a trip to Ghent/Gent

We made this trip at the end of September, but for some reason or another I haven't had the time to post about it. And we recently came back from another short trip (involving German Christmas markets, because it's just that time of the year and we LOVE them :)

Anyway, we spent a few days in Ghent, this lovely city (probably my favorite Belgian city now) which I knew so little about.

We stayed here , which I very much recommend (it's close enough to the center, with the advantage of being in the middle of the Turkish quarter and therefore with very good restaurants nearby).

:: views from the Belfry

 :: favorite chocolate shop

 :: neuzekes  ... i sampled this Ghent delicacy but I'm afraid I can't say I enjoyed it ...

  :: striking a pose ...

 :: Cupcakes at Julie's House

 :: tea time at Julie's House

 :: nice graffiti near the Turkish quarter

 :: the apartment we stayed at came with a very friendly kitty

 :: we took a boat ride, and it was the perfect morning for it

 :: buying mustard at Tyerentein

 :: views from the Gravenstein Castle

Something sunny ...

Hello there ... crafting time has been virtually non existent these last few months, so I apologize to everyone who came looking for new craft projects recently and only finds travel related posts. My sewing machine has been gathering dust lately but hopefully I can get back to it sometime soon. With a full time and demanding job, and a 2 year old toddler to take care of it's definitely not easy to get much free time these days. Whenever I get a little break I tend to turn to my knitting, and can usually manage a row or two here and there. Also, knitting is portable so it goes with me everywhere...

Here's a little project I started back in the end of July and finally finished last weekend. With the start of Fall it's perfect to brighten my rainy days. Last year I suddenly developed a passion for shawls when I discovered they were so much more practical to wear than scarves. I only had one so far, and used it almost everyday last Winter, so I had planned to knit at least three or four more this season (quite ambitious I know, but well ... at least one is finished now).

Pattern: Henslowe, by Beth Kling
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Ochre (1 skein - I used almost all of it, maybe 4 or 5 yards remained at the end)
Needles: 3.5 mm
Ravelry project page

Windermere + Cartmel

And with a last day driving around Windermere and Cartmel we said goodbye to the lakes. We stopped by the Windermere pier, visited the nearby village of Troutbeck (very nice views of lake Windermere from our way up), and had lunch in Cartmel before heading to Manchester to catch our flight home.

Cartmel was a last minute surprise. It turned out to be a very charismatic village, with lovely pubs and nice (and original) shops. There's also Cartmel Priory, founded in the 12th century by none other than the famous William Marshall (if you're an historical fiction fan like me, you undoubtedly heard of him before, particularly from Elizabeth Chadwick's books). Cartmel is also the home of sticky toffee pudding, it even has a Michelin star restaurant, and the best village shop I've ever encountered.

All photos of this trip to the Lake District at Flickr.

:: at the pier

:: Views of lake windermere from Troutbeck

:: The home of sticky toffee

:: Cartmel Village Shop

:: From the window of a second hand bookshop in Cartmel - how very true :-)

:: Cartmel Priory

:: The priory had a really nice children's area, which Sara  loved. I think it's the first time I've seen this inside a church.

Loughrigg Fell

This day didn't start out so well (toddler major tantrum), and the weather was turning very cloudy and rainy (very usual in the Lakes, but we were spoiled from a week of almost perfect weather), so we decided to finish our frist trip to the Lake District with a hike to Loughrigg Fell, near Grasmere. It's another easy walk, which offers stunning views of Grasmere and Rydal Water.

Much later that day we went for dinner at another great restaurant in the area - the Jumble Room, in Grasmere - where we had what was probably our best meal of this trip.