The weather of Day 6 was the most gorgeous of this trip! We started the morning with walking up on Queen Adelaide's Hill, which is one of viewpoints of Lake Windermere. What we found at the top of hill were wonderful views of the largest natural lake in England! and, sheep...
Are they also enjoying the stunning views and the beautiful weather? I guess so!
We happened to find the entrance to Miller Ground, a access point to the lake which was just right next to the entrance of Queen Adelaide's Hill. With a few minutes walk though woodlands, Windermere spread out in front of our eyes!
We also climbed up Orrest Head. Although it's not a fell but just a hill (239 meters high), I wouldn't say it was super easy to get to the top!
We sat on the bench, relaxed and admired the marvelous panoramic views of Windermere for a while.
The opposite side views were beautiful landscapes - endless rolling hills and fells.
The path to go down gave us a chance of walking on a part of the rolling hills.
After the Orrest Head walk, we drove to Levens Hall, an Elizabethan manor house, located about 5 miles south of Kendal. It was still sunny and getting pretty hot. We had ice cream before the guided house tour. Mine was Rhubarb & Custard. Tasty! I think J had cider toffee. He had finished his before I asked him to let me taste a bit.
The house was built around a 13th century pele tower. The current owner family lives a part of the house, so no photo was permitted in the house due to privacy protection. There were beautiful wood panels, paintings, and interestingly several artifacts associated with Duke of Wellington. The house tour was fine but my primary reason to come there wasn't the house (or ice cream) but the garden - the world's oldest topiary gardens!
The gardens were originally laid out in the late 17th century, and many of the features have remained intact for over 300 years.
Fantastic! I just found my dream garden.
It looked like a rolled cake.
Birds!
Sheep?
We sat on a little bench under the topiary umbrella!
In addition to the topiary garden, there were several different gardens, which were also beautifully presented.
I wished to stay in the garden forever but it was time to go. We drove to the town of Kendal to have late lunch/early dinner. The historic market town, located at 8 miles east of Windermere and known as the gateway to the Lakes had the mix of old and contemporary aspects.
We popped in a Turkish inspired Mediterranean style cafe, Cafe Olive and had four kinds of mezes and a soup of the day (Turkish-style lentil soup). The cafe was bright and cozy; the food was delightful. We picked up some sweet pastries for later and a savory pastry for J's next day breakfast. I wished they open a branch in Harrogate so that I could try all of their goodies!
