Home Sweet Homestay

This weekend, I went to Cumbria, England to stay with an English family. Their house was so cozy and charming and the food was absolutely divine. My host dad, Dave, was a therapist with a passion for the outdoors. He and one of his sons have cycled from the bottom of England to the tip of Scotland and he liked "fell running" or "mountain running." He also has done mountain marathons, which kind of sounded like Survivor. Annelise, my host mom, was a dance teacher originally from Denmark who also enjoys the outdoors. Both have traveled all over Europe and the Middle East and their sons (who weren't there) also sounded super cool. They were quite the awesome, athletic family.

The cozy house.

My housemate Abbe and I got there around eight in the evening. We were greeted with a great dinner: pea & mint soup with warm bread and a warm Danish pear and almond pudding for dessert. Yum! The next day, Annelise took us to the Lake District where we walked through a pretty park and saw the lake, Derwent Water. After, we went to Castlerigg aka a set of Neolithic stone circles (like Stonehenge, but much smaller).

Derwent Water

Abbe on Castlerigg's stone circle being scandalous :)

The view was incredible!

After, we went to a "chippy" where I had my first European meal of fish and chips! Then we went to the Puzzling Place, where we got our illusions on. It was mad trippy.

That evening, after a delicious meal of Dave's cottage pie and another Danish pudding (this time with apples and the works), Annelise taught the IFSA-Butler students how to circle dance in this quaint village hall. On our last day, Annelise took us on a two mile walk into the woods to see Lacy's Cave near the River Eden. It was a gorgeous walk, with a great lunch of all these different kinds of cheeses, breads, and Danish salads waiting for us at the end.

More beautiful views

Lacy's Cave

Then we said goodbye :(

Picture of the weekend fam! 

Overall, it was another great weekend! Now, I'm sitting here avoiding my Scottish Lit paper due tomorrow...or shall I say today. No worries, this is what coffee is for! On a much more exciting note, I can't wait to see Katie, Katy, and Alison in Oxford next weekend! I know great times await :)