THE EPIC LAKE DISTRICT ENTRY

Hey everyone!
So the hostels that we stayed at did NOT, in fact, have wifi. Wowwww. So that's why I didn't update while I was there. Meh.
But anyway! This weekend was AMAZING! It's probably the best time I've had this whole trip. It was so nice to be out in the country for a while (and I'm saying this as a total city person) around such beautiful scenery.
Also: readers of this blog get to see some of the pictures first, as Facebook is being stupid and not letting me upload them!
So we left for Haworth (where the Bronte sisters lived) bright and early at 8:30 Friday morning. It took about 4 hours to get there. My headache (which is now basically gone, you'll find out about that later in the entry) was bugging me a LOT during the bus ride. I tried to read (we have to finish a 500 page novel for Tuesday's class) but that made it worse. I was still thrilled to be at Haworth, however, not in the least because of views like this:

Before our tour of the Bronte parsonage started, we had time to walk around Haworth for a little bit. To my delight, I discovered that there were lots of cats wandering around the town that didn't mind being photographed:



After that nice break, we had a very informative talk and tour through the Bronte Parsonage! I had such a geeky thrill as I walked through all the rooms that the Bronte family lived in. It made me want to do my research paper on Bronte. I have so many ideas! Here's the parsonage:

After the museum, we went for a walk along the moors. Having read Wuthering Heights twice already, I had always wanted to actually go to the moors and experience them for myself. Well on Friday, I got my wish. This is the beginning of the "breathtaking scenery" part of the program:




Also, there was lots of farmland around Haworth, so I took pictures of lots of farm animals (including a cow we attempted to feed:



After traipsing around the moors, we drove to our hostel and had a HUGE dinner there! I don't know if we were really hungry or if we were just taking advantage of the fact that it was an all-you-can-eat buffet, but we were soooo stuffed by the time we left the dining hall area. We all hung out as a group for the rest of the night because one of the girls in the program was celebrating her 21st birthday! So we all went to a bar together and then had an awesome time the rest of the night.

THE NEXT DAY:
On Saturday my headache was a lot worse (yes, yes, drinking is bad, I know, bla bla bla) but I was still excited for the Lake District! It took us another 3-hour bus ride to get there. First, we visited Wordsworth's grave:

The scenery around there was beautiful too and included A BUNNY RABBIT!



We then had a tour of Dove Cottage (where Wordsworth lived and wrote a majority of his poetry) and a talk about Wordsworth. This, too, was quite interesting to see. The cottage is quite small, considering that Wordsworth, his wife, their children, his sister, and several guests often stayed there. Here it is:

We also took a hike in the surrounding area, where Wordsworth would often work and be inspired. I can see why:



Then, we had some extra time (because our bus driver ALWAYS got to places early) so we walked along Langdale, this farm/valley thing which was REALLY pretty:




Then we went to our hostel and the surrounding town, where EVERYTHING closed really early. We got dinner at this Indian place, and then we got some tea (and in my case, chocolate cake!). Then it started raining, so we walked back to the hostel. My headache was really bad again, so I went to bed at 10 (!!!!) and had a nice, long sleep.

TODAY:
I finally showered! (I was feeling too bad on Saturday to shower). It was raining all day, so I had no chance to take any pictures :(. But we took a lovely boat ride across Lake Windemere (the largest lake in England) to the town of Bowness, where I FINALLY bought some decongestant! Over the weekend, Mom and I determined that my headache was probably caused by sinus pressure. My headache was basically gone after my epic sleep yesterday, but the decongestant has definitely helped too. I had a great chocolate ecalair in Bowness (SO.MUCH.CREAM.) and then we went back on the bus to London. We got back at around 5:30, where I've basically spent the rest of the day on the computer.

Love you all!
Miranda