The Land of Sheep and Hedgehogs

I had to be on the train not long after 5 am this morning. We had free days, and I wanted badly to see Beatrix Potter's house. I had been warned that it was a trek, but I figured, after my brush with death to see Kipling's digs, how bad could it be?

I snoozed on the train; luckily, no one sat by me, and I managed to kind of lay down about 3/4 of my long-ass bod. I've never heard so many bones crack and pop as when I woke up and clunked everything back into place on the train.

I got off the train, and found myself in a much more tourist-heavy spot than I'd expected. It looks like the Lakes District is extremely popular among Chinese tourists, and the area is super well-connected with buses. I got the info I needed, and hopped on a local bus to the town I needed to be in (Hawkshead). It was a windy and slightly scary journey, and I had no idea how long it would take. There were no announcements for stops, and I just kind of winged it. I got off in a little touristy town with Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit all over everything, and asked for directions. A shop keeper told me it was about a 30-minute walk. This turned out to be about half of the time it took, trudging uphill with no sidewalks. But it was worth it.

I finally made it to Beatrix Potter's teeny tiny village, and got a ticket to her house. This is the walk up to her house through the garden.

It's June, and they have a fire roasting. It's actually nice. Also, there's wallpaper on the ceiling, which I loved.

Her writing desk:

Beatrix's "treasures" room:

A view inside her dollhouse. She bought this to display all the little items she'd used as models in her stories.

 Inside a closet:

Her hat and shoes.

The wallpaper on the ceiling!

I left just as a giant tour group was shuffling in. I ventured off to find lunch, but look! Peter has his own sign.

That's bleu cheese rarebit the bottom right. It looks horrible, but it was amazing. Just bleu cheese melted over toast!

This is where I had the above tea:

I walked back to the village to see what I could see before hopping the bus back to the train station.

Back in the village, I bought a few small things, and then caught the bus back. It was definitely a trek today, but I can see why Beatrix decided to spend most of her life in this land of lakes and greenery and sheep (how did I not get a photo of the sheep?!).