Lake District

We spent last weekend up north in the Lake District. It is about 3.5 hours from our home, and we have been wanting to go for a long time! It is a beautiful place to hike and be outdoors, but we weren't really at the right time of year for that. It was really cold, but that didn't stop us too much. We stayed in Bowness-on-Windermere, a lovely town right on the edge of Lake Windermere, the biggest lake in the district.


The town was full of the cutest hotels, pubs, restaurants, and shops. I love places where you can walk wherever you are going. We ate the most delicious food and loved wandering around the cute town center.

One day we went on a boat ride all around the lake. We were the only ones on the boat, so the captain gave us a personal tour and told us all about the area while we went around. The view of the snowy hills in the distance was so beautiful! And thankfully, the ride wasn't as cold and windy as I'd anticipated!

The next day we visited Waterhead and Ambleside and made friends with lots of ducks. :) Everything was frosty and icy that morning, and our toes and fingers were freezing, but it was worth it!

The drive back home was beautiful! We stopped by the Preston temple on the way back to stretch our legs a little bit. We had such a wonderful weekend, we only wish we could have stayed longer! It was such a relaxing trip and we are so glad we were able to spend a few days there.

Spain

We spent two days in Northern Spain just after Christmas. We chose to go to Bilbao because of it's location close to the coast, and the cheaper flights because it is a big resort area in the summer but was pretty quiet in the winter. Bilboa was a fun little city with a beautiful river running through the middle of it and a great Old Town pedestrian area.

We visited the Guggenheim Museum and loved all the modern abstract art inside. Then we went up a hill on the side of the city for an awesome view. We could see the whole city and even over to the ocean. We did a lot of walking that day, but we saw a whole lot of the city that way.

The next day we drove along the coast and visited some small fishing villages and resort towns, Getaria and Zarautz. They were lovely and we had so much fun playing in the sand at the beach. It was warm, but really windy, and the sunshine felt so good after the rainy winter we've been having in England.

Our last stop was in San Sebastian. We drove up to Mount Igueldo for this incredible view of the city, and a bonus amusement park with rides at the top of the hill! The water was the prettiest color and we could see for miles and miles. It was super windy at the top, though!

We headed down into the city for some delicious dinner and walking through the cool streets. We didn't have much time there before we needed to head back to our hotel, but it was a gorgeous city. We flew home the next day, but we really enjoyed our short trip to Spain! It was great to have Joseph and Mary there to speak Spanish, and we all had a great time and just wish we could have seen more!