“End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One that we all must take.”
J.R.R.Tolkien, The Return of The King

Time to get a bit of culture stuffed down my neck as they say.  After a relaxed start over breakfast we head to Grasmere, to visit Dove Cottage, home of Wordsworth, he of the host of golden daffodils.  Rather appropriate name for a wordsmith really... A fascinating insight into life and recreational drug use in the 18th/19th Century.  Not quite the cosy romantic life I was led to imagine by my English teacher at school, but far more interesting for all that.  Even had a go at writing with a quill pen in the Museum afterwards.  Well worth a visit and good to know that for a six week tour of Europe I need only take a day shirt, a night shirt, a pair of socks and pants and a good supply of pens and lots of paper.  So much easier then than modern living!

Grasmere was busy with a beer festival in full swing so we headed towards Rydal Water in search of somewhere more "comfortable and warm" for Sunday lunch.  Came up trumps with The Glen Rothay Hotel [and Badger Bar].  Perfect meal end to our weekend with K2 and R, before they head back to London this afternoon.

On the way back through the outskirts of Keswick I saw the sign to Castlerigg Stone Circle, so I thought it would be a good idea to say hello to the ancestors on our way through.  A brief visit - the last time I was here I watched the blackest of clouds steaming in from the Irish Sea and just managed to get back in the car before being engulfed in hailstones.  Ah, summers aren't what they used to be...