Dear friends and family,
Well, in case you were wondering, I put on my British stiff upper lip, forced myself to leave Scotland, and made it back safely…6 forms of transportation, 11 cities, and 5 castles later, I am now back in Keswick with the group 🙂 Left my heart in Scotland, but it sure is beautiful here, too. We are so blessed; we’ve only had 2 days of rain in the last 2 1/2 weeks we’ve been here!
It’s been nice to have some time away from cities to settle into the routine of classes. It would be really hard to keep up on reading with the temptation to sightsee 24/7. I’ve been burying my nose in Middle English Chaucer, Shakespeare, Malory, and travel essays, which really come to life when you’re living in their settings! We read part of A Midsummer Night’s Dream Tuesday morning while looking out at the birds in the thickets and the waterfall behind our hostel 🙂 Reading such good books in such a beautiful place hardly seems like homework!
But even with classes, we have 4-day weekends and weekday afternoons to enjoy the countryside here. It’s a slower pace of life; sometimes there simply ISN’T a bus that runs or a phone that connects, so you are forced to stay where you are and enjoy it–a tough and beautiful skill it can be hard to learn in the States. One afternoon I sat in a pasture and wrote while sheep strolled around; another I went rowing on the lake with 3 friends, and then we went for tea and scones at the Wild Strawberry Shop 🙂 Yesterday almost the whole group went to Grasmere, site of William Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage, and a few of us called ourselves ‘fell walkers’ (a fell out here is a wee mountain :P) and went traipsing all over the craggy moors, then tried Grasmere ginger scones in town after visiting the Wordsworths’ graves (ahhh!) Then my whole room came back and crashed for an hour and a half 🙂
Today I peeled myself out of bed at 5:30 AM to go hiking on more fells with Dr. Reinsma and 6 other girls. We were headed for Castlerigg, a stone circle that’s been standing for 4000 YEARS (wrap your head around that!!) Rocks, bumps, trees, sheep, and a beautiful pearl-and-rose sunrise later, we arrived at the ancient stones with only a pair of photographers for company. We walked around it, marveling at the perfect circle of standing stones, and then sat with our backs to them for about half an hour, taking in the new morning from such a place of history. It exploded my brain to think of running my hand over rocks that someone four millenia ago was heaving into place. This place makes time as transparent as water; reach into it and you might shake hands with your ancestors. All those Celtic songs I like and the Arthur legends are coming to life–not just figuratively, but so realistically that you really feel like you wouldn’t be surprised to see a sword-girt knight walking over the moors because his castle is just down the street. It’s amazing. And the sheep are really cute, too 🙂 It’s lambing season, and the cutest ones I’ve seen are black with white ears 🙂
Anyway, after so much mystery and history (and 6 miles of walking), we switched our minds to the subject of breakfast 🙂 The English are good at scones–dripping with jam and clotted cream, mmm 🙂 They’re not so good at waffles. They think waffles are made of potatoes. Everything’s made of potatoes here. I’m not even kidding. They serve chips (french fries) with pizza. You can order shepherd’s pie (topped with mashed potatoes) for dinner and they’ll still serve you a jacket potato (baked potato) on the side. They put potatoes in burritos. I think I’ll never want to see another potato when I get home. In Dingle, our next location, we’ll be cooking for ourselves in the hostel, and potatoes will NOT be on the menu! 😛
Speaking of which, tomorrow is our last day in the Lake District. I’m putting together a day trip to Hadrian’s Wall (!!!) which is near Carlisle up north, and on Monday we’re leaving for Dingle, Ireland. They probably like potatoes even more over there! Yikes! I’m looking forward to some good folk music in the pubs, though, and hopefully a bike ride near the coast 🙂
Man, I just can’t believe I’m here! I wish you all could be here to experience it too. Britain is a real country with real people and their lives, just like ours, but there is definitely a strong tie to history here that governs and directs the present. Love to you all! (and, as the British say: Cheers!)
Hi Sweets–just trying to figure out how to write a comment here…I wonder if you’ll be feeling like you can’t believe you’re there even after you aren’t there anymore?????
Just savor each moment as you have been! God is very gracious… Hugs….
Sounds soooooo beautiful, dear!
Hello Alina,
You are right where I’d love to be! I’ve been working on my father’s side of my family and they came from Scotland, ending in Ireland, (Scots/Irish) then arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1700,s, in time to fight our Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Other’s from that family arrived earlier than that.
I’ve longed to go to Scotland and Ireland, most of my life. When Paul and I planned our honeymoon, he asked where I’d like to go England or someplace else. I chose England, so we went to Winchester, our first night and were kept awake by the church bells. I had to get used to that! Then we headed south and south west throught the cotswolds. (A fabulous quaint area with lovely villages). We ended our trip in London, where we’ve been several time since. I loved it all. Even felt I’d been in some areas, like Devon or Portsmith before.
Soak in all the countryside and enjoy your time there. I’d love to hear more about your adventure, when you have time.
Love,
Aunt Betty