Hilary and Stan in Europe 2011 - Day 18 - Keswick

We woke the next morning to a heavy rain splattering off the shale tiles outside our bedroom window.

Heavy clouds gripped the local hills in a way that reminded me of Vancouver's North Shore mountains. In fact, much of this land, though much more cultured, reminds me of Vancouver. While the trees in and around Keswick seem to be mainly oak and maple, many of the flowers, ferns and mosses are very similar, suggesting a similar climate. At any rate, the weather reports wern't kidding.  This is not a tine to go for a mountain hike - it would be just too wet.  I'm so glad we did it yesterday.

The Keswick bike shop

Instead, between intermittent showers, we walked through Keswick, exploring local art galleries and gift shops along the way.

An open air market was underway, which is always fun to wander through. Lunch was a very thin crust pizza at a local coffee shop while we were waiting for the main event of our afternoon.  For, today, of all days, was the first day the final Harry Potter movie was release world wide... even here, into Keswick's little theatre!

 And what better place is there to view this very new, very English cultural icon, but in a quaint little cinema in the Lake District?

The movie, of course, was terrific.  Believe it or not, this tiny theatre showed it in 3D.  We walked back, ignoring (for the most part), the pouring rain, and tried to decipher the nuanced and very intricate storyline.  It's clear we all need a refresher on what happened in the last book to figure everything out.

Dinner was in a special restaurant Racquelle and Harry had reserved for us, in the village where Wordsworth lived in and where some of his most well known poems were written.  Harry and I succumbed to the the standard bearer in British cuisine, fish and chips!!  The company, and conversation was delightful.

Tomorrow, we be completing our visit in the Lake District by visiting Dove Cottage, the country home of the poet William Wordsworth.  Afterward, we will be returning to Manchester to visit our family there before heading home.