Wednesday, August 03, 2005

The Beautiful Lake District - Northern England

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
W. H. Davis


I distinctly remember this W.H.Davis poem (I'd learnt this in school in the 8th or the 9th grade) and somehow this poem created an everlasting impression on my mind. And trust me these were the very words that came to my mind when I visited the amazingly beautiful - Lake District in Northern England. We are so very engrossed in going about our daily chores that we fail to admire the natural beauty around us. An irony that I should be reminded of this W.H.Davis' poem in "Wordsworth-Country".

In the Lake District, the overwhelming beauty of nature oozes out in every lake, mountain and valley. A typical misty, cloudy Autumn morning awaits me there, bekoning me to beauty rivalled only by the lakes of the awesome Switzerland and South-Austria.
I was fortunate enough to visit the Lake District during Autumn when the trees had just started to shed their leaves and there were brown, mahogany, auburn coloured leaves strewn all over the roads and canopy of trees on both sides of the road sheltering from the sun and the rain alike. It was as-if I was transported into a labyrinth of meandering roads bordered by lakes and mountains.

It had rained early that morning but as the day progressed, I saw the first rays of the sun hitting the lake (thanks to the absolutely unpredictable, yet typical English weather). The lake started shimmering in glorius sunlight. Nonetheless, all the waterfalls were in complete grandeur, buzzing with activity and humming a sweet tune soothing to the ears. I felt as if all of external world did not exist at all. In short it was too good to be true.

The path I followed took me through magnificent old buildings, each building dating back to the 19th, 18th, 17th centuries. I was particularly fascinated by this 16th century church tower. This is the oldest church in the area. I stopped there and wondered, "Time seems to have come to an absolute standstill here". The church tower with the greenish-brown tree as a backdrop made a perfect setting for a picture.

All this and much more await you at this paradise. In my opinion, if you are visiting England, the Lake District is an absolute must-visit. It is absolutely no wonder that such sublime natural beauty of the Lake District propelled William Wordsworth to write inspiring poetry singing lavish praises about mother nature. (By the way, it also had a similar influence on me...it propelled me to write this blog..hahaha)

On a more serious note, I was so enchanted by the nature and the surroundings that I actually didnt want to leave the place. Alas! all good things come to an end, and similarly so did my short trip to Lake District (and so does this blog post hehehe!!). At the end of it, all I can say is that, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and would love to visit the place once again.

I leave you with this picture of mine taken somewhere in the Lake District at some dusty wooden park bench - a place which I would like to visit sometime again in the future. Adios!!