Sneak peak of the Lake district

Earlier this summer, when it was still nice outside, we went on a trip to Hadrian's wall - the Roman wall that goes from coast to coast and was protecting the Roman empire from the north. On the way we passed through the Lake District. So pretty! Will we go back there - most definitely!!

Canterbury tales

When waking up on Saturday morning Maria suggested a road trip. We haven't been in a while and she thought we could go to Bath. We discussed a bit and decided to go east. We started with Charles Darwin's house outside of London and then continued east to Kent and Canterbury. Despite its size (43,000 people live there), Canterbury is one of the most visited places in England.

As in many places in England it is very green and nice in the area

We ran into some cows

Once in Canterbury, which really is a lovely little town (we had dinner at Trapiste, a Belgian restaurant that we really recommend) we started out with the cathedral.

Very beautiful...

...and peaceful

Once done we took a short stroll in the town. We ran into a somewhat crooked house... Over the door was a quote from Charles Dickens...

After Canterbury we drove on in search of other sights. We found a cross and a viking ship...

Finally we had dinner in lovely little Margate. We drove by a sign advertising for a Soviet restaurant in and decided to check it out. Lovely food and very good service. Overall, the service in this part of the country really surprised us and we really enjoyed the people - so friendly!

Mysterious Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of the most famous sites in the world and is at a very convenient distance London. It's fascinating to walk around the monument while letting the audio guide telling you about the history (nobody has any idea of why it was built though). Archeologists believe it was built 2200-2400 BC but there are indications that the first stones were raised as early as 3000 BC. In either case, it must have been quite a job to get the top stones on top of the standing ones. Wonder how they did it.  

Pappa

Weather can change fast...

Looks like someone is looking down from above... 

Bodiam Castle - the best preserved castle I've been to

We like to make road trips. Even more so when we have visitors! The other weekend Maria's dad was here and we all went to Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. It was very special for many reasons. First we had to take a train to get there (or we didn't have to - you can drive, but it was an extra treat). Second it's a very well preserved castle and thirdly, you can really get breathtaking pictures of the castle. We got some nice shots of the castle reflecting in the water but it wasn't completely still... Think we should go back in the golden hour - that is just before the sun sets. If it's not windy the pictures should be even more amazing!

We did not go with this train...

Some start early...

Maria resting in the sun

We met some friends outside the castle who had a picnic. Maria and her dad below... 

After the picnic the day was over - time to take the train back. 

On the way back we travelled the old way - steam engine!

Little peek of the Peak District

On the way back from Yorkshire Dales the other weekend we drove by Peak District. Wanted to check out whether it was worthwhile spending a weekend to go back for real. Judge yourself but I'm quite sure I will be back!

Hiking in Yorkshire Dales

The last couple of weeks have been really busy. Except for my day job we have built and developed the Fotoble webpage and have set up a Facebook page (search for fotoble in Facebook and please like our page). Also, last weekend we went on a three day hike in the Yorkshire Dales. It was snowy and cold on Saturday but a bit nicer on Sunday. More pictures on http://fotoble.com/hiking-in-yorkshire-dales-day-one/

On the first day of the hike, which started in Kettlewell - a village with 323 citizens - we hiked up on a plateau that was fairy windy and where there was a bit of snow... 

Once down from the plateau it was fairly green though... 

The day after we went to a waterfall, where we had to climb 40 metres (or so) up a rock. The view up there was magnificent. 

Once up we kept on walking along the plateau. Views kept on being nice and quite dramatic.

At the other end of the plateau we got a good look on the Yorkshire Dales.

After two days on hiking, Monday came and it was time to head home. Weather was still a bit tricky but roads were fine.