Day 13: Off to England Via "The Struggle"

Most of Day 13 was spent in the car. However, had we not been in the car driving, we would never have been blessed with seeing 5 rainbows in one day! Several times, Zach and I tried to stop and get a picture, only for the rainbow to disappear. So, we have no evidence of this marvelous experience.

One of my favorite things about England is their amazing rest stops. They are like little mini-malls, with multiple fast food restaurants, gift shops, bathrooms, and magazine stands! We stopped at one of these for lunch. As usual, I opted for the mocha/muffin combo, while Zach went for something more substantial. When I went to take my first sip of mocha, I was delightfully surprised to find that the barista had dusted the chocolate powder atop my foam into the shape of a heart! I'm not sure why, but it made my day.


We then made another stop at Stirling Castle. Though we were a little disappointed by the fact that some of it was closed for renovation (which we didn't find out until after buying our tickets), we had a great time exploring what we would. Zach and I both agreed that this was the most "stereotypical" castle we visited on our trip. A real highlight of this experience was watching artists work at remaking the tapestries that once hung on the walls of the castle.


It wasn't too long after that that we entered into the Lake District of England. The Lake District is a national park and is where Beatrix Potter lived for awhile. Jane Austen wrote about its beauty many times as well. I had been there before during my semester in London and knew Zach would love it.

Several little towns make up the Lake District, and we were staying at a hostel in a town called Ambleside. Before we left the US, I had printed out detailed directions of all of our accommodations. However, that didn't always work very well, and this was definitely one of those times. The directions weren't making any sense, and the signs were pointing us in different directions. At one point, we came to a sign that said one could go to Ambleside by two different routes: The first we'll call "Choice A", and the second (I'm not kidding) was called "The Struggle". Zach and I emphatically agreed that Choice A was the smarter choice.

Now, the Lake District is known primarily for its walking and hiking trails. So, the farther we drove, the more people we came across just walking down the roads, which had no shoulder. As it this wouldn't keep a driver on edge enough already, we began experiencing dramatic hairpin turns with stone walls on either side. We were up and down, back and forth, coming close to a head-on collision a couple of times. By the time we finally arrived in Ambleside, we concluded two things: 1. Our heart rates had been elevated for a long enough period of time to constitute an aerobic workout, and 2. We somehow, somewhere must have gotten onto The Struggle.

Thankful to be alive and to not have hit any pedestrians, we drove through the town and located our hostel, Ambleside Backpackers. It was a beautiful and very clean place. Though the host told us they were completely full for the night, Zach and I somehow ended up with a 6-person room all to ourselves. We settled in, grabbed some dinner, and rested up for the following day's hiking adventure.