Haven Cottage, Ambleside
It’s so long since I posted anything and too long since I promised to write about our visit to the beautiful Lake District in the UK in 2016. Well, here we are. It was about 5 pm by the time we arrived and the parking area was full, but our hosts were charming, very helpful and immediately made us feel welcome. He carried our cases up to the third floor, then parked the car for us while she did a great job of darkening the windows for me, (I cannot sleep with light) climbing up on a chair and pinning a length of dark material over the curtains. Nothing was too much trouble.
I wish I had photos of our accommodation, right across the top floor, with a separate sitting room and ensuite, plus a big bath in the bedroom. Romantic for a couple, but useful for two sisters for hanging out our washing, and Susanne did luxuriate in it one evening, after a hectic day of driving. I’m sure you can find Haven Cottage Ambleside for yourself on Google – we thoroughly recommend them.
Slate roofs and stone walls; the view from our bedroom window.
I have a photo taken from the bedroom window, which looks down on the houses behind Haven Cottage and the hills which surround the town are visible in the distance. beyond them is Lake Windermere.
On that first evening, we partly unpacked to find clean clothes, then ventured into town, walking beside the river that flows under and around some of the original buildings. Italian was the best choice for dinner, but they had no empty tables so we took a stroll, after asking them to save us a table in about an hour.
Ambleside is my favourite town in the area, quite small, right on Lake Windermere and close to Wordsworth Cottage, Beatrix Potter’s place and most of the places on my list to show Susanne. The route in and out of the town is one-way, narrow and steep. Crossing the road can be hazardous, but it was holiday time and very few people were in a hurry.
This wall of flowers was just one of the many picturesque sites in Ambleside.
Although most of the buildings are made of grey stone, they don’t look dreary, even in wet and cloudy weather, (we had that later) which I found surprising. It must be because the locals 
pretty the place up, like this wall of flowers which we passed each time we went into town. There are lots of eating places, so of course, they too, are colourful and inviting.
The Italian place quickly became our favourite; we ate there three times, all delicious.
After the very cold weather we experienced in York, our expectation was for more of the same, but for three days we found Ambleside so warm that our one set of summer clothes just wasn’t adequate. Knowing that the temperature should be colder as one travels north, we left most of the light things with my son. No problems; the local charity shop solved the need for a cotton shirt to keep the sun off. It’s now one of my favourites back in Perth.
We were fortunate to strike three clear days, as the trip around the lake was our next adventure.