The Lake District -- A Quick Entry

I'm at an incredibly expensive internet cafe (everything in England, even in the Lake District, is incredibly expensive), and so I'm going to make this entry short. Hopefully, I'll have free access at my hotel tonight to flesh this out.

I have to admit that as I was driving from Liverpool to Windermere, I was asking myself, "What the hell am I doing?" I was going to this corner of a country that I've barely explored, to go hiking?!, and where there is very little to do but hike or shop at incredibly expensive stores. Also, the weather is supposed to be horrible.

Well, after spending three full days here, I can say that I'm incredibly happy that I came. First off, the weather has been stunningly beautiful. No rain, after having 60 straight days of it, and the temperature has been hovering around 70, which is cold by Barcelona standards, but perfect hiking weather.

The first day, I didn't leave Lake Windermere, and even so, there's a lot I could still do. But today and yesterday, I've spent the entire days hiking. I can't wait to post my pictures. The scenery is breathtaking, seriously. Everything is green and verdant, there are beautiful vistas, and it's incredibly peaceful, even though there are a lot of people hiking. And there are a lot of people. This is one of the most popular vacation spots for the English, and while there are foreigners here, there are very few compared to the amount of English. And they all have the right gear, etc.

The only problem has been the evenings, because it is kind of boring at night, being that everything is a village, and most people are here with family and friends. But I've been so tired both nights, that I've gone to sleep at about 11 p.m. anyway.

There are a lot of literary sites here as well, but I haven't gone in any of them. The weather is too beautiful to waste being inside, and it might rain tomorrow or Thursday, so I might see some of them then, but if not, it's no big deal. The hiking has been so terrific, and it's been a great transition between Spain and England.

By the by, language-wise, being here is still kind of a weird experience. I know they're speaking English, but I can't understand what they're saying! That's a gross overgeneralization, but sometimes it's true that I'm not really sure what people are saying to me.

So that's a quick overview. I'll write more either when I get back to the States, or hopefully tonight or tomorrow night if the internet access at the hotel works.