The Lake District

Over the Easter Bank Holiday Becky and I visited the Lake District in Northern England. Highlights:

• Hiking - Lots of great trails leave directly from Ambleside. Nothing is too rigorous but there are nice views over the lakes and the crumbling stone walls and farmhouses create interesting scenery. On Easter weekend there are also plenty of newborn lambs. The quaint villages (Troutbeck, Grasmere) provide a good stop for tea or a pint.
• Eating - Ambleside is overflowing with restaurants but our favorite was The Log House (bruschetta w/ beetroot chutney as a twist, lamb on root/mint mash and killer pavlova for desert). We also had a great local cheese and chutney sandwich for lunch at Lucy's Deli.
• Sleeping - We stayed at the Old Vicarage B&B which has huge rooms, English breakfasts and the obligatory (but acceptable) level of funkiness for a B&B. The hot tub seemed incongruous but after a long hike it made perfect sense.

So essentially the highlights of the Lake District boil down to walking, eating and sleeping. It sounds rather mundane but it really was fantastic. Also, as a former Seattle-ite who misses REI, Ambleside appears to have the single highest concentration of outdoor sport shops anywhere in England. 

As for the downsides, it's hard to think of any. We were fully expecting a day of rain but that never materialized. The town was crowded but that didn't extend to the trails. All in all, a great trip.

 

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Brussels, Belgium

From Feb 20-22 Becky and I visited my cousin Susan who is studying in Brussels for the semester. The Eurostar made this an easy trip; we arrived in under two hours and avoided any airport hassles. 

On Saturday we explored Brugge. Unfortunately, the Groeninge Museum which we wanted to see was closed. Instead we visited the Basilica of the Holy Blood that features a huge gaudy silver reliquary which they claim contains a vial of Jesus' blood (ahem, vampires?) and the Onze Lieve Vrouwkerk that boasts a Madonna by Michaelangelo. Despite the celebrity sculpture, we were more intrigued by the excavated 13th and 14th century tombs with rough drawings and graffiti on the inside. We didn't stay for long though since the church was so cold we could see our breath. We walked the narrow cobbled streets and found the courtyard of the monastery (peaceful) and the museum devoted to "friet" (freaky). Brugge itself was reminiscent of Cambridge with old stone buildings perched along a small river (which is which?) although they have horse drawn carriage rides in addition to boat tours which doubles the number of shills hawking tourist transportation.

In Brussels the Grote Markt is the central plaza but we were surprised to find it almost empty in the morning. Since the city lacks that blockbuster attractions of some other European capitals, I suspect it doesn't draw the same size crowds and they're not clustering around a small set of highlights. We visited the huge collection on display at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium including David's Death of Marat, a smattering of modern masterpieces (Magritte, Picasso, Chagall), and a special exhibition featuring Reubens paintings of an intimidating scale. We also paid a visit to the Mannekin Pis, the Cathedral in Brussels, the EU Quarter, and the Science Museum. 

The food was a highlight throughout the trip. The first night Becky ordered what must qualify as a "bucketful" of mussels at Aux Armes de Bruxelles and the second night we ate at a good bistro-esque place called Les Brassins. I'm not usually one to rave about beers but the Trappist beer and kreik (cherry beer) were great. Other food stops included the original Pan Quotidian (sandwich of beef carpaccio) and a midday break for a Belgian Waffle (of course).

Overall, highlights were getting to catch up with Susan and the Reubens exhibition at the art museum. Lowlight was Becky bruising her heel while walking in Brugge.