It was so disappointing in York: we never did find the peppermint patties. We are heading a couple hours north-west to Keswick, in the Lake District. It's an easy, scenic drive, some of the brightest yellow fields and red poppies we have seen. We pass more anonymous castles and villages. It is sunny, but as we get into the hills of the Lakes, it starts to cloud up and then drizzle. The road winds up and then weaves in and out of the valleys, always hemmed in on both sides with rock walls, rock walls across the hills, rock walls dividing the land into fields and plots, walls like snakes running on for miles and miles as far as the eye can see and the car can drive; it is impossible to describe just how many miles worth of rock walls there are. It just blows me away to think of who actually built them. We stop at the small village of Glenridding, at the head of Ullwater Lake. We were thinking of taking the boat up lake and hiking back, but the rain convinced us otherwise, so we were happy to see the lake from the car, and walk the village.
We drove through Windemere, then into Grasmere which was a surprisingly charming stone village along a river. William Wordsworth, the poet, is buried and lived here. This did not mean much to me as I know none of his work, but other people were very impressed. We came through here because Gail saw an add about Sarah Nelson's Original Celebrated Gingerbread, and I love gingerbread. We bought six slabs and I wish we had room for 600. It is not crunchy, not goopy, soft but firm, and has a kind of crumb crust on it. It tastes fantastic with tea. We found a little place to eat lunch. Gail had the best carrot soup as we literally watched the fog blow right in. The hills, less that a quarter mile away, disappeared.
The next stop was at Castlerigg Stone Circle, 5000 years old and in great condition. I am still amazed by these circles, but what was even more amazing was the line of people, some standing in shorts and T-shirts in the wind and pouting rain, waiting to buy ice cream from the truck.
Our town for the night is Keswick. It looks like a mountain town without the mountains. It is surrounded by hills and sits on the shore of Lake Derwentwater. The houses and buildings are built primarily of a green slate, and there are a lot of outdoor stores.
We walk downtown and there is a concert going on, so we join the crowd for a while. We find a pub at which to eat, 26 Café Bar. It looked good from the outside, and they had a nice selection of flatbreads and tapas.
The rain is steadily increasing, so we headed to the room to catch more of Glastonbury. Of Monsters and Men is playing now, and we are drinking coffee and eating the gingerbread we bought today. I am saving a glass of wine for tonight's festival closing act: Mumford And Sons.
With a little luck and sunshine tomorrow we will go for a nice hike and boat ride on the lake.