Holiday

“Let’s go to the Lake District!”, Daniel shouts excitedly. “Sure, why not. I have heard so much about the romantic Lake District of England”, Janet approves enthusiastically. “But where exactly is it? How far is it from London”, Janet enquires. “Well, the Lake District lies in the North West of England. It is about 312 miles from London”, Daniel replies. “How are we going there?”, Janet asks. “We shall travel by car. I will hire a car from Hertz . We can drive up to Scotland too. We can have a week holiday!”, Daniel exclaims happily. “We can hire the 1,300cc Ford Cortina. It’s not expensive. Cousin Suan also drove to Land’s End for holidays with his friends in this way last Summer”, Daniel assures her. Now that their holiday destination is agreed, Janet then went out to the corner souvenir shop and bought herself a copy of the map and a tourist information booklet on the Lake District. That’s Janet. Always be prepare for what she wants to do, to know what is in store and to get the best experience. And so they pack their luggage inside the booth of their rented Ford Cortina and hit the motorway to go up to the Lake District. While Daniel is concentrating on his driving and trying to figure out how to get to the highway from the winding city roads, Janet is sitting beside him; holding up and reading her map to give direction to Daniel. After she is sure that Daniel is on the right track, she puts away the road map and picks up the tourist information booklet to try to get an idea of this much talked about British tourist spot called The Lake District. It describes that ...........
“The Lake District is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes and its mountains or fells as the British called them, and its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets. The central, and most visited, part of the area is contained in the Lake District National Park, the largest of thirteen National Parks in England and Wales, and second largest in the UK. It lies entirely within Cumbria, and is one of England's few mountainous regions. All the land in England higher than three thousand feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest lakes in England. Despite the name, only one of the lakes in the Lake District actually contains the word "lake" in its name, i.e. Bassenthwaite Lake, the rest being called either "meres", "waters", "tarns" or "reservoirs". The Lake District has long been valued for its natural beauty and appreciated as a superlative example of man's harmonious interaction with his natural environment. It has exerted a profound influence over the artistic appreciation of the beauties of nature, inspiring Wordsworth and the Lake Poets as well as many of Britain's finest landscape painters..............”, Janet soon becomes sleepy from the humid Summer sun outside and she gradually dozes off to sleep. Freeing his left hand from the wheel drive, Daniel adjusts the declining seat and then he covers his leather jacket over her body to keep her warm and comfortable.
“Wake up dear. We are almost there”, Daniel gives a gentle nudge on her slender shoulder. They are looking for the direction to the bed and breakfast farmhouse where they will stay for the next few days. The country roads are long, winding and narrow. Daniel has to negotiate the bends very carefully, lest his car will slip and could end up in the ravine below. They often stopped and asked the local residents for direction. Finally they come to a halt in a little compound, lined with beautiful flowers, plants and scrubs. On the fringe of the compound stands an old but solid looking farmhouse cottage with a signboard that says “Welcome to the Morning Dew Farmhouse”. Instantly, an elderly couple came through the front door to greet them. “You must be Daniel?”, the English farmer greets them with a question. “Yes Sir, I am Daniel from Malaysia and this is my girlfriend Janet”, Daniel replies. “Welcome to our Morning Dew cottage. Please follow me, I shall show you to your room”, Mr. Wright instructs them politely. Daniel lifts their luggage out from the car booth and proceeds to follow the man of the house. They are being led upstairs to the bedroom. It is a family sized bedroom with a double bed and a little shower and toilet room. The lounge downstairs occupies a cozy corner from the front door, equipped with television, log fire for chilly days and a separate dining room is available for the guests’ use. The farmhouse cottage is a 17th century traditional working sheep farm built of old oak beamed house in surroundings of stupendous natural beauty. It is situated near the 'gem' town of Cockermouth, birthplace of the lake poet, William Wordsworth, and is
within the Lake District National Park. It is already getting dark when they arrived. They ate their meals hurriedly, not doing justice to Mrs. Wright’s wonderful culinary skills in cooking the most tender succulent roast leg of lamb, flavoured with honey orange glaze and port and mint dressing, served with freshly cut home grown boiled potatoes. For the lovebirds are looking forward to spending the night together for the first time since living away from each other for such a long time. The night is theirs to enjoy, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, in the peace and quiet of the farmhouse surroundings and the intimacy understood only by true love. Daniel and Janet are soaked in a night of blissful reunion, totally immersed in their longing passion. Words are superfluous, uttered only in rhythm to their vibrant body language, in low whispering voices to each other’s ears, punctuated only by moments of heavy breathing and yearnings. They locked in tight embrace, their bodies become one. They lie in this same position when awaked by the crowing of the farm cocks. Morning has broken. “Hungry?”, Daniel whispers to his love lying beneath him, stroking her hair at the same time. “Starving”, Janet replies sleepily. “Freshen up, darling. Let’s go downstairs to have some farmhouse breakfast”, Daniel lifts himself up and walk towards the shower.

They took their seats at the breakfast table, wonder what’s in store for breakfast in a farmhouse. On top of the table is a neatly laid menu which reads………...

MORNING DEW FARMHOUSE BREAKFAST MENU
Please help yourself to cereals, fruit etc from the sideboard then select the cooked breakfast of your choice from below. (Please allow approx. 15 minutes cooking time)
Porridge
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Farmhouse breakfast: fried egg, grilled bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms and baked beans.
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Scrambled egg with grilled bacon.
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Poached eggs on toast.
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*Grilled Kipper
*If you wish to have kippers please order these the day/night before.
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Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon with toasted bagel.
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White or brown/multigrain toast or a warm croissant
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A selection of teas are available: English breakfast, Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Laspsang Souchong, Camomile, Blackcurrant Ginseng and Vanilla, Peppermint, Raspberry and Echinacea
or
A cafetiere of medium roast coffee ton Farmhouse | created at www.mrsite.com
“They have so much rich and nutritious varieties of food for breakfast!”, Janet is can’t help noticing the food item in the menu. “This is English breakfast my dear. It’s different from our nasi lemak and char kuey teow back home. You will enjoy this, ok?”, Daniel replies. And they had the most satisfying breakfast. “Let’s go explore the lakes or meres as they called them here”, Daniel proposes after they are done. “There are so many nature lovers and walking enthusiasts here” Janet observes. They climb the mountains or fells as they called them here. Janet finds it hard to keep up, as she is not used to long walks back home. She has her hands over rocks, trying to get to the next level. After an hour or two , they thought they had reached the top, only to discover that they had to climb some more. Finally they reached the mountain top and was rewarded with a stunning view encircled by a beautiful rainbow. There is a tea house on top of the mountain. They went in and ordered a pot of tea and couple of scones and then sat down on a comfortable couch. Not too soon after they had their first sip of the English tea, a middle-aged couple came in and joined them on the opposite couch. They easily fell into conversations with the friendly couple. They told Daniel and Janet that they are from Edinburgh. They come to the Lake District often for their holidays. Peter and Jane gave them a history of the fells and pointed out details that they would never have noticed had they made the trip by themselves. Peter is also very knowledgeable in sheep farming on the fells. He described to them the various mountain sheep breeds and that the sheep mostly likely to be seen is the hardy Herdwick. This little grey Herdwick sheep typify the Lakeland. Their mutton, when slowly cooked in a Lakeland farmhouse oven and topped with a rich, golden crust, is superb; and Herdwick mutton is said to have been on the menu at Buckingham Palace on several ceremonial occasions. It was eaten at Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation dinner in 1953. Peter told them that the Herdwick sheep were reputedly brought in by the Vikings in the 10th century. The most remarkable feature of the Herdwicks is their homing instinct. On the fell they always graze in a particular area, and if taken away for lambing, return there instinctively.

The next day, they drove up to Ullswater. Janet has read that it has the reputation of being known as England's most beautiful lake. There are numerous camping and caravan sites right alongside the lake. Ullswater's attractions include the Ullswater 'Steamers' which offer trips around the lake calling at Pooley Bridge, Glenridding, and Howtown. People often catch the 'Steamer' from Glenridding to Howtown and then return on foot along the lakeshore to complete one of the most popular and scenic low-level walks in the Lake District. Popular water sports are windsurfing , diving, rowing, sailing, kayaking and motorboats. Another of Ullswater's attractions is the spectacular waterfall of Aira Force midway along the lake on the western side. It is sais that Wordsworth was inspired to write the poem "Daffodils" after seeing daffodils growing on the shores of Ullswater. Wordsworth once wrote of Ullswater: "it is the happiest combination of beauty and grandeur, which any of the lakes affords". “This lake is breathtakingly beautiful! No wonder so many people are inspired by it”, Janet exclaims. “Yes indeed. It is a truly spectacularly glorious landscape. It is little wonder that so many artists and writers as well as visitors have named it as their favourite part of the Lake District’, Daniel echoes Janet’s wonder. “I wish we could go back a few years on the day when we were up on the Yellow Mountain. You brought along your guitar and serenaded me with your heart breaking songs. Now you are thousands of miles away from me, but those happy moments still linger strong and deep in my memory. Can we bring it back again? Could we?”, Janet asks with a quivering voice and welled up eyes. “Here, give me the note book you keep in your handbag”; Daniel suddenly asks of Janet. Without asking why, Janet opens her handbag, dig her fingers inside it and promptly lifts up the note book to hand it over to Daniel. Daniel walks a few yards away from Janet and lies down on the green grass beside the lake. He takes some deep breaths and begins to pen hiis thoughts in the note book.

“Your love was still so strong and bright it leaves me with a smile when I woke up beside you this morning,
Waking up to your sweet lovely voice “good morning”, sends my heart and soul high a soaring,
I know for sure our love will last till death do us apart; our love will prove stronger than our time apart,
I am here and you are there, so close yet so far, but you alone hold the key to my heart,
Though we are miles and miles apart, memory of your face, your laughter, your voice, your adoring smile, shortens every mile,
Every morning and rest at night, my thoughts and dreams filled with your sigh,
Everything happens for a reason, something brought us together to each other’s heart,
By this lake I swear, I love you more each and every day, forever I need you, forever I'll wait.”

Daniel folds the note book, puts his pen back to his pocket, then walks slowly towards Janet and with both outstretched arms with the note book on his palms, he presents the note back to Janet.