Levens Hall

Our day in the Lake District began at Levens Hall, which is a manor house built during the 16th century.  It has been owned by many different prominent families throughout the centuries, it is now owned by the Bagot family.  While the house is open to the public for touring, the family still uses the house for special occasions and family functions.  The inside of the house is remarkable, so many gorgeous antiques.  One of my favorite parts of the home was the special leather wallpaper designed specifically for the walls of this house.

After our tour of the manor house (no pictures were allowed) we were met just outside the front door by the head gardner.  The gardens at Leven's Hall is what makes this site so well known and famous, our tour director described it as being transported to Wonderland, I feel that is a pretty accurate description ...

"There are ten wonderful acres of gardens at Levens Hall, they include the unique collection of ancient and extraordinary topiary characters sculpted from box and yew. They rise up from a spectacular seasonal underplanting populated with an ever-changing range of over thirty thousand flowers. Further on, beyond the romantic old orchard and separated by the great beech hedges, lie the magnificent herbaceous borders. These are traditionally double in format and are amongst the finest to be found in England. There are also wall borders, vegetable and herb gardens, a rose garden, fountain garden, fine lawns, wildflower meadows, a willow labyrinth and much, much more."

There was a croquet game happening out on the lawn, you can't get more British then that.

After our fabulous tour of the gardens, we got to have lunch at the Bleningham Buttery Cafe which is located right on the gardens.  We ate out on the patio and soaked up the rare, English sunshine.

That afternoon we had some free time Windermere.  The shopping streets look charming, but are hard to navigate with the huge crowds and the stores weren't very interesting.  There were quite a few pet-able puppies though, and we stopped and petted each one.  The British take great pride in their dogs, and I was eager to boost their egos.

We wandered down to the lake front and sat on the edge of the beach to watch the many varieties of  birds, swarm to the beach in search of any treats dropped by any generous passersby. The swans were especially friendly.

Driving to the Lake District

After two lovely days in Scotland, it was time to start the journey to England.  We spent the entire day driving from Edinburgh to the Lake District in England.  We made quite a few stops along the way to help break up the drive.  At one stop I bought a blanket to keep me warm on the freezing bus, a warm cup of tea and some gluten free shortbread, and that's how you road trip in Europe.

For part of the drive, we were paralleling Hadrian's Wall and we made a stop to get a closer look.  Hadrian's Wall is a spectacular World Heritage Site, marching 73 miles from sea to sea across some of the wildest and most dramatic country in England.  

After a few more hours of driving, it was time for lunch.  We had the wonderful opportunity to have lunch in the charming home of Giles and Penelope, a fantastic English couple who have been inviting Tauck guests into their home for over 20 years.  This humble abode has been in Giles' family for generations, and has always been passed down to the eldest son of the future generation. 

Their home is absolutely stunning.  We had a cold lunch buffet, all prepared by Penelope.  Our group was divided into two, half of us dined with Giles, while the other spent the meal with Penelope.  I had the privilege of sitting next to Giles as he lead our group in a lively discussion.  Giles was the stereotypical British gentleman, dressed in a tweed suit, he had a formal English accent and would say English terms such a cheerio and right on good boy.  He had rosy cheeks and brilliant blue eyes, I felt like I was sitting next to a famous film star!

After lunch and tea, Giles and Penelope led us on a tour of the grounds behind their home.  Their estate is rather large, and the gardens were marvelous!  They had herds of cattle and sheep that were out grazing in the fields.

This was their lively little pup.  He desperately wanted all of us to play fetch with him.  He would gather all sorts of things from around the garden for us to throw for him.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to play fetch with him because it gets him too excited then he starts biting people.  He sure was adorable though!

Such a classic picture of some of my favorite people.  Our tour guide Clinton Scott III, our sweet bus driver Joe, and our gracious host Giles.

After lunch, we drove for yet a few more hours... the drive was really beginning to feel long at this point.  We had one more rest stop before arriving at our hotel, we got about an hour to explore the itty bitty adorable town of Grasmere.  This charming place is famous for it's gingerbread!

Then it was back on the bus for the rest of the drive to our hotel.  Our Lake District hotel was located on a National Park, so the drive was absolutely breath taking.

Finally, after hours upon hours of driving, we arrived at our oasis of a hotel.  For some reason I was exhausted, and opted to not go down to dinner.  I wrapped myself in my hotel robe and cozied up in my bed and enjoyed a very relaxing evening.