! we got some ice-cream and enjoyed it in the field beyond the circle. Very nice indeed.
After we recovered our strength, we carried on back towards town. We took a different route that took us further up some hills, later to come down some other trail with a great view of the lake.
That afternoon we took a boat cruise around the lake. This boat company offered a service where we could get on and off at any of the 7 stops along the lake, but instead we chose the Evening Cruise that would go all around with some brief explanation of the places (and it also included a glass of wine) We found it very funny that as soon as everyone sat down on the boat, they gave us the wine. We would have expected to get it in the middle of the lake or on the way back.
The sun was still shining and we got very nice views of the area. We also got first row seats to the geese flying around and going towards that field where we viewed the sunset the day before. The rest of the evening we spent just walking about. We visited the nice park in the way to the town and later on we went to have a small diner and back to the B6B.
For our last day, we wondered if to visit yet another museum or walk around aimlessly again. To tell the truth we were getting quite tired of walking all around. So when we saw a 'museum' that was for optical illusions, we didn't hesitate to spend our time there relaxing and with no rush to get anywhere.
After lots of fun and funny pictures in that place, at about midday, we went to eat to an Indian restaurant from whom we had gotten some coupons the day before. It was a very hidden place, and there wasn't many people in it, but the food was good, and the prices with the coupons was excellent.
Later on we went to the Cheese Shop where I finally found THE BEST CHEESE IN THE WORLD. (Lake District mature cheddar) I had tasted that cheese back in Tampere, once when a British Market had been set in the downtown square, and I absolutely loved it! We had been looking for for All of the trip and only in Keswick we found it. And because I love cheese, I bought 2 packs, but they didn't last long...
We also went to a small shop where we bought some toffee, postcards and some bread, cheese and ham for our late afternoon pick nick dinner, and we set out again to wander about the town.
Our trip to Keswick came to an end at the same park next to the lake. We had some bears and bread there and when we couldn't eat anymore, we fed the swarm of geese that was around there, some ducks too. It was quite fun, although a bit scary when they hissed at you so you would give them more.
At Penrith we went to have some lunch at Jennings Agricultural Hotel which was near the station. We came in and had some delicious burgers while we caught up with the news we had been following throughout the trip: the horrible killings in Oslo, and the scandal of News of the World. We finished our meals and beer and we went back to the train station to figure what bus to take to get to Keswick. The bus trip was around 40 min to 1 hour. It felt long but the views were very nice, I think i slept for a bit on the bus (I always sleep during trips)
Finally we got to Keswick. We chose this destination for our trip very randomly. A friend from school (from York) recommended that we went to Keswick, that it was a very nice town. To my amazement, that was MY favorite place in the UK, at least from the places we visited.
The town was very compact and yet packed with beautiful looking homes. We noticed that most of the homes were actually Bed and Breakfast homes, and most of them had NO vacancy. The town was swarming with people, most of them looked like travelers, but brittish travelers, not so many foreigners like us. It seems that Keswick is a very good destination for camping and trekking. It was a bit late by then, so we went straight to our B&B to check in and drop the luggages. After checking in, we went out to take a look around the city and we went into the King's Arms to have a beer. It was so funny, there was a beer called Hobgoblin, it was so epic that i had to have one. It wasn't particularly good, but it gave me the right to say 'I've drunk hobgoblin beer'
We checked a map we had and saw that one of the lakes was not too far from the town, about 1 km or so, and we chose to give it a first look. We walked for a bit and through a very nice park, apparently donated by a rich woman, it was very colorful and full of flowers.
The evening slowly arrived while we were sitting on a field staring at the lake and its million inhabitants. There were many sheep, geese and ducks all around, and also some people enjoying the area as we were.
