Those of you who know us personally, will know that we were meant to be in Croatia this week. However, due to Covid-19 our holiday was cancelled at the last minute. We did of course see this coming, however they did not stop us from feeling disappointed and a little bit blue. Despite our sunny summer holiday going out of the window we were determined to make the most of our time off of work, together. So we decided to book a mini cottage break for two nights, up in Cumbria.
When we arrived we were greeted by a lovely lady who showed us to our cottage. When we went inside we were pleasantly surprised by the size and the layout. It had a lovely big lounge are with a three-seater couch and two arm chairs a six-seater dining table and a two-seater breakfast bar with a nice little kitchen area and a large TV with built-in Netflix! There was two toilets and one bathroom which hosted both a bathtub and a shower. The cottage could house four people, with a twin bedroom and a double bedroom. The bedrooms were a little bit on the small and cosy side but they were lovely nonetheless. The entire cottage had a lovely relaxing vibe to it and we felt right at home as soon as we walked through the door.
On-site there was also a communal summer house which had a shared hot tub for all of the cottage guests to enjoy however due to the current pandemic this was not accessible during our stay. There was a larger cottage which could house up to six people which had its own private hot tub which the owner very kindly showed us around after our stay when we showed an interest in returning in the future. The living area of this cottage was not as large as the one that we stayed in however it was very cosy and beautifully decorated and still had a very homely feel to it. We would love to return in the future with friends and stay in this cottage for a couple of nights.
The first night at the cottage we drove into a little town called Brampton where we went to a small Co-op store to get ourselves some food for our stay. When we returned to the cottage the weather took a rather wet and dull turn so we decided to stay in for the rest of the day so that we could watch TV and movies and enjoy a lovely home-cooked tea made by Jacob himself! He made a lovely medium-rare steak with boiled potatoes and corn on the cob along with some peppercorn sauce and it was delicious! It was a lovely first night and was very relaxing which is exactly what we both needed.
When it was time for bed we stayed in the double room. The bed was fairly comfortable and there was four super comfy pillows too. With being in the countryside the room was very dark with no light-pollution so there was no need to wear our usual sleep masks! And considering we were warned about a nearby train track which could cause some noise, it is safe to say that we were not woken up by this at any point during our stay.
When we woke up the next morning, we made ourselves some breakfast and settled on the sofa to watch some morning television. We did some googling to see if we could find some walking trails nearby for the afternoon. We found a beautiful place called Talkin Tarn which was just a 10 minute drive away from the cottage.
When we arrived there, we paid £2.30 for the carpark which allowed us to stay all-day. There was a one-way walking system in place due to covid-19 which seemed to work very well and all visitors were being sure to stick to the guidelines in place. The weather was rather strange, raining one minute and roasting hot the next, but the walk was beautiful.
We walked all the way around the lake which took us an hour (including stopping for multiple photo opportunities) and then we stopped at the tearoom for a quick drink before deciding to walk around for a second time. This time around we detoured onto a different walking route which took us through a field of sheep up on a little hill. The view was beautiful and very peaceful. We ended up spending a good three hours at Talkin Tarn, taking pictures and enjoying the sights as well as the weather (in between the miniature rain showers!)
When we returned to the cottage we made another lovely tea and settled on the sofa for more movies. At around 9:30pm the sun began to go down and we decided to take a late night walk around the grounds of the cottage. We headed towards an open gate that lead onto a large field. When we turned the corner we seen a sweet mummy cow with her adorable baby calf in the field with us along with lots of cute bunny rabbits. It was such a beautiful night and our little sunset walk was a lovely way to end the evening.
As relaxing as our evening walk was, the peacefulness did not last too long after returning to the cottage…
We finished watching a TV show and I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Suddenly I hear Jake shouting and running from the lounge into the bedroom and shutting the door behind him. I shout to him asking him what is wrong and he replies ‘there is a bat in the living room!’ I instantly started to laugh and when I opened the bathroom door the bat whizzed past my head making me jump and close the door again. When I managed to stop laughing, I reopened the bathroom door and quickly left the bathroom and shut all of the other doors leading to other rooms in the cottage, confining the bat to the hallway. I then managed to open the front door and the bat found it’s way back outside. It is safe to say it was rather eventful! We have no idea how the bat got inside the cottage but it certainly made us laugh and we are just glad that the little sweetheart made it out of the cottage safely and unharmed.
The next morning it was time for us to pack our things and check out of the cottage. Once we had handed in the keys and thanked the owners for having us, we headed into Carlisle to visit the castle before heading back home to meet up with friends for the evening.
There were some lovely views at the castle as well as an interesting little museum with a nice coffee shop and a gift shop. We spent some time walking around the castle and reading about some of the castle’s history. We then sat outside to eat our lunch before going to the gift shop. Whilst we were searching the gift shop for the perfect souvenir to remember our trip by, we spotted a cute little bat plushie and it was a no brainer! I purchased the little bat and named him Milton after our cottage ‘Milton Mains Holiday Cottages’.
To book the same cottage that we stayed in, simply scan this QR code to be directed to the booking website!
