I was very excited to stumble upon the fact that the TIFF cinema was showing "Sightseers", the (at the time) latest film from Ben Wheatley. Having missed it when it came out in the UK, I had resigned myself to the fact that it didn't seem to be showing anywhere in Toronto. Still, six months late is better than never. (I suppose).
For those of you who haven't seen it, and you all should, the film is set in the Lakes and the Yorkshire Dales and visits loads of very familiar places. Seeing the Ribblehead Viaduct, the Castlerigg stone circle, Windermere, and the Keswick Pencil museum all made me feel very glad I was heading back there very soon. I'm not sure that the Torontonian audience found the film quite as funny as I did; references to the National Trust, quirky tourist attractions and typically understated deadpan dialogue ensured that I was often the only one laughing at certain points in the film. But the whole film reminded me, perhaps in a rather worrying way, of why I love the Lakes and the Dales so much.
So anyway, now I'm back in the England and I've spent the first few weeks doing all the touristy things with various family members and friends. Meg and I joined the National Trust as well, so we've been frantically trying to get our monies' worth in the few weeks that we'll be able to use it this year.
So far we've spent time walking through the Lakes, popped over to the North-East to visit Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands for the first time since I was about 15, and I'm currently in Oxford, marvelling at how strange it feels to be back here.In fact, nostalgia is quite a theme for this trip so far.
I'm always surprised when people say that they've never been to the Lakes before. England is so easy to travel around and the Lakes really is breathtakingly beautiful. The views you get from the top of the hills are unlike anything else in the world. To make the views even more breathtaking, how about enjoying them whilst climbing up the side of one of England's last working Slate mines? The Via Ferrata is a series of iron rungs which have been drilled into the side of the mountain. These would have traditionally been used to allow the miners to traverse the mine, but are now used to let tourists get some unparallelled views of the Borrowdale valley. If you have a head for heights, I can't recommend this strongly enough.
I also managed to get in a bit of walking around Hawkshead as well: -
Our trip to Northumberland was mostly concerned with seeing Castles and Puffins. We managed to do both in plentiful supply. I used to go to Northumberland a lot as a child, and I was surprised at what I recognised, but also at what I couldn't remember at all. The hotel we stayed in has changed a lot since I was last there and I couldn't picture how it used to look at all. The layout was totally disorientating. The same goes for Oxford. This morning, I walked up Cowley road, which has changed beyond recognition. The things which were the same I instantly recognised, but the things which had changed I couldn't for the life of me picture how they used to look. For the record: I've never seen a street with so many coffee shops on it!
It was sad to see so many shops and restaurants had closed down; no more Kashmir, the Polar bear has shut up shop, the video rental shop has predictably closed down, Gashi Gashi is now a burger joint and Sainsburys and Tesco seem to be in a life a death battle for the soul of Oxford. There are so many new stores that have opened right next to each other.
Oh well. Here are some pictures of castles and birds. I did a quick count and there were in excess of 30 birds.
Still reading? Well done you!
To prove that I do make the most of the (admittedly) ridiculous length of the Canadian school summer holidays, I have also just returned from the Lee Valley Water sports park. To celebrate the upcoming nuptials of my good friend Paul, a group of 20 fine upstanding gentlemen took to the Olympic white water rafting course.
'Twas excellent fun, just the sort of thing to do in this incredible heatwave.
Anyway, I've still got another month in England in which to do as many exciting and fun things as possible. I must admit that England is a great holiday destination.
If you have something fun to do near you, let me know. I'm open to suggestions!