After chasing some sheep we called it a day and went back to the B&B where we watched some tv and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up to have a very nice home made breakfast. As usual Robin was very nice and helpful and he pointed us to some walks we could do during the day. Sadly my back has been giving me problems ever since the hectic walking in Japan, so we opted for something that would be less demanding. I was eager to see the Castlerigg Stone Circle, so we chose a series of trails that would get us there and back in about two hours, or so we thought.
 |
| The hills and pathways looked amazing. |
We finally reached the top and noticed that no other 'turist' was walking the 'path'. It was more like everyone DROVE up the hill. I felt cheated. But we came to a gate, went through it and up the final hill towards the Circle. It was quite nice and it had a very relaxed feeling to it. No tickets, no vendors, no nothing. It was just the people that got there, a few kids jumping up and down the stones (not too nice from my point of view) and other people having their picnics around. The pro was that it was very relaxed, we had a nice time there, but the con was that you couldn't really get a picture where no people was in it.
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| Castlerigg stone circle. More like a picnic area. |
In any case the wind was very nice and fresh, but the sun was scorching. I ended up taking out our umbrella and using it to cover me from the sun. A few moments had passed and we took out the water we carried, some peanuts and ... wait a minute... whats that sound?? Oh! it was an ice-cream truck! Brilliant! we got some ice-cream and enjoyed it in the field beyond the circle. Very nice indeed.
After we recovered our strength, we carried on back towards town. We took a different route that took us further up some hills, later to come down some other trail with a great view of the lake.
 |
| Right of way, somewhere. |
The sun was still shining and we got very nice views of the area. We also got first row seats to the geese flying around and going towards that field where we viewed the sunset the day before. The rest of the evening we spent just walking about. We visited the nice park in the way to the town and later on we went to have a small diner and back to the B6B.
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| All the charms of a small town |
After lots of fun and funny pictures in that place, at about midday, we went to eat to an Indian restaurant from whom we had gotten some coupons the day before. It was a very hidden place, and there wasn't many people in it, but the food was good, and the prices with the coupons was excellent.
Later on we went to the Cheese Shop where I finally found THE BEST CHEESE IN THE WORLD. (Lake District mature cheddar) I had tasted that cheese back in Tampere, once when a British Market had been set in the downtown square, and I absolutely loved it! We had been looking for for All of the trip and only in Keswick we found it. And because I love cheese, I bought 2 packs, but they didn't last long...
We also went to a small shop where we bought some toffee, postcards and some bread, cheese and ham for our late afternoon pick nick dinner, and we set out again to wander about the town.
Our trip to Keswick came to an end at the same park next to the lake. We had some bears and bread there and when we couldn't eat anymore, we fed the swarm of geese that was around there, some ducks too. It was quite fun, although a bit scary when they hissed at you so you would give them more.
My Reviews
Accommodation
The Bed and Breakfast (Ellergill):
Its right at downtown. You walk down the street and left on the corner and you are right in the center of town, great location. The owners Robin and Clare are very nice people and love hinting you about where you could go for great walks! The house is lovely and the street is full of houses that look similar, they all look gorgeous.
The room:
I have to say it was the best room we had. Very nicely kept, with a look from the window towards other story-like roofs, lovely. The room had en-suite and it looked overall quite nice. Tv included!
The included breakfast:
Every day we filled in a card saying what we wanted from the meals they offered. My choice was fried eggs with sausage, mushrooms and tomato, with some toasted bread on the side and fruit tea. They also had yogurts and other similar British breakfasts.
In the city
Stamp of approval:
The Castlerigg Stone Circle walk: Walking to Castlerigg (a stone circle, kind of like Stonehenge) was at first a bit difficult for me. It was all the way up a large hill through some streets. But on the way down, we came through another path that took us through a stream, some sheep fields and a beautiful view of the lake. Fantastic.
Fairtrade: It was very nice to see that most of the things around the city are Fairtrade. That's a good touch to anything.
Shopping: I don't know about where you live, but here in Finland clothes are very expensive. Many shops had great discounts and we bought some very good stuff for very good prices.
Fairtrade: It was very nice to see that most of the things around the city are Fairtrade. That's a good touch to anything.
Shopping: I don't know about where you live, but here in Finland clothes are very expensive. Many shops had great discounts and we bought some very good stuff for very good prices.
Stamp of disapproval:
'Time to close': It was a bit discouraging that whenever we wanted to have dinner... most restaurants were closed. I don't know whats the regular time for British people to go have dinner, but it seemed to be quite early to what I'm used to. Sometime we had very limited choices for meals because of this.
