The World of Peter Rabbit

Day Eight: Europe or Bust

WE GOT TO SLEEP IN THIS MORNING!!! And yes, it was wonderful. I'm not exactly adjusting to the time zone very well, so I feel like I'm constantly tired, but it was really nice to get to sleep a little longer this morning. Fortunate, too, because we were preparing for a long, exciting day.

All this time we've been visiting and sight seeing for us older ones (Blackfriars Bridge, Chatsworth, used bookstores, Stanage Edge, etc), and we're all having the time of our lives. But Morgen, while a cheerful trooper, is also a bored trooper. So today we visited a place specifically meant for her. The World of Peter Rabbit. The museum was filled to the brim with life-sized and bigger than life-sized caricatures; stories told through tiny still life sets; beautiful illustrations all over the walls; and little videos and pictures for kids. The whole time Morgen was jumping up and down, squealing and grinning from ear to ear, telling us all about the animals and the adventures that they have. She wasn't the only one having fun, though. We were all filled with nostalgia, seeing the stores and creatures that had played such great roles in our childhoods.

I met Beatrix Potter!!

We couldn't just start and end our Beatrix Potter tour with Peter Rabbit, so after we exited the museum we headed to Hill Top, the Lake District home of Beatrix Potter herself. I'm pretty sure anyone in our family would agree that, if given the chance to live anywhere in the world, we would choose a little cottage in the Lake District. It was truly lovely - the vibrantly green grass, the hills dotted with sheep, the low stone fences, the tiny cottages. Beatrix Potter's house was small and simple, but her gardens and the view from her porch were breathtaking.

From Beatrix Potter's house we began our long and harrowing journey back to our flat. Long because we took a different route that went through the village of Eskdale and it took a really long time. Harrowing because these roads have barely enough room for one car, let alone two, so if you happen to come across another vehicle you have to just stare each other down until one of you gives in and backs off the side of the road. Also, the curves are very sharp, the hills are very steep, and my Dad drives very fast. There were moments where I was sure my life was going to end. But the view was worth it all and our route was made longer by the fact that we kept pulling off to take photos or impromptu hikes through the hills.

We ate supper at a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere. I mean, literally. Nowhere. It was just us, the hills, the sheep, and the Scottish people who owned the restaurant. I could have sat and listened to them talk for days. For supper, we had pizza, salad, steamed vegetables, sea bass, KIDNEY PIE (which I'd never had before but now I love), French fries, tea and peach cider. People in the UK know how to eat.

It took forever and ever and ever to get back to our flat. We got lost a couple of times, made a couple stops at random villages and gas stations and at one point were forced to take the long scenic route due to a closed road. It was wild. Morgen kept saying, "We've been driving for so long, how are we ever going to get to our place?" The response was usually either, "By continued perseverance," or "By the grace of God". It had to have been these things because I'm pretty sure our GPS was as lost as we were.

After driving for what felt like actual days, we finally made it back to our flat where we took some much needed showers and drank some much needed coffee and settled down to watch Pride and Prejudice. It was so neat to see all those locations and sets that I'd been seeing on the silver screen all my life and think, "I've seen that! I've been there!"

I'd better hang up now. My mother is standing over my shoulder saying, "go to bed, go to bed". Say hi mom!

I love you all!