It was just too perfect to find one of my favorite movies playing on the night before Day 2. I've loved "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" for just about forever and I loved it even more watching it in its native country. The ending phrase from one of the movie's lovable villains, Big Chris, was just too perfect not to include in this Blog ;)
Day 2 started off with another Big English Breakfast (this does deserve to be capitalized) - consisting of eggs, bacon, sausage, potato scone, toast, stewed tomato and sautéed mushrooms. This was on top of a fruit, yogurt and cereal bar - accompanied by tea, coffee, juice and milk. One cannot say that the English don't send you off exploring the hills on an empty stomach.
I was fortunate enough to speak to two women at the next table and through the wiliness of one (an Irishwoman who lives down the street from Bono....visiting her, what??!!), wrangled a ride for the day with the other! This was great for several reasons...
1. I didn't have to navigate the "bollocks" public transportation system in TLD.
2. I saved the 6L cost of the bus....yes, this is expensive....and yes, for the bus.
3. I got to spend time with an incredibly interesting artist who was working on a commission for the 2012 Olympiad.
4. I was taken to a place I would NEVER have visited left to my own devices....Brantwood, the home of John Ruskin.
5. I got to finally be the passenger in a British car - i.e. I rode on the left hand side...whoo hoo!!!
After stopping briefly in the town of Ambleside (doesn't the name just make you want to walk around?) we set off to visit the home of some guy I had never heard of and who was supposed to just be my way to get to some Beatrix Potter stuff. The Irishwoman - Rosin (pronounced Ro-Sheen) said he was a really cool guy that was extremely influential in the art and architecture world. How had I NEVER heard of this guy?? Well, sometimes the best guys aren't the ones who grab all the headlines.
Ladies and Gentleman....prepare to be "briefly" introduced to Mr. John Ruskin...
John Ruskin - this guy is my new "person" obsession. I had only heard this guy's name b/c he was in the "Welcome Book" from the hotel detailing the local sights. He was definitely NOT on "My List". Divine Providence is the only way I can describe this experience. Turns out, he is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers, art critics, social reformers, architects, artists and.....just men of not only the Victorian Age, but of all ages and times (or so said Mr. Leo Tolstoy and I'm inclined to believe him). And, Mr. Ruskin and I have the same birthday - Feb. 8th. I can only encourage my readers to look this guy up and see what he was about - I plan to do a lot of reading on him soon....very soon. This dude was writing poetry (and not Roses are Red, Violets are Blue stuff) at the age of 8 - weighty stuff and he defended the painter JMW Turner in a "Magnum Opus" of an essay in his early 20's. This "little" essay later turned into 5 volumes on Art History which is considered a seminal accomplishment in art circles and is still read today. His contemporaries and fans include Mr. Charles Darwin, Mr. Leo Tolstoy, Mr. William Morris (founder of the Arts and Crafts movement), Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright, Miss Charlotte Bronte and Mr. Mahatma Ghandi (who said that reading Ruskin's work changed his life and his life's purpose.....he was given the book after graduating from Law School, while riding a train in South Africa). This is just to name a couple. Some of Mr. Ruskin's radical ideas included Social Security, Rent Controlled Housing, Free Public Education, Public Ownership of Mass Transportation, Retirement Homes for the older generation and ....shocking....Free Public Healthcare and the dangers of Global Warming. Yes, even in the Victorian Era, some people were concerned with all the pollutants being released into the air and water to poison us as a result of the Industrial Revolution. I really could go on and on about this guy - and I would, except I mailed my Big (big with a capital "B") brochure home that had all the cool quotes and really neat-o facts. I can only compare him to a Thomas Jefferson on steroids; but, like Thomas Jefferson, Mr. Ruskin only wanted to be remembered for a few things, this quote in particular, "There is no wealth, but life". He left this in capital letters in his will and in his memoirs. Damn me for mailing my Big booklet home on him, I could really more fully explain how this simple a quote is chocked full of deeper meaning. Unfortunately, Mr. Ruskin led a very tortured personal and private life. His marriage was annulled for non-consummation (and this wasn't just a ruse) wherein he fell deeply in love with a 9 year old girl while he was her drawing master. Later at the age of 18 (he was in his 40's), they wanted to marry, but he had hamstrung himself with that pesky annulment years earlier and he found himself in a Catch-22. His wife had gone onto a happy marriage with the painter, Millais, and if Ruskin married - her current marriage would be considered bigamous. If he did, indeed, get married to this sweet young thang, then he should never have been granted an annulment for non-consummation all those years ago. Sucked to be a Victorian, no?? So, Miss Rose and Mr. Ruskin loved each other from afar - communicating through intermediaries until she contracted some mysterious illness and wasted away at the ripe old age of 26 or so. He was absolutely devastated and never recovered. You do the "math" - the first relationship was never consummated and the second one never really took place....this guy turned out to be the 70 year old virgin!! He went on to experience pretty debilitating mental issues that haunted him the rest of his life, BUT - still produced some incredibly scholarly works. I suppose the adage of the "tortured artist" really rings true with this guy. He lived into his 70's and died right at the turn of the century in 1900. Anyways....look him up! He is fascinating!!
