The Lake District is a well know area throughout England, known for its' beautiful landscapes, lakes, forests, and villages. My school sponsored a daylong trip to go and visit two towns in the Lake District; Grasmere and Bowness-on-the-Windsor. Both of these places have inspired many people with beauty of nature such as William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.
Grasmere, England
If you are traveling from Liverpool, (which is where my university is located) the Lake District is about 2 hours away by car (or in this case coach bus.) Our first stop was Grasmere, known as the home of English poet William Wordsworth and the famous Grasmere Gingerbread. We took a guided walking tour throughout the lake area of Grasmere, which took us through meadows of sheep, up hills, to William Wordsworth's home, and ending in the little village where the smell of gingerbread wafted from a tiny little store.
Travel: To the Lake District, specifically Grasmere
Adventure: Hiking all over the village, through sheep meadows, and up steep hills
Discover: This is probably one of the most breathtaking areas in England that I have seen. I can understand why authors and artists come here for inspiration.
Walking through the meadow of sheep
William Wordsworth home
Swing outside William Wordsworth's home
View of one of the many streams running through Grasmere
Beatle Mania is still going strong here in Liverpool, at least among the tourists. Fans from all over the world can come and experience where John, Paul, George, and Ringo grew up and got their start playing as The Beatles. A group of friends and I decided to take the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, which takes visitors around the city of Liverpool. As you would expect, the tour bus plays lots of Beatles music and the bus itself looks like one that may have actually been around in 1970's.
The tour starts off by the Tourist Information Center at Albert Dock. There are two little shops selling everything you can possibly imagine in Beatles which you can look around at while you are waiting for your tour to start. Once you are on the bus, you can purchase a program that lists all of the places you visit on the trip. You start off with where Ringo grew up, and end at the Cavern which is where the Beatles first started performing. In between you make stops at places such as Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane. John Lennon's childhood home and Penny Lane are right by my university, Liverpool Hope University, and when I take the bus into the city, we always go by Penny Lane and I just can't help but think of the song every time we go by it.
While the tour was nice and we learned a lot of interesting facts about each Beatle member, in some aspects it was a little disappointing. Had we known we were traveling around where our university is located we would probably have chosen a different Beatle tour. Still on my to-do list is to check out the Beatle Museum. While the Museum of Liverpool there is an exhibit on the Beatles, going to a museum that is dedicated to everything Beatles is a must see and if you are planning on taking any of the Beatles Tours, depending on when you schedule your tour, you could see the museum as well. Just be sure to check where your tour lets off at and make transportation arrangements to get back to Albert Dock where the museum is located.
Travel: The Beatles Magical Mystery Bus Tour
Adventure: Traveling to some familiar and not so familiar parts of Liverpool
Discover: I don't know as much about the Beatles as I should, given how such big fans my mom and grandmother are. But after taking the tour I have learned a lot more Beatles facts. I also probably would have taken a different Beatles Tour.
And just to leave you with one more Beatle song:
Strawberry Fields: "There is always a field for imagination, John we know you should be glad."
