LAKES DISTRICT PUBS

Yes!! Finally a day of rain  - well, enough rain for Cliff to agree to no walking. Time for a drive to check out some of the pubs around the Lakes District. Almost all of the pubs were white rather than stone like most of the buildings. 

We had a great ploughmans lunch at this pub "The Wild Boar" and this time I didn't eat all the ham :-)

The Unicorn pub - 400 years old and the oldest pub in Ambleside.

"Golden Rule" this pub only 195 years old

Another white pub - not sure I can keep up this pace & with Cliff sampling 2 pints in each pub it was time to wander the streets

We discovered some beautiful buildings

Our street

our final night we spent back at the Unicorn pub listening to one of the local guys playing guitar & singing - it was a great way to farewell Ambleside.

AMBLESIDE Part 2

No rain - another great day for a long hike - Cliff promised me this walk would be on a low path, no steep tracks along mountain ranges. Beauty - off we set on an extremely pretty walk along the river.

Everything was so green

we did have to walk up a bit of a hill & came across a very interesting cave. The water was full of little fish & they enjoyed Cliff's banana.

we came to a cross roads - down to walk along the lake or up to walk along the side of the mountain range - which path do you think Cliff decided on?

Yes! - after 8 kms we made it to "Tweedies Bar" at Grasmere for a very nice ploughmans lunch - Cliff was a little upset - he accused me of eating all the ham - imagine that - well it just wasn't true, I did leave him a little bit :-)

Setting off on our return trip we detoured to do some rowing on Grasmere lake - Cliff said I was a two headed monster - not very nice.

While rowing, Cliff noticed a trail up the side of the mountain - if you look very hard in this photo, you can see it way up of the hill behind Cliff

Once the decision was made -much to my protest- up we went 

AND went 

Everytime I reached a point where I thought this would be the top - it just kept on going - you can see me sitting on a rock half way down - I really wanted to give up

But - in the end the views were worth it - and, according to Cliff, Nessie enjoyed it too.

Next day only one hill - but this one was 9 kms to the pub Cliff wanted to visit 

"The Drunken Duck Inn" 

Believe it or not - This unofficial title dates back to Victorian years when a landlady of the Inn found her ducks lying stretched out in the road and concluded that they were dead. She began to pluck & prepare them for dinner. Down in the cellar a barrel had slipped its hoops and beer had gradually drained from the floor into the duck's feeding ditch. So they weren't dead, just drunk. According to local legend, the landlady, full of remorse for the rough treatment, provided the de-feathered birds with knitted waistcoats of Hawkshead yarn until their feathers grew back again.

Then hey - why not walk to another pub - great - what's another couple of kms.

We did get to see a tiny little fawn hiding in the ferns, it seemed all alone- no mother deer in sight.

After 18kms we were totally exhausted by the time we got home but at least Cliff didn't make me walk over another mountain. Rain was predicted for our last day - I can only hope :-)

AMBLESIDE - Lakes District

Eventually we arrived in Ambleside - once again another very pretty town - almost all houses & buildings in the town are made from stone.

Apparently a great area for walking, so if the weather permits we'll see just how many we do - but first - time to find a local establishment -  the White Lion Hotel looked inviting & happy to say we weren't disappointed.

Next morning - overcast but no rain - so off we set - once again Cliff found a walk - of all places - to a pub - problem being we needed to walk 6kms just to get to the pub - so off we set

Up a very steep road to start the climb to Loughrigg fell (mountain range) one advantage is we had great views of Lake Windermere.

then past Loughrigg tarn (mountain lake) 

The public pathways actually go through private farms - we even had to climb their stone walls

Finally we got to our destination - thank goodness it was on the downhill run  (I hate walking up hill, especially very steep hills)

Lovely pub - as the sign said "Comfort food for hungy fellwalkers" & believe me, I needed some comforting as I still had to walk back :-)

ON THE ROAD TO LAKES DISTRICT

After too many whiskies the night before, Cliff was unsure if he acutally saw a deer with extra large antlers but our hosts Felicity & Chris confirmed there had been a very large stag hanging around the town - plus - the legal alcohol limit in Scotland is .0375 - so it was my turn to drive - I was anxious  - even though we paid for me to be a driver, I didn't actually think I would have to drive. The road through Loch Lomond was absolutely incredible - it is indescribable -  and - the picture does not do justice to the sheer beauty and the size of the mountains. 

Once on the coast the sun was shining so we drove along trying to find a place to stay for the night, but to no avail.  We stopped at Dunure which would have made a great stopover -  sadly they were booked.

and the Dunure castle was a little too shabby to stay - it was lacking walls

So - on we went until we found a little town called Ballantrae - great pub with very friendly staff & pretty good accommodation - we got their last double room plus a very hearty breakfast was thrown in.

A walk along the beach at Ballantrae

 Nessie was feeling a little lost so far from home.

Off to the Lakes District tomorrow.

LOCH NESS - FINAL DAY

Our last day was finally dry enough to go for a walk - we were going to try to find Nessie -  Cliff was so busy reading the walking map he didn't notice the hitchhiker I had put in his back pack :-)

We walked a steep but pretty walk to view the lake but alas - the only Nessie we found was our cute little puppet.

Cliff had lots of fun playing hide & seek with Nessie

A couple of hours later it was time to try out one of the local pubs - Cliff had found a new companion 

After lunch - another walk but this time it wasnt as steep - more to my liking.

Even the cows in the field seemed to like Nessie - they all gathered around for a look.

We meandered along beautiful back roads

Across a very old bridge

and finished off in a local cemetry before heading home  

That night Cliff wanted to try out another pub - I was too exhausted from all the walking he made me do, so I stayed home & fell asleep on the lounge - when I woke it was dark which meant it was well after 11pm (when the sun sets) - where was Cliffy - well he met a very friendly chap at the local & was too busy exchanging stories & sampling local whiskies to come home - finally he got home & couldn't stop telling me about the deer with very large antlers he ran into (at least it wasn't a leprechaun) - he didn't know who got the biggest fright - him or the deer.

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS - Part 2

5 nights was definitely not enough time to explore this area of Scotland - As the weather wasn't great there was no point in trying to walk so we did lots of driving. The ruins of Urquart Castle on the shores of  Loch Ness. 

We drove to a pretty place called Glen Affric - it looked like the whole area was maintained  by the Scottish Hydro system - there were lots of lovely walks.

The sun actually came out which was a pleasant surprise.

Detour on the way home along unknown roads - the countryside was exceptionally pretty.

We had - once again - another day of rain so we decided to take a train trip from Fort William to Mallaig. This was the train used in the Harry Potter movies. Unfortunately we didn't board on platform 9 3/4.  It was a 2 hour train trip,

Over the viaduct (also in Harry Potter)

It was sooo cold when we arrived (This is summer??) We had a couple of hours to kiil - we found a local pub for lunch & left just before our train was ready to depart.

Hopefully tomorrow the weather will start to improve.