Ambleside, day one.

After I got settled in my room (no assigned beds means I get the top bunk near the window!), I took a walk out and around the hostel, and immediately found ice cream. I already forget what the name of the place was, other than it was just around the corner from the hostel. I couldn't resist "Death by Chocolate", in a single scoop.

My cone and I took a stroll around the lake (my hostel is literally a hop, skip and a jump from the lake - proven), the home of many a boat, ferry, and fussy swan. Unlike other places, they actually give out bread crumbs for you to feed the ducks and swans, so these birds are spoiled. Due to a light rain, I had paused under a tree to finish my cone, and a big bull swan lumbered over, eyeing my treat. He stood by the edge of the dock bobbing his head up and down, and huffing when I turned my head sideways at him, as if to say, "Did you want something?" An older couple dropped by with three (!) bags of bread crumbs, to which the rest of the flock uh... flocked towards. But the bull swan was undistracted, keeping his eye on the prize. I hurriedly finished the rest of my cone, as if to say "ha!" Soon after a family was drawn to him, taking photos. Apparently the couple's small child was enough to keep the swan's interest, and I slipped away quietly, continuing on down the path into Ambleside.

Aside from hungry swans and even hungrier tourists, I found the town of Ambleside to be quite lovely. It reminds me of Sun Valley or Hailey in that it's catered a lot to the tourist and outdoorsy population. Literally every other store is an outdoors or sporting goods or travel gear store. I admittedly got sucked in for a while and looked at lightweight travel clothes and comfort wear shoes, dodging through crowds of fellow spenders and outdoors enthusiasts. The other half of shops in this town contain sweets, specialty foods (cheese!), and local books.

The rest of town is either restaurants (mostly cafes or local food) or B&Bs, although there is one Indian food and one Chinese food restaurant. And I still see more Asians around here than I ever did in the B-town, although the tourist crowd tends to be pretty diverse.

After scoping out the town and taking note of the trailheads I'll be starting at tomorrow, I came back to Scott's Cafe for an early dinner, consisting of a brie and cranberry melt on baguette bread, with fried crisps (American chips, not fries), coleslaw and fresh vegetables. As most of you know, vegetarian fare isn't my thing, but I actually enjoyed this meal quite a bit.

My feet still hurt from these shoes (I think the right shoe is too loose), so I may splurge on a new pair of shoes for the rest of the trip. 55 quid isn't that bad, I suppose. I was also eyeing one of those lighter jackets (my raincoat is mammoth), although despite being willing to part with these obnoxious shoes, the raincoat is harder for me to say goodbye to.

I have enough time to take another walk; however, I think I'll stay in and deflate for a while, take in the view, and do a little reading. I haven't really thought much about the fact that I'll be surrounded by a completely new language in a few days; I think I've finally become comfortable settling into the "here and now". Every moment's become an exquisite little memory I may have already forgotten, aside from the delight it's given me for the brief tick of time it existed. I'm okay with that.