The Drive from Edinburgh to the Lake District is around three hours. I stayed at Ees Wycke Country House – a B&B in Ambleside, with offering a nice English breakfast. Although I may not be the best judge, I was mesmerized by the honeycomb in the honey. Photographing it, touching it and eating it, took up the majority of my time during breakfast. You could also look here for places to stay Lakes Cottage Holiday

Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere, UK

I was in luck while visiting the Wordsworth Museum as they just began a tour of his home. While living at Dove Cottage, Wordsworth wrote “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”, “Ode to Duty”, “My Heart Leaps Up”, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, and The Prelude. The home was originally a pub. Wordsworth didn’t have a lot of money, he lived off of an inheritance from a friend; and then from wages owed to his father after his father died. Separate from the house the Museum had an exhibit on the connections between Wordsworth and Matsuo Bashō (who lived a century before). “They both pioneered the use of everyday language in poetry, they both used the natural world to express their ideas, and they both composed their poetry as they walked. Each found creative inspiration in nature, and for each, the act of walking itself was a creative process” via wordsworth.org.uk

Hawkshead Grammar School from 1585

Lost in the Lake District

My cell service was intermittent, rendering my phone’s GPS navigation unreliable. After getting over the initial panic of not having immediate global access, the beauty of the experience set in. For one thing, you have to ask real live people directions. In this exchange alone there is always a wealth of information: A great story of others adventures; or regional history from a couple who have lived there for 42 years; or a lead to a hidden local gem (which I promised not to post on my blog). The Lake District is a luxurious place to be lost. For more info on the Lake District check out LakeDistrict.gov.uk and Visit Cumbria