2015 in review

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” Zora Neale Hurston

and i dare say this year was a bit of both. was recently accused by my nearest and dearest of hiding behind an illusion of a perfect life. uh, my life is far from perfect but the gory bits don't make for very good reading. also, there's enough sadness in the world, why add to the maelstrom? but i do see where they're coming from and value their take on things. so in the interest of honesty, this year was not without its challenges but so glad to be on the other side of things now.

thematically - before this degenerates into a poorly-disguised list of the holidays we've taken (guilty!), it's been a year of getting comfortable with uncertainty. i'm the sort of person who needs advance warning because i take more time to get used to changes. being with the mister has certainly changed that and i can be spontaneous if he gives me enough notice. not having visibility nor knowing where he / i / we will be in 6, 12, 18 etc months never fails to send me into a tizzy. but this year has been fraught with uncertainty and i've slowly grown to let go and let God. it's a deepening trust and strengthening faith, one i sort of let slide the previous years. it's been a time of investing in relationships and i've enjoyed every moment with family and friends. as life gets more busy, it's about making time and not excuses, about prioritising those important and not letting that get lost in the daily blur. i'm constantly grateful for a coterie of girlfriends who are only an anguished text away with tea and sympathy (usually virtual!) at the ready. hope that i, too, have been that to them and given as good as i've gotten. also appreciative that family is in good health, being in healthcare and seeing illness on a daily basis, i'm reminded at every turn that it's not something to take for granted because it's never a given. am cautiously optimistic about the year ahead, it's a phrase we've used much more in recent weeks, and can finally say with certainty that something great is about to happen.

we ended 2014 in the atacama desert overlooking geyser del tatio, the world's highest geyser, then saw new year's in in santiago. through much scheming and many a cunning plan, i managed to line up my fourth year placements in central london. was pleased as punch to be in zone one for the entire year because i don't like commuting. i mean, who does?! also, it's not often the stars align for convenience of medsch travel so i was gonna enjoy it while it lasted. being able to walk to work was a godsend and one i did not take for granted. speaking of God, the mister and i attended a marriage course (okok, we half attended it because we're so bad at consistency haha) but it was good and i'd recommend it to anyone. couples need to be married for more than two years before being able to sign up but they seemed pretty chilled out about it, marriage wasn't a pre-requisite either which struck me as unusual for a 'marriage course' but hey, props for being inclusive. we didn't attend a marriage prep course before tying the knot because he was finishing up in singers and i was a freshie. also the nice icelandic reverend who married us met us the day before the wedding and wasn't about to insist we'd attended a course then. better late than never? we were a bit mean though, sitting at the back and making bets on which couples would cry / storm out during the session. bad teