Retirement gives a person an extremely vantage position to view life. You can look back leisurely and examine all that one has done without any rancor. Then I realized, I had hordes of stories to tell, analyze various incidents, make up a few and so on. I have written on many aspects of life – grand children, marriage, art of drinking, cooking, bull fights and the list is endless. My childhood days in Bengaluru figures prominently. Apart from life and people, I have also written extensively about our travel to various places in India and abroad. Blog also includes a few articles about my life as a naval officer. Incidentally the blog is read by viewers from 83 different countries.
Our next port of call was Windermere, which was a 367 KM drive up North. We departed from Nailsworth after breakfast and hit M5 and M6 to be greeted by an extremely fast moving and disciplined traffic. The fear of getting a ticket loomed large throughout our drive and we navigated carefully observing all the signs and directions. The drive itself is a pleasure as long as we observe the rules and stick to our lane. One thing we learnt was to totally avoid abrupt stops, turns, lane changes and exits.
Mid way, we deviated a little bit to visit my cousin Dr Madhusudan and his gracious wife Jyoti in Cheshire, Macclesfield. Jyoti had prepared a very tasty fusion lunch. Eating good home food felt like… well, being home 🙂
Windermere lake
We reached Bowness-on-Windermerein the late afternoon and checked into our hotel ‘Field House’ overlooking the lake. We selected the place due to its close proximity to the lake and the city centre. Bowness over time has become a very hot tourist destination. Go with the aim of doing nothing and you will enjoy it to the hilt. The heady combination of the pristine lake, the surrounding hills, misty weather and excellent pubs makes you seriously want to linger on for a few months at least. We spent a delightful evening in the ‘Village Inn Bar and Grill ’.
View from the balcony
Our Neighborhood
Photo Op
Jai all pleased
Quick to follow
Village Inn – for the evening gala
Capturing the moment
Windermere, at 10.5 miles long, one mile wide and 220 feet deep, is the largest natural lake in both the Lake District and in England itself.
We hired a speed boat and went around the lake. The girls enjoyed navigating the boat by themselves. It was a wonderful experience for them. There is no better way to capture the beauty and serenity of the lake and the surroundings.
Captain Sush and her crew
After a lovely ride
Captain taking it easy
Welcoming party
Pink Tabebuya in full bloom
Thereafter we took a leisurely ride in a bus to ‘Dove Cottage’ on the edge of Grasmere in the Lake District. It is best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy Wordsworth. We spent the better part of the afternoon in the cottage, museum and the village; enjoying history and nature as Wordsworth himself must have experienced it. Thereon we moved to Ambleside just in time to have the much-read-about English high tea – scones with jam and cream, cakes, cucumber sandwiches and of course, tea.
There is something to intrigue people of all ages at Dove Cottage, as the story of the building and its inhabitants comes to life with unusual objects and hidden corners to be discovered.
Inside the house
Number of period costumes are kept in the museum. With a little bit of imagination one can recreate dramatic moments.
Sush and Shubhi on a dramatic overdrive
Nature at its best
On the way to Grasmere
Beautiful town
Glimpse of Ambleside
Fighting the weather prior to ‘High Tea’
The best part of our stay at Field House was the full English breakfast – porridge followed by a three egg omelette, toast with homemade marmalade, bacon, sausages, baked beans and ending up with some excellent tea and coffee. After that, each of us sank into a comfortable chair like a python after a meal.
Bowness main street
In the late afternoon, the weather took a turn for the worse and the temperature plummeted forcing us to seek shelter in a very cute restaurant ‘Mio Mondo ‘. It is an incredibly warm and welcoming café which was packed to the rafters that afternoon..
Market place walk
A great afternoon in Mio Mondo
Windermere gave us the much needed break to just relax, take it easy and enjoy the place. We had no itinerary or a must see, must do list, which suited us just fine.
Captain MV Prabhakar is an alumnus of National Defence Academy. He was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 01 Jan 1970. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and completed his post graduation at the Collage of Naval Warfare, Mumbai. He participated in the 1971 Indo Pak war and IPKF operations in Sri Lanka in 1989.After retirement from the navy he worked in MACMET Technologies Limited, Bangalore/CAE India developing simulators for the Indian Defence Forces. He is married to Jayanti who is an educationalist. They have a son and daughter and four grandchildren. Pubs is a keen golfer and loves cooking. He also spends time looking after the garden.He is a avid traveler and blogger.
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