The Lake District: A District of Lakes and Cold Wetness

The Lake District went really well, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We got there at around midnight Thursday night, so we basically just unpacked and went to bed. The next morning we ate breakfast and then decided to go explore the nearby town of Ambleside. It was about a 10 minute walk to get there. During the morning we looked around at some tourist-shops, as well as some outdoor shops, looking for any items for the next days water activities that we hadn't already gotten. We also found a deal that we took advantage of for the evening where we could get a 2-course dinner and a movie for about 16 pounds or $30 more or less. That might sound a little expensive but for the prices here it was really good. We then walked back to our hostel and had a packed lunch on the dock, as our hostel was literally right in front of a lake. On the dock there was a swan that kept floating around and trying to get our food, so we verbally abused it. We then split up as a group, with Lisa and Dani staying back at the hostel to watch Grey's Anatomy, and the rest of us (me, Brandon, Drew, and his girlfriend Katie, who is also a Katie Lynn like my sister) went back into town to look at some books shops and to just walk around town. It was a very nice and quaint town, mostly made up of shops for the people who came there for the outdoor-sports. We also looked around the cemetery of a church towards the edge of town. It was really eerie because we happened to be there when it was on the hour, and so out of nowhere the bells started tolling, and we weren't expecting it. We then met Dani and Lisa for the dinner portion of the evening. It turns out that it was a vegetarian place, but we made do. The food was actually really good, although it lacked a certain meatiness. We then saw Children of Men, with Clive Owen, which was a really good movie. It was about the near future where the world has gone sterile and no children have been born in 18 years. The human race is killing itself and then Clive Owen's character happens upon a group that is harboring a girl that is pregnant. The movie then goes through Clive Owen's efforts to get her to a Human Project where scientists will discover what is different with her. I really liked it, but the war scenes were pretty intense. We then went back to the hostel and went to bed fairly early in anticipation of a day of water-sports. The next morning was kayaking, and then ghyll-scrambling in the afternoon. The kayaking was really fun. I've only ever been canoeing before, and so it was different to be one person doing the job of two. It was really fun when I got the hang of it. It wasn't that cold in the morning, so that was good. We were on the water for probably about 3 hours or so. We then had enough time to eat lunch and get ready to take a bus to go to the place where we would go ghyll-scrambling. Ghyll-scrambling ended up being pretty fun, though cold and wet. Basically we put on harnesses and helmets and then started jumping from rock to rock across a small-ish river. The when we would get to a waterfall we would climb up it to continue down the river. We only hit three or four, and most of them were only about 10 feet tall. The last one was probably 15 or 20 feet high, and that was really exhilarating, climbing that high with cold water splashing down on you the whole time. There were a few times where we were almost completely submerged, so it was freezing cold by the end. The shock of that water was amazing at times. I came away with some cuts on my knuckles from the last climb, but other than that I was relatively unscathed. We then had a few minutes to change and then get back on the bus to go back to the hostel. After everyone showered (mostly to get warm, and secondarily to get clean) we went into to town to get dinner. We were all so tired that we just basically ate in town and then went back to the hostel and slept. The next morning we got up and had breakfast and then got ready to go back to Harlaxton. When I woke up I discovered that my triceps were killing, as were my legs. They still ache even today. We then had a short bus ride with a few stops for scenic pictures, and we then stopped at a small town to have lunch. After that it was about a 5 hour ride back to Harlaxton. Riding that whole way with aching muscles wasn't the most fun, but we made it. When we got back I ate supper, unpacked, and then straightaway jumped into the rough draft that I had put off and had due for today. I ended up picking up the research that I had been doing before I left at about 7 and then finishing around 10. From then on I was writing my paper until about 3:30 in the AM. The paper ended up being 7 pages, which was right at where I needed to be. Needless to say, I'm glad to be done with that, and I'm very tired today. I still have laundry to do, and I have a meeting for one of my classes after dinner. But later this evening, I can go to sleep and be asleep for a good while. England is tiring.