Our first glimpse of a lake in the Lake District. This is lake Windermere, the largest natural lake in England, and the lake on which Beatrix Potter spent her vacations and eventually purchased several farms. It was dusk when we arrived after a lovely sunny day, but the sun wouldn't shine again the whole time we were there. In either sunshine or cloud or rain, though, the Lake District is beautiful.
Our B&B in Ambleside. It was quaint, and the owners were very nice. But we were in the basement--and a basement is a basement no matter how charming the building is.
At night we went with the students to Wordsworth's home, Dove Cottage, in the tiny hamlet of Grasmere, just down the road and around the corner from Ambleside. We had a meal cooked using recipes from the Wordsworths' own cookbook: lamb stew, mashed turnips, and potatoes, with a homemade lemonade (using molasses) as a beverage, and rice pudding for dessert. It was a bit rustic for some of the students, but I liked it a lot.
Then, after dinner, we took turns reading Wordsworth's poetry while sitting in his living room, with only candles for light (just as he would have had). It had been a long day, and the students were very tired. When the lights went off and there was only one candle and the fireplace, the temptation to mentally shut down was very strong. I'm not sure we were able to channel the spirit of Wordsworth in the intended manner, but it was a fun experience nevertheless.
The next morning we were in the Wordsworth Institute, next to Dove Cottage, to examine some original manuscripts, do some transcribing, and follow the creative process of a poem from first draft to published version by looking at Wordsworth's own sketchbooks and papers.
Take out the building on the left, and this was Wordsworth's view when he left his cottage.
Part of the Wordsworth Institute complex.
The white building is Dove Cottage itself. Hard to get a good angle on it.
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