To draw a TOTAL contrast to Mr. Ruskin, we now move along to Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's lovely little cottage/farm in TLD. I didn't get nearly the wealth of information at this place as I did at Brantwood b/c they seem to be quite stingy with the details here. It's almost like they don't REALLY want to share her too much - she belongs to them.
Beatrix Potter is most famous for writing a lovely set of "Tales" with an adorable cast of characters drawn from her everyday life. Some of her "Tales" include The Tale of Peter Rabbit (don't go into Mr. MacGregor's Garden", "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny", "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher (a nattily dressed frog), etc. As I mentioned in a previous blog, one of my favorite characters is called "Hunca Munca". She is a mouse involved in a Tale of naughty mice. Postcards are on their way to some and for those of you reading with kids, I cannot stress enough that these "Tales" should be part of you and your child's life. Forget Dora, Thomas and Barney!!! Re-Discover the wonder, the magic and the charm of Beatrix Potter!!!
In contrast to Mr. Ruskin's weighty tomes, Mrs. Potter wrote delightful stories. Whereas Mr. Ruskin was tormented in his private life, Mrs. Potter and her husband were very much in love - evidenced by the initials carved into the fireplace in their bedroom after 21 years together. Mr. Ruskin influenced the architects of his day and those of days to come, Mrs. Potter helped found The National Trust whose mission it is to preserve these buildings. Mr. Ruskin was taken care of by his friends and family; Mrs. Potter was a savvy businesswoman who made her own fortune rather than inheriting it. When she died, she owned more than 14 farms comprising 4000 acres of land. Prices in TLD are like those in London or New York - i.e. NOT cheap!!
Her house is pretty quick to walk through - it's dim and smells of a wood-burning fireplace. There are no placards to read and you have to pay 4L for some crummy little brochure that doesn't really tell you that much. I hate to say it, but I think I'm going to have to learn the majority of my Beatrix Potter information from the recent movie starring Renee Zellwegger called Miss Potter. How did I not hear about this movie when it came out in 2006....and she was nominated for a Golden Globe - these things don't usually slip by me.
Anyways, Hill Top was charming - but it was now time to part company with my artist driver. We were on our way to the ferry when she decided that she no longer had time to (ok, I'm watching Family Guy right now and they are spoofing the "dance" by the tranny in Silence of the Lambs with Chris as the tranny....SOOOOO wrong and SOOOOO funny)...back to TLD..
She no longer had time to do the ferry so dumped me on the side of the road - in the rain - turned around and drove off. Hey, it's England, right?? At least I speak the language to figure this situation out. It was no problem - I paid my 50p to ride the ferry, walked a mile to Bowness (pronounced Bo-ness), finagled my way onto a bus by annoying the driver so much with my questions that he just waved me on in exasperation and found a seat on the top deck to enjoy the sunshine. Oh yeah - another contrast...rain the day before, sun the 2nd day. Also, on the ferry - me, the pedestrian, sharing the ferry with 8 different Lotuses (fancy cars for those of you not in the know).
The ride back to the Manor was lovely, I met up with Rosin for dinner and found myself at the grave of Mr. William Wordsworth. So, in honor of Mr. Wordsworth, I have included one of the poems I saw highlighted in TLD....
The Tables Turned
Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you'll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?
The sun, above the mountain's head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.
Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it.
And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your Teacher.
She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.
One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:
We murder to dissect.
Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.
How wonderfuls is this poem??!!
After dinner, Rosin and I walked past his house, Dove Cottage. Even though I didn't go on the Wordsworth tour (the place was closed) - I did see his poetry in many places around TLD and can now understand where he got so much of his inspiration and why nature features so prominently in his work.
So - in closing The Lake District part of my trip.....The lovely Lake District enchanted me just as much as it did my mother, Beatrix Potter, John Ruskin and William Wordsworth. Green hills dotted white with sheep, dry-stone walls stretching as far as the eye can see, mysterious mists clinging to the Fells and water present all around - the dew, the rain, the lakes, waterfalls and streams. I only spent 2 days here but it will remain with me for far longer. I am very happy for TLD to have "Seen Me" and for me to have seen it.
Stay tuned for what will definitely be an in depth look at Scotland's famous Whisky Trail. I have loved my time in Scotland and with 2 more days before leaving for France, I still have a lot to see......and taste!!!!
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