Is Kendal Mint?

The answer is yes...

I am so relieved, I have finally arrived in Kendal and a) they weren’t homophobic at the check in (oh believe me it has been known “a double from… for you both?”) and b) the bloody fog has lifted. All the way between Rugby and Lancaster there was a mass of fog whereby you could see no further than the nearest tree and I was worried that on Alex’s first big trip up north in the UK he would see absolutely sod all. Thankfully no sooner had we left Lancaster (after a 45 minute wait between trains) it suddenly went and the Dales were covered in sunshine – it makes you realise how much beauty we have on our very own doorstep in England, I’d forgotten.

Anyway we’re now in Kendal finally. The hotel is great. We have a room on the first floor that is literally ON the River Kent. The ducks and seagulls have been going crazy outside the window but who cares, it’s the countryside. You can see the castle if you pop your head out the window and the town is sooooooo much nicer than I had anticipated. Only one slight minor complaint… what’s the deal with all the teenagers, they are everywhere, little hordes of Goths!

We met my Uncle Matt, Aunt Frinny (or Catherine as normal people call her) and the kids and Alex has been a success. We met in ‘The Brewery Arts Centre’ (it has a cinema and everything) the plan was to get a nice pizza and have a good old catch up. Sadly the chef had a hissy fit about orders arriving 5 minutes early and refused to serve any meals, we soon left. Kendal was thriving (it was dead when we played pool at 2.30pm – I won) and there were literally no places with free tables. So we went and had bar food at the hotel – mash with mint is amazing, I must cook it myself – and I had proper Cumbrian Sausage (oo-er) the kids were a delight and it was so nice seeing Matt and Cath, such a success was the evening they have invited us round fro dinner tomorrow night!

We’re planning a big trip round Windermere first, hoping to include Hilltop farm – the home of the wondrous Beatrix Potter. I have just realised that for the whole day in Kendal I’ve not had a single piece of mint cake. I must head out to by some before we get drunk in the bar!