Day 26 - Lake Windermere

July 27:  Lake Windermere 'cruise and walk' redo and gourmet dinner at Lucy's on the Plate to celebrate the end of our Lake District adventure.  We took Elaine on the same lake cruise and walk package we had done on Day 7.  We had relatively good weather today and great views of the surrounding fells.

We walked to Waterhead to catch the first of three boats for the day.  We sailed first to Wray's Castle, where the 4.3 mile walk along the northwestern lakeshore begins.  It is an easy stroll, mostly through forests  and along sheep pastures, with a few open spaces for views to the lake.  We reached the ferry landing, checked out a two story folly that the original owners of Belle Isle used for dinner parties.  The building is called Claife Station and provided guests a fine view of the lake. It is still a major tourist destination, although just a skeleton remained of the former structure.  We walked around the ferry landing spit and caught the next passenger ferry.  We rode north, circling around the islands and landing at Bowness.  We walked up the main street for tea.  The tourists were out in force since it is the first full week of summer holidays for British school children.  Our last ride of the day was on a large cruiser back to Waterhead and Ambleside.

Rowboats for rent at Waterside

Our first cruiser - Princess of the Lake

Near the Ferry Landing

Arriving at Bowness

In the morning, I had made reservations for "a last supper" at Lucy's on a Plate, a well-regarded Ambleside restaurant.  The person who answered the phone (Lucy, we learned later) was particularly chatty and want to know if it was a special occasion, where we were from, and what we were doing, etc.  We arrived at the restaurant just before our reservation time and were asked to wait to be seated.  We given printed menus, which made a note of the many people who were dining this night, including "the Thor trio [who] are having an extended European visit and have ventured to us this evening..."  There was a note on the chatty, tightly printed menu stating that "we have some reading glasses that you may borrow if you need."

We were seated and enjoyed two starters - "A Right Nutty Pear" (a salad of warm goat cheese, caramelized pear chunks and walnuts) and "Melon Fantasia" (balls of melon - cantaloupe, galia (like honeydew) and watermelon served with raspberry coulis and sorbet).  Betsy and I both had "Tunisian Tagine" (a Moroccan dish using aromatic spices with vegetables, preserved lemons, apricots and chickpeas with pieces of very tender Lakeland lamb, red pepper cous cous and creme fraiche) and Elaine had "Bobbing Bobotie" (a casserole of minced lamb with aromatic spices, almonds, diced apricots and tomatoes topped with a savory custard, and accompanied by a salad and Mrs. Ball's chutney).   The menu is typed up daily with many creative names for the dishes and detailed descriptions, as I have quoted.

Starters

Everything was delicious and we were too stuffed for desserts, which were equally creative and varied.  There were lots of gluten-free and vegetarian choices throughout.