Mini holiday

 I've been eager to tell you about our mini holiday in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago. The bulk of our first day there was spent climbing Helvellyn. OMG, did my man undersell me the difficult journey it would be! But hey troopers as we are, we did it in no less than 6 hours from the village and back to our car. The views were breathtaking - or so I'm told (I suffer from a slight aversion to heights, so you can imagine me on the famous "stiding edge") and in the end, despite cursing my way through the difficult bits, I was a pretty proud woman at the end of the loop. Sadly, I won't be sharing any embarrassing selfies taken before and after, they've somehow not made the final cut here. Oops.
Instead what I can show you is the fabulous suite we'd booked at the Gilpin hotel just a few miles away in sunny wet Windermere. What a treat at the end of such a strenuous day, it was just perfect. How cute is the little doorstop cat? The hotel is actually split into a more classical side and a brand-new extended area with ultra-modern cabins cum-spa facilities.
We stayed in one of the more classic rooms in the main building, a super calm, laid-back place with lovely staff. We decided to upgrade our night and dinner package to the 7-courses tasting menu and kicked it off with a glass of champagne to celebrate our achievement, not to mention that Mr Peony had a birthday that day. The food did not disappoint and we actually really struggled to finish our meal. Special mention to the fish course, "une tuerie" as we say in French!
Breakfast was heavenly in the morning, complete with fresh fruit salad and juices. We so did not need to eat, but couldn't resist the eggs benedict (I looove those!)
Thank you Gilpin for making our stay so comfortable and pleasant.  I have a hinch we might come back ;)