Europe Adventure: Day Seven, part two- Grasmere

After our wonderful experience at Hill Top Farm we drove to the little village of Grasmere. 

As we drove we went through a few small villages, all lovely. 

I would love to go to the Lake District again someday and if I do I know for sure we will be staying in one of these small villages. There was such a different feel to this day and to these areas. I'm sure they get busy too but they were wonderful during our stay. 

Grasmere ended up being one of my very favorite spots. 

We parked in a nice, big car park and then walked through the village looking for the famous Sarah Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread shop.

There it is!

We went in to the small, quaint shop and bought a package of gingerbread. 

I wish we had bought more of it!

Then we took our gingerbread around the corner to the grounds around St. Oswald's Church. 

At the start of the path there was this lovely William Wordsworth quote: 

"I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills, 

When all at once I saw a crowd, 

A host, of golden daffodils;"

As I have mentioned, daffodils mean England to me now and so this poem, which I have always loved, meant a lot more to me now. 

To wander this path near the churchyard where Wordsworth is buried looking at all the daffodils was an amazing experience. 

We wandered the path for a while and then found his grave and those of his family.

We found a bench to relax on and enjoyed our first piece of gingerbread. 

I like gingerbread. But this was amazing.      

   It was by far the best gingerbread I have ever had. 

The hype is deserved. 

After enjoying our gingerbread and the beautiful nature surrounding us for a while, we kept strolling. 

We went through the shops on the main street and then decided to stop for lunch at this restaurant, Pottered Out. 

It was a really nice place with really good prices and we got a cute booth with a view of the front door and the street. 

We both ordered the Goats Cheese sandwich on Warm Ciabatta Bread with marinated red pepper, sun blushed tomato, and pesto. It came with the salad. 

This was delicious. 

It was one of the best meals I had, I think. 

After lunch we walked back past the car park and down the road a ways to visit Dove Cottage. 

It was just so beautiful and quiet here.

Dove Cottage: home of William Wordsworth

Wordsworth moved into Dove Cottage with his sister Dorothy in 1799.

He would live here for eight years. 

In 1802 he married Mary Hutchinson. Three of their five children were born here. 

He wrote many of his best poems here and his sister Dorothy wrote her Grasmere journal which would also become famous. 

It was a really cozy place. 

Wordsworth's letter making him the Poet Laureate in 1843.

After exploring the inside of the cottage, we explored the garden.

At this point we went back to the car and began to make our way toward Scotland where we were going to visit Hadrian's Wall and the border. 

But the road we were going to take was closed because of recent flooding. 

We were disappointed but decided to drive back toward Bowness-on-Windermere to our B&B. 

The other routes would have taken a lot longer and we just weren't sure we would have the time. 

The drive was beautiful.

 

As we got closer to our town, we pulled over to an overlook of Lake Windermere and enjoyed the view for a while. 

We settled back into our room and then walked down the road looking for a place for dinner. 

We decided on Rastelli's. 

It was a nice little Italian place.

We ordered garlic bread that came looking like a pizza and a pepperoni pizza.

We enjoyed it. 

After dinner we went back to our room and had a nice evening of reading. 

This was one of our favorite days!

At Dove Cottage I bought this really cute illustrated version of some of William Wordsworth's poetry.