Easter in the Lake District

I remember saying last year that Thanksgiving had to be my favourite holiday, because friends and/or family get together and eat a great meal but there’s no pressure to buy presents. But I think I may have to reconsider. Afterall, Easter can provide the benefits of those, plus there’s CHOCOLATE. And it is actually celebrated almost everywhere in the world, and in the countries I have lived it’s always been a four day weekend.
I enjoyed this Easter in the Lake District. Last year I was in St Lucia, the year before in Japan and in 2004 I was in Vietnam. It wasn’t really acknowledged in any of those years. This year I gave and received chocolate. Apparently Somerfields supermarket made the comment in the lead up to Easter that it is sad that most people don’t realise the real reason for Easter: the celebration of the birth of Christ. Ahem. Poor, poor PR woman who made that gaff.
We went hiking on Saturday, the first time I had put the boots back on since returning to the UK. I used to love scrambling up rocks as a kid, and took every opportunity to go to the beach near my parents’ farm and climb over and around the rocks that marked the cape. This time climbing up the steep slope up Wetherlam it was far too reminiscent of the stretch up to Gillman’s Point on Kilimanjaro. Yes, I know it’s about 3000m lower and there was no altitude sickness, but somehow it haunted me still. The hike on Saturday was still a gorgeous walk on a beautiful Spring day. I am sure in time the memories of that slow scramble to Gillman’s will fade completely and I will enjoy the great outdoors as I did as a child!

Easter egg insides revealed: