Our hosts at the cottage we are renting have free passes to a spa at a hotel that's fairly near to us. We took advantage a couple of times during the week we were in Cockermouth. And speaking of the name of the town, its derived from the name of the river that runs through the very center, The River Cocker. There's also another river called Derwent, and the two rivers meet at the mouth of the Cocker...hence the name.
One day we drove into town and just wandered around enjoying the cool weather. We had lunch in a pub and walked by the river, nothing much exciting. Another day we drove out to one of the National Trust properties called Acorn Bank. They had a walk you could take around the property through the forest which was fun. Along the way we saw an old mill where they used to grind grain and make flour.
Our final day was spent going for a Segway ride through the forest. The machines have very wide wheels, but otherwise are just like other Segways.
Saturday morning we were on the way to London by 6:00 am. We had a long way to go and wanted to make sure we got some miles under our belt before the roads got crowded. They don't have a lot of freeways here, so they tend to get packed and then have lots of accidents. We saw at least three on the other side--once where there was no traffic coming towards us at all for a LONG way...and we never saw anything much to justify shutting down the road! Just what appeared to be a minor accident. They also don't have many entrances/exits--sometimes as much as 15 miles between them!
We arrived at our London area flat without any problems other than a parking glitch. Our hostess had said we could park behind the building if there was a space...we could see that there were lots of empty ones. However, about 3 days before we arrived, the building management changed who could park there and we weren't on the list. :( Long story about how I had to shed a few tears, but I managed to get us parked. The only problem with that is we can't leave until we are done, unless we want to pay for parking...which is ridiculously expensive.
Our first day in Croydon, the suburb we're in, we caught a train into London, then a double decker bus and visited the British Museum. It's housed in a very grand building near the Piccadilly Circus area. We spent a couple hours there looking at the early European history, and left when the crowds were getting to be too much. There was a really cool pub just across the street, so we went there for lunch. We wandered around Chinatown, made our way to Piccadilly Square and watched some of the performers. Tons of tourists! We had dessert in a fancy restaurant while killing time before our play began. We had bought tickets for the theatre, A Comedy about a Bank Robbery. I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to understand their accents, but the play was set in the US and they had American accents!! Who knew?? LOL It was very slapstick, but we enjoyed it.
Once outside, caught a bus and a train back to the burbs and had another Sunday roast dinner in a pub near our flat. Fun first day!
Monday we went to a house that was built in the early 1600's, and was maintained by the same family for centuries! The final owner decided the upkeep was too much and gave it to the National Trust in 1948. After all the places we have toured, this one was so impressive because of its structure. Not one bit of crooked foundation...simply amazing given the size and age. And to be all brick!! The furnishings were all original and lots of paintings, tapestries, etc. The gardens were beautiful, too, although not as elaborate as some we've seen. We took a guided tour of the gardens and then an architectural tour as well, both interesting.
We had to take two trains and a bus to get there, and walk a bit so by the time we got back to our flat, I was pooped. :)
No idea what we will do today, other than I'm getting a pedicure at 10:00 this morning. I haven't had one since Sarajevo, and since we will be going back to sandals and shorts in Budapest tomorrow, it's time!! :)
More later from Budapest!
Oh...the wifi is not that great for uploading my pictures, took me a couple hours just to do what I've done. I'm hoping for better wifi in Budapest.