Traveling Fool

If you have stopped by the blog before, you know sometimes I come up with an idea and then it takes me on an adventure. In this case, I wanted to see Mike & the Mechanics, and since I had never been to York or Yorkshire, that's where I decided to go, and built the trip around that. My first stop, as you may have seen, was in Windermere and the Lake District. After a few lovely days there, I hopped on the train and headed east to York. I stayed at Gillygate Guest House, which was very nice, clean and super convenient to getting around the walled part of the city. I had a delicious breakfast of kippers, which was one of several hot breakfast choices. It's fun to stay in a type of place you don't normally, it's part of the adventure. I only had a couple of days (seriously, I know you need more than a week, but, next time) and I went on some tours out in the Dales and on the moors (more on that later), and didn't have as much time as I wanted to wander around York...

I'm a little behind in the old blog posting, frustration with the keyboard and some long nights precluded me from focusing on writing. In an attempt to get back on track before my trip to the Lake District and Yorkshire are too far in the rearview mirror, I'm going for some low-hanging fruit, or perhaps I should say, low-hanging cheese. I normally don't take pictures of food unless there's something interesting or different (don't get me wrong, I THINK about food ALL THE TIME), but given the locales and some of the food, I took many pictures. I'm going to write this and then get some dinner. no need for Plan B Unless there's some kind of food emergency, I try to stay away from food I can get at home, like McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, etc., and eat 'local' (to an extent, as we all know from my travel book Oh, You're a Vegetable , I can be a picky eater). I made an honest effort to try things I haven't tried before,...

Here's the thing, I cannot fight with this dumb machine anymore, so I am going to give you just a little narrative and then just give you a few photos. Less aggravating all round. Today was a full day of driving around the vast Lake District, a lot more lakes, meres, waters and such. It was a wet mix with hints of the sun, but not much. We went to the Castlerigg Circle, which is sort of like Stonehenge, but only because it's got stones in a circle and nobody really knows how or why they are there. The landscape really is amazing, hills and dales, rivers, streams, lakes, sheep, lots of sheep, miles and miles of stone walls. The roads are ridiculously narrow and windy, yet filled with walkers/hikers, cyclists, cars, lorries, the odd sheep, and it's all pretty harmonious. We made a stop in the village of Grasmere, home to William Wordsworth and his family. I would have loved to stop in Dove Cottage, but there wasn't time. Somewhere I get the feeling that Dr. Clancy is...

It has been way too long since my last post from Iceland. If I'm honest, I haven't done a whole lot. This winter kicked the shit out of me and I've been lazy. That all changes now. I made my way to Manchester, England, and took a combination of trains to get to Windermere, which welcomed me with wind and rain, and my damn rain/wind pants were packed.  The guest house where I'm staying, Holly Lodge, is not even a half a mile from the train station, and yet I managed to get lost, all the while not ever getting farther than three quarters of a mile away. I am beginning to think I have a special power. Eventually, I broke down and asked directions, and before you mock me, like my now disinherited brother, my frigging GPS would not work. Ahhhh. Oh, did I mention that somehow my travel pants developed a rip? Yeah. WTF? I finally made it, jet lagged and bedraggled (not bedazzled) and dried out, took a little rest and then walked around. The one thing about walking in England ...