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IT HAD been nearly three years to the day since our last proper vacation. A time before children (actually, our eldest was with us at that time but still in utero). Before the chaos of a transatlantic move. Back when we could contentedly laze away entire weekends watching Doctor Who and didn't have to worry about sticking to a strict mealtime and sleep schedule. The point is, we needed a break.
Children in the care of their grandparents, we headed off to the Lake District. Ambleside, to be exact, because it was close to Grasmere but wasn't as expensive. We'd booked two nights before our arrival — with ambient views of wall-to-wall sheep all the way from Yorkshire to Cumbria — at Elder Grove B&B, which, as it would turn out, would be our first choice for accommodation if we were to travel to the Lake District again. Free Wi-Fi, a comfy room, fantastic food, and friendly owners.
On the afternoon of the day of our arrival, we took the short, muddy walk to Stock Ghyll Force, a picturesque waterfall once harnessed by the town's mills to pound fabric, on the east of Ambleside. There and back with leisurely pauses to take pictures and enjoy the scenery takes about an hour. It's an easy hike from the center of town, something to save for the days when inclement weather looms — more the rule than the exception in the Lake District, as our two-and-a-half days there would prove. When I say "easy," however, I don't mean with a stroller filled with food shopping, which is how two bare-midriffed would-be ramblerettes decided to make the ascent.
For dinner we went to the Doi Intanon Thai restaurant, located in a renovated church at the foot of the road that leads to Stock Ghyll Force. Pricey and spicy. Even the items marked with a single chili (out of five) are enough to warrant a glass of milk on the side, and a single appetizer, two-special dinner with juice and aforementioned milk cost nearly £40. We'd been warned about the meager portions, but nothing could quite prepare us for the level of heat, especially after living in Germany, where "scharf" is what most would call "not bland." The place is popular nevertheless; there were no tables to be had by the time we left at 6pm or so.
That evening we took advantage of Ambleside's surprisingly varied cinema offerings and saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D. As I tweeted (which is all the film really merits) after the show, the visuals were stunning but the action took place at seven emotional removes. As far as these newfangled 3D experiences go, Avatar, which likewise only merited a tweet, was a much more solid film.
Day two — our first and only full day. We picked up the sack lunches we'd ordered from reception the night before and did a loop starting and ending at Rothay Park via Todd Crag (with views of Lake Windermere) on Loughrigg (pronounced luff-rig) Fell, Loughrigg Tarn, Loughrigg Terrace, and the Rydal Caves. It began to rain within 30 minutes of setting out and we were soaked before we'd even begun to cross the top of the fell. Fortunately, my K10D is weather resistant, else I'd have a non-functioning camera. Not that there was much to photograph. Visibility was virtually nil. While trying to peer over the outcroppings on Todd Crag to catch a glimpse of Windermere, I felt quite a bit like the figure in Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer, that iconic Romantic painting by Caspar David Friedrich. Only much, much wetter.
Around the point where we were supposed to take the bridleway toward Loughrigg Tarn, we relied on instinct — always a bad idea — to lead us there. We ended up walking within 100 yards of where our wet adventure first began at the foot of Loughrigg Fell. It cost us about an hour of sloshy backtracking.
Once on the right path, we swung around to Loughrigg Tarn and continued on the loop to the famed Loughrigg Terrace, which, given the right weather, offers excellent views of Grasmere and Rydal Water. We were not given the right weather. This sorry meteorological state began to change once we'd visited the off-limits caves above Rydal Water and were making our way back to Elder Grove. When we were finally back, stripped of our sodden clothes, and relishing the after-effects of a warm bath, the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun came out.
View Lake District Getaway in a larger map
At this point, most people would shrug their shoulders, mumble something along the lines of c'est la vie, and continue their relaxation. Not us. Driven by a profound sense of injustice, we put on our only set of dry clothes and marched up to Todd Crag to get the views of Windermere that had been denied us earlier in the day. For the brief period that the weather held, we were rewarded with a wonderful vista.
That evening we ate at Spice of Bengal, just around the corner from Elder Grove. It's a peculiar little joint, staffed by a brusque waitress with a Russian accent and a melancholic Indian waiter who seemed to desperately want a reason to smile. It wasn't half bad. The Butter Chicken was nothing special, but the Lamb Tikka Garlic Masala would be enough to draw me back for a return visit. Reasonable prices too.
On our third and last day, we returned to Rydal Water and set out in the opposite direction of the previous day, moving clockwise along a crowded Loughrigg Terrace, around a virtually deserted Grasmere Lake, through the village of Grasmere (where we stocked up on Sarah Nelson's gingerbread and fudge), and past Dove Cottage, finally returning via our initial route on the banks of Rydal Water.
Our hopes of having any sun at all or decent views and dry hiking died on the Grasmere. As if the weather were on a 24-hour loop, we were hit with rain around 10:30am, not long after starting, and that rainfall was fairly constant until the point when we were ready to retire for the day in late afternoon. We attempted to dry out over fish and chips at the Walnut Fish Bar, which had been given a lukewarm recommendation as "pretty much bog standard fish and chips" by the barista at Esquires Coffee House across the way. We'd drop in there afterwards for coffee and a quick e-mail check courtesy of their free Wi-Fi. Both the coffee and the chai tea were excellent. Then a brief stop for the requisite photos of Bridge House. Soon we were on our way back along the A65 to the rural outskirts of Leeds.
To those contemplating a trip to the Lake District, a stay in Ambleside — and more specifically at Elder Grove — comes with my hearty recommendation. Grasmere would certainly make for a nice, quiet retreat, but it appears to lack even the subdued nightlife of its neighbor, where, as I mentioned, there's at least a full fare of cinema listings and a variety of restaurants for the post-hike evenings. The town also has quite a few open Wi-Fi hotspots throughout, which come in handy for those like myself who lack mobile data plans and are at any rate speedier. In addition to offering cheaper accommodation than Grasmere, it's also more centrally located in terms of walkability to the popular lakes. Ambleside seems to me to strike the perfect balance between the bucolic and the bustling, and that ought to mean that both families and couples can rely on it to provide whatever it is they're after.
The weather? Well, that's certainly much more fickle.
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