Part Two of Our Magical Mystery Tour
On to the Great British Unknown.
Our journey continues. Part two of our two-week trip through parts of the UK. (Here is Part One.) On to Liverpool, where the Beatles still reign. It was number one on Jeff’s list of places to see, since he’s a long-time record collector and a Beatle buff. I’m a fan, as well, so I was happy to go along. He took a tour of the insides of the Beatles’ boyhood homes, then later that day we both hopped on the Magical Mystery bus. (Ringo was the poorest of the four, with Paul the best off.)
I was on an inside seat so couldn’t get the good pictures, but Jeff was by the window and saw everything he wanted to see.
From Liverpool we took the train to Penrith in the Lake District. (We’d bought Senior Rail Cards at 35 pounds each and they saved us quite a bit on all of our trips through the UK. From Stratford to Liverpool it cost us 30 pounds each, a 30% savings.) At the Penrith Station we caught a bus to our destination in Keswick, and were sorry we couldn’t have spent more time, as Penrith looked lovely. Just the station alone!
Jeff found an adventure for us in Keswick—a high tea on the rail car used as a set for “Murder on the Orient Express”. It was so much more than we’d expected, but Keswick itself, less than 20 miles from Penrith by bus, was a dream!
In Keswick, we stayed at a guest house called the Edwardene, and it couldn’t have been more British.
Keswick town is beautiful and so friendly! I took the picture below of a doorway across from the Edwardene and as I was standing there a man walked up and said, “Excuse me, this is my house”. I was mortified! But he was sweet about it and the three of us stood and talked. His name is Paul Wilmott and he’s an artist and muralist who has painted murals of Swift’s Gulliver in Whitehaven, as well as of the late queen in an alleyway in Keswick and of The Three Bears at a bus shelter. (The man who wrote Goldilocks, Robert Southey, lived in Keswick—pronounced ‘Kessick’, by the way.)
We had a great time talking with him and then he came out the next morning to say goodbye as we waited for our taxi. We exchanged cards so I hope we’ll keep in touch.
We loved Keswick so much we decided to stay another night, but the Edwardene was full and so were the guest houses we checked along that street. So we stayed at the Royal Oak Hotel in town and wandered around the next day. I can’t say enough for Keswick. It’s everything you would want in a town you could only imagine.
We found a local pub down the street and had their ‘world famous’ goulash at the urging of a couple of patrons we met inside. It was just so-so to me, but I of course gushed…
Keswick is notably dog-friendly. They’re everywhere! Saw lots of dogs inside the Dog and Gun, but happily no guns. And I didn’t take pictures! But I found this story about the dogs of Keswick here.
There are dog signs and water bowls everywhere. Our hotel welcomed dogs, as well, so lots of petting and cooing going on on my part. I loved it!
A little about the Royal Oak: We were supposedly on the first floor, but it was up four steps and then four steps again to what I would definitely call the second floor. Inside our suite there were three more steps, with the bathroom level to the door, which meant every time I had to use it, it was three steps down and three steps up again. And every time we went out it was a total of 11 steps up and down. It was a lovely hotel but my knees did not think so! (Side note: There are rarely washcloths in any British hotel. Bring your own in a plastic bag if you need one.)
Well, that’s it for today. I hope you’re enjoying my first attempts at a travelogue. I’m feeling a bit of chemo brain, so, while I’ve finally figured out how to decrease the size of my pictures, one by one, I’m checking my notes (thank goodness for notes!) and scrambling to include the things I want here—very slowly...
Next time: To Oban, glorious Oban, and then on to Edinburgh. After that, York.❤️
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I'm enjoying your travelogue. I haven't been to Keswick for years. Looking forward to the next episode
You make me want to visit Keswick--and watch out for stairs. As we age, we've learned to scrutinize hotel and AirBnb listings for stairs. No more upper-floor digs without elevators.