Trip to my second home “England” vol.1

I went to England with my husband for the first time in 9 years

The first purpose of this trip was to visit “Land’s End” which I could not visit when I lived in England.

Land’s End is a promontory located at the tip of the Cornwall Peninsula in the southwestern part of England.

The name means “end of the earth” and that place is also known as the westernmost point of Great Britain. There is a 5-day bus tour from London, but since we were planning to rent a car and tour England, we decided to go on our own.

Our second purpose was to visit “Harrogate” in North Yorkshire where we used to live . We wanted to see the people who had helped us there.

And if we were going to go there, we wanted to spend some time in the Lake District, visit York and Knaresborough, visit some of the good restaurants we used to go to, visit Stoke-on-Trent, and some other places.

　

When we started thinking about it, we didn’t know how many days we would need.

So we came up with a plan to fly Manchester: Take Singapore Airlines from Centrair Airport to Manchester with a connection in Singapore.

We planned to rent a car in Manchester and decided on this schedule.

Manchester → Lake District → Harrogate (York, Knaresborough,  Stoke-on-Trent) → Oxford → Winchester → Exeter → Penzance → Torquay → Cheltenham → Manchester

It would take 2 weeks and we would drive 2700 km. (For reference, Abashiri to Kagoshima is 2850 km.)

That’s right. We were going to the U.K., but we weren’t going to go to London.

After arriving in Manchester, we rented a car and set off for the Lake District.

　

We had to drive in the rain like a storm from the beginning. On the way there, there was an accident on the M61 and the road was jammed. Using the navigation system, we had to drive down the road in the congested section, which usually took about 1.5 hours, but it took an hour longer.

We arrived at the Lake District and went to Hill Top in Windermere, which is Beatrix Potter’s house. I saw a lot of newborn lambs on the way to Hill Top. The flowers in the garden were of course very beautiful, and even though I had seen the house, which is typical of my favorite Lake District, many times, I slowly made my way around and I was excited to be in England.

Afterwards, we went to “The Daffodil Hotel & Spa”where we had always wanted to stay. It’s  across the street from “Dove Cottage” in Grasmere, which is Agatha Christie’s.

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I spent a blissful time walking around the lake. On the first night in England, we ate “fish and chips”, “squid rings”, and “Caesar salad” with Guinness beer. All were very tasty. After dinner, we relaxed in the pool. As one would expect from a spa, the pool, with its various water currents, took away the fatigue of the flight.

The next day, we went to buy the famous ginger bread cookies which shop started 1854.

　

Then, we went to Keswick via Coniston. We took a short walk around and viewed Lake Darwin, the queen of lakes, which we had not been able to visit before.

　

After that, we went to Castle Rigg Stone Circle, which is said to be a power spot. I felt a very mystical atmosphere. It is said to be more than 5,000 years old, (built around 3,200 BC), making it older than Stonehenge. It’s a little-known place, it’s a little difficult to find because there are no signs, and it blends in with the natural scenery.

　

Although we stayed for two nights, we had a very relaxing time in the vast nature of the Lake District.