Windermere is what we call "foo-foo," with lots of overpriced food, guest houses where you pay for lots of fancy furniture (kinda like American B&B's), and more antique shops than pubs. It sits on top of a hill overlooking the lake. At the bottom of the hill, on the lakeshore, is Bowness. This is where people go to play golf, buy souveniers, and get on chartered boats. Windermere is high-brow, Bowness is low-brow.

But we didn't come for the towns, we came for the countryside, so on Thursday we took a ferry to the other side of the lake and spent a couple of hours hiking along the quiet side. It was interesting to notice that, of all the people out walking, we saw no one younger than us. We also couldn't help but think of what a zoo this place must be in the summertime, with the motorboats, jet-skis and crowds ... not to mention the foot-in-mouth that had all the trails closed last summer. As cool, grey and dreary as it was that day, we were glad we picked the fall to come up. And the fall colors are beginning to come out - just enough to be noticeable, but not enough to bring out the hordes of leaf-peepers.