Matty's 21st / A Weekend At The Lake District

Hi everyone! It's so nice to finally be writing a lifestyle post it's been far too long, now summer has began for me I've got so many exciting things coming up so you can expect a few more of these, I've actually had such a nice week I was house sitting for my mum while she was on holiday and I had the week off work as well, then towards the end of the week it was Matty's 21st birthday so we went for a little one night stay in the Lake District. Sorry about the picture quality by the way, I only had my phone with me as I didn't want to carry my big camera around.

We kind of started Matty's birthday weekend on the Thursday which was the day before his birthday, we went for a family meal on the night and back to his house so he could have his birthday cake and get his presents and cards since we would be away the next day. 

We just went back home after that and got all our stuff packed for the next day since we were going to have to leave early, I was dreading all the week that the weather would be awful when we got there but it was the total opposite thankfully! We actually did the same thing for his birthday last year but had such a good time that we wanted to do it again this year. On his actual birthday on the Friday we drove up in the morning to South Lakes Safari Zoo. If you've never been before you honestly have to go it's so amazing! Definitely my favourite zoo I've ever been to, it's so much more interactive than any others because some of the animals are just roaming around with no fences like the lemurs and the squirrel monkeys. You obviously aren't allowed to touch them or feed them, but sometimes the squirrel monkeys like to jump on people's shoulders, it happened to both of us last year but this year it only happened to Matty because I avoided them. The one that jumped on him did not want to get off he was leaning towards the fence trying to encourage it to jump on it and off him but it wasn't budging, it did get off eventually though after chewing Matty's collar a little bit.

We left the zoo at about half 2 to drive up to Ambleside where we were staying over, if you go to the Lakes I'd really recommend staying here, it's such a cute little place and it's a lot quieter than some of the more popular places like Keswick, this year we stayed in a place called The Waterhead Hotel which was just opposite Ambleside pier and the lake, I didn't actually get any pictures of the room I completely forgot but I got a picture of our view from the window. 

We went up to Ambleside town centre which is only a 10 minute walk away from our hotel to play crazy golf, honestly I have never been to the Lakes ever when it was this hot! It was about 25 degrees when we were playing crazy golf and I was so annoyed at myself because I was wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt and trainers, I was going to bring these dungarees that I'd bought with me but in my head I was just like no way is it going to be hot enough to wear these and I didn't pack them! I was so frustrated at myself because it was to the point where it was uncomfortably hot, so after we'd played crazy golf we went back to the hotel just to chill for a little bit.

Last year when we stayed in Ambleside as well we had been recommended this Italian restaurant called Dodds so we went there and it was seriously the best Italian restaurant I have ever been to, if you're ever around this area you have to go, so we went back again this year and it was so nice again! I'm actually obsessed with their food, we got antipasti to share to start, it's quite weird actually we both hate tomatoes so much, but the tomatoes they have with their antipasti are so amazing that we actually argue over who gets the majority of them they are so nice. I had grilled chicken penne for my main which was in a spicy sauce with spicy sausage in it as well which was so nice and Matty had a pizza with a hot sauce and spicy toppings on it. Then we were going to share a pudding but I was feeling extra fat that night and we decided just to get our own, I had sticky toffee pudding which I never actually knew originated from the Lakes but it's my favourite pudding ever so I always get it everywhere I go and Matty had limoncello mousse. 

I'm actually so sad now looking at those pictures because I'd die to have that meal again, however we rarely get the chance to travel up there so it's likely I will have to wait another year for Matty's next birthday so we can go again! We just went back to our hotel after this and chilled out, then the next day we had breakfast facing the lake which was so nice and checked out. We were actually going to Grizedale forest after this to ride segways with Go Ape, we did the Go Ape course last year at Whinlatter forest so we wanted to do something different this year and I'd definitely recommend it, it was so much fun! They are so weird to get used to at first but once you relax and get used to them they are actually really easy to drive, you get an hour on them where an instructor takes you in the forest and you do a little trek on them, it is really intimidating at first though you have to go up and down some really steep hills so they teach you how to do that, it's so good though!

We drove up to Keswick after this because we were meeting Matty's parents who were also at the Lakes that weekend around 4, but we had a bit of time before this so we hired a rowing boat and went out onto Derwent Water which was amazing! It was absolutely boiling again and we didn't have any sun cream as we never anticipated it being this hot, and unfortunately we both got burnt which is annoying. I never even burn when we go abroad how did I get burnt in the Lakes where it rains all the time! Being on the lake was so amazing, and Matty is actually really good at rowing, I had no idea. This was probably one of my favourite parts of the trip because it was so chilled out and the views were amazing on the lake.

After that we met up with this parents and had fish and chips and chilled out for a bit looking round Keswick, it was so busy though because it was so hot and it was the last Saturday of half term, so we were absolutely shattered at this point so we drove home after we'd had food and did nothing on Saturday night because we were so tired.

I'm so sad to be home now after such a good trip, we probably will do the same thing again for his birthday next year as we always have such a good time on this trip, thankfully we have lots more exciting things planned this summer! We are going to Madrid in July which I am so excited about, I have no idea what to expect as neither of us have ever been before, then last night we actually spontaneously booked a weekend in Rome in August which I can't wait for, I went to Rome years ago when I was 15 with the school but I was more interested in the water park and being with my friends then, standard for any 15 year old I'm guessing, so I can't wait to properly appreciate it more this time round. Let me know in the comments what you've got planned for the Summer!