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Family, Please read our blog entry about our recent trip to Lake District.

We left on 3rd Sep and returned on 10th Sep. Here is a Google Maps of our trip – http://g.co/maps/zwtwq

We rented a car for the weekend as we thought it would be useful to navigate around in Lake District and give us more flexibility, it was a good decision to rent a car. We had reserved an Economy car but as luck would have it, when we went to the car dealer – we got a Vauxhall Astra – Sports edition (a free upgrade from the economy)- http://tinyurl.com/6zwnlcr (this was our car, just had a different color).

We were able to dump all our belongings for the week in the back seat and boot of the car. We had rented a cottage – Briscoe Mill for a week in Egremont, Western Lake District. We made this our base and covered all of Lake District in a week.

Day 1 – We left Milton Keynes around noon and drove straight up our way to Lake District, we stopped at Chester on our way, it was a diversion of around 15 miles but worth a stop. It has beautiful high streets and houses, a city with a historic touch. Walked a little bit before it began to rain and we headed back in the car to drive to our cottage. Chester was about half way. The road from the motor way to our cottage in Lake District was a winding road and it took us over 2 hours to cover a distance of 75 miles. When we got to our cottage, it was dark.

Day 2 – We planned to do some hiking and driving around. We had heard a lot about Hardknott Pass – it is one of the most difficult roads to drive on in UK, it has a steep incline of around 40 degrees and is a winding one way road with valley on one side and mountains on the other. We hiked few miles on Scafell Pike which is the highest peak in England. We drove to Coniston Lake which is one of the bigger lakes, the view was just outstanding and there were ducks swimming in the water, we wished to boat there but as it was 5 pm, shops close and we drove back to our cottage.

Day 3 – We did some local sightseeing of the town we lived in, there is a small river that flows right by the cottage we lived. And as it was raining a bit, stayed indoors and played some board games. Khyati and I have found a new love for board games, we played Monopoly, Scrabble and attempted Risk which looks as a cool game.

Day 4 – The weather was again supposed to be rainy so we chose to cover lakes nearby our place and do the coastal route. If you are aware about Pacific Coast Highway 1, this was similar, just the water wasn’t blue but a beautiful drive. Some of the other lakes in Lake District are inhabited and you will see a lot less people. Lake Ennerdale is one such lake, it’s beautiful, saw a gorgeous waterfall from the top of the mountains. It was very windy and cold but Khyati and I attempted to take pictures without our winter jackets, just for the fun of it. The temperature must be around 5 deg.

Day 5 – We decided to explore the Steam Railway, this is the smallest narrow gauge railway in the world. You can see some pictures of the railway, it was a fun 7 mile journey from the coast to the foothills of the mountain. Checked out some old mills and churches, again – very isolated town, felt like we were disconnected from the world but a place worth being.

Day 6 – It was my birthday today and Khyati had planned surprises for me throughout the day. We planned to do a hike to a waterfall and did boating in Lake Windermere. Lake Windermere is the largest fresh water lake in England, the boat was a motor boat and we were allowed to cruise at speeds of 10 miles an hour. Khyati and I took turns to ride the boat and take some pictures. A one hour well spent boating.

All these locations had limited cell phone coverage so for you who called on my birthday and could not reach me, that’s the reason… hehe

Day 7 – It was our last day and we had to drive back to Milton Keynes. We started around noon from our cottage and decided to stop in York. It’s again a very historic town which I believe, has the feel of Vienna. It has a small river that flows through the center of the city and people take a boat cruise. We also saw the statue of Constantine – The great Roman Emperor in the city. We took one more rest break on our way and ended our journey at around 9 pm on 9th Sep.

In total, we drove close to 1000 miles. It was a great vacation and would recommend this place to everyone.

You can check out our pictures here -
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2073185029403.2109220.1238223882&l=42d0e05c1e&type=1

much love,
k & p