the lake district + edinburgh + york.

This week we were able to travel to the Lake District, Edinburgh and York. These places are all so beautiful and great. We first went to Preston where the Preston Temple and MTC were, we were only there for a little break so I couldn't much pictures when I was worried about my bladder exploding (I have a great story about that when I went to a football match last week on Saturday...we'll save that for another post). We also had a tour of Preston and got to see where all the first missionaries can when they were called to the British Isles Mission. President Hinckley served there, so we were able to see where he lived and stayed while serving the Lord.

{no.15}

After Preston we made our way to Ambleside where William Wordsworth was inspired for most of his life's work he did at the Dove Cottage in Grasmere which was only a tenth of his life. We stayed in wonderful Bed & Breakfasts, they were so cute and the owners were lovely. We went on a gorgeous hike around the area, had a workshop about letters Wordsworth wrote and ate dinner at the Dove Cottage. I really did love Ambleside and hope to go back soon, the town was quaint with its tiny roads and alleyways. 

On the way to Edinburgh we saw some more rocks. Some rock circle and Hadrian's wall. Yet again when we visit rocks it seems to be raining a lot.

{mini Stone Henge}

Next up was Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a great place, we were in the city by the Edinburgh Castle in sketchy hostel in a seriously creepy street called Cow Gate. When we got there we had to navigate the city which being in a new city it's hard, but on top of that it was night time (5.30ish) so that just added more difficulty to journey for food. We found this delicious italian place that just opened, so we got the food for super cheap. The next day we had a tour by a past study abroad student who is living in Edinburgh working on his masters degree. We saw THE Elephant House where JK Rowling first started writing Harry Potter. Right next to it was the school that inspired Hogwarts. Also there was a church/graveyard down the street that sparked an idea for a main character in the book...Thomas Riddle. Oh and Greyfriars Bobby was buried there too. It was a good start to the day when filled with Harry Potter.

We finished by the Edinburgh Castle, which was our next destination. We spend a good two hours there. It's great to hear the people's scottish accents, in the words of an 8 year old girl, "it's sew cute, I loove it." (spelled how they would say it.) I saw a preview of some crown jewels, nothing compares to the crown jewels like at the Tower of London. 

{View of Edinburgh}

We saw William Wallace, of course it was a photo op, with swords.

{William Wallace}

After that it was a blur because we walked that city FOEVER. Around and around walking the same streets just going in circles, still not sure how that worked out.  I made my way back to the Elephant House to have some cake and leave my mark. 

Next was York. We went to York Minster to Evensong, which was fun to experience a change of scenery. There was a neat street called The Shambles, it reminded me of Diagon Alley. 

On our last day we went to the Bronte's Parsonage, where Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre, which I had the lovely opportunity to read...it was not my favorite. 

After we went to a old cotton mill, which was really neat because I studied the process of making cotton into fabric so it was great to understand it.

It was an overall great week in the Lake District.

More adventures to come.

cheers,

Lauren