Pleas resume your seats, act two is about to begin.

I hope you have all enjoyed your break. Put some eyedrops in and generally gotten over my waffle for another go.

So I will attempt to put in Scotland down to Chatsworth in this one. (8th May to 14th May)

We got off the ferry at Stranraer and picked up our little Corsa, and off we went along the coast. (I must say that the ferries were both fantastic. Such a relaxing way to travel really. No stupid airport security, nice lounges instead of train or bus seats, restaurants, shops and bars on the boat. Very nice indeed.) Scotland is very Bonnie. I was a wreck by the time we got into our hostel and had a stomach flu type thing (joy!) so our first full day we did nothing at all but sit in the lounge over looking loch Lomand and took a short stroll along the banks. The hostel is sitting directly on the shore. Postcard perfect.


We left gorgeous Loch Lomand and headed across to Stirling and Doune. Doune Castle is where they filmed lots of Monty Pythong and the Holy Grail. They had a great little audio guide that was done by Terry Jones so it was good fun. I had to get a photo in the little divet the Pythons stood in the great hall to sing knights of the round table. And there were actually 2 swallows flying around the castle. Hilarious. Plus interesting on the historical side. Doune was strategically important - hence a castle was required. We managed to spot a weasel or otter or ferret type thing running across a field. Then we nipped over to Stirling and had a look at Stirling Castle, which is up a cliff basically. It was 9 freaking pounds to get in, so mum shouted me because I refused to pay 9 pound. We did get to see historical recreation type thing which was quite cute, even if I am not the biggest fan, but Scottish accents are nice and it was a bit of colour and movement. Then on the way to Grasmere we stopped at Hadrians Wall. I wasn't in the best of moods so wasn't overly impressed (again, this was to become a theme, ancient historic sites just don't float my boat) cute sheep though.

When we finally got to Grasmere we were greeted by our gorgeous hostel but also my less gorgeous stomach bug, fun night that was. We had a quiet day the next day - went down by the lake, froze, discovered it had SNOWED the night before up the hills - until I could go to the doctor. 'Winter vomitting virus' oh fun. Nothing you can do, should go away in a few days. So the next day I soldiered on up to Hawkshead, the Beatrix Potter Gallery and Hill Top. Oh, stopping at the Grasmere Gingerbread shop first... yummy yummy yummy. The gallery was really good, it had lots of her original watercolours on display. Hill Top was really interesting - you can see backgrounds of many of her books throughout the house, it was one place that even though it was full of tourists you could get a sense of the importance of the place and how much it influenced her paintings. We moved on to Windermere to stay for two nights and I got a double bed. Bliss. It is in a place called 'Troutbeck' and was up the hill looking over Lake Windermere. Absolutely stunning views. The day after that I decided I wanted to go for a walk, so we went an investigated Kendall (where we would stay the night) and then went back to Hawkshead - this time via ferry) and set out on a 6km "walk". Hike was more accurate. Up and down hills, over fences, rocks... we were bloody knackered by the time we finished but it was good. so it was back to Kendal and off to bed.

The following day we attempted to have a hot chocolate at the 'Famous 1657 Chocolate House" but they weren't opened, despite their sign saying they were so we thought bugger them. So we set off for the Peak District, via Lyme Park. Lyme Park was used in the BBC mini series of Pride and Prejudice as Pemberley. It was very pretty. All the gardens were perfectly manicured. We didn't get to go in the house but the grounds were lovely. The Orangery was particularly specky. We hiked all around to see the fallow and red deer which were very beautiful and I finally got a photo of a pheasant. Then we headed on to our posh night's accommodation - Heathy Lea B&B on the Chatsworth estate!! It was ever so nice. Comfy beds, feathery doonas, fluffy towels, tea, biscuits, nice handwash and moisturiser. Bliss. Wish we had stayed longer. But after a lovely night's sleep it was up for our amazing breakfast - seriously, this place had at least 10 different types of muesli. Plus all the regular cereals. I didn't know so much muesli could exist. There was a gorgeous home made fruit compote and then yummy yummy yummy bacon, egg, tomato, a WHOLE portabello mushroom and sausage (not that I am a fan of sausage at breakfast time) all set out on the cutest little table with homemade jams and REAL proper plunger coffee (he gave us an 8 cup plunger... sadly even I couldn't get through all that coffee.)The guy running it is actually the owner's nephew in law. They had gone on holiday so he was looking after the B&B with his wife. Nice bloody job! He was lovely and very helpful, he was from Southampton so told us some nice places to check out down South.

Then it was time for Chatsworth. Oh. My. Giddy. Aunt. It was HUGE. I'm talking GIGANTIC. Bigger than Buckingham Palace for sure and the grounds were more extensive than Windsor Castle. As for interiors... Well it definitely put Windsor to shame and is most assuredly the REAL Pemberley. Most of the ceilings and walls are painted in murals, there are priceless pieces of art everywhere. Even the lamps are ornate sculptures. The gardens went on and on for literally miles. There was proper landscaped gardens and then lots of 'woodland' that had pathways and waterfalls and grottos throughout. It was just jawdropping. We spent 5 hours wandering around. Highlights include the veiled lady sculpture, the check floor foyer, the cascade, the pasty made from beef and veg from the estate and seeing pheasants around every corner. We of course had to have a scone at Chatsworth - made from eggs from the estate. It was just out of this world. There is no way anyone could build it today. And really, not overly expensive compared to other places we have been. Parking was 2 quid for as long as you liked and to get into the hosue was 11 for me, 13 for mum? or there-abouts. Considering the extent of the house and gardens it was definitely worth it! I took 180 photos just at Chatsworth because there was that much to see!


Ok, have another break guys. I will update you on the rest tomorrow.
peace and love from Cornwall (currently overlooking a SURF beach on the Northern Coast of Cornwall. Lovely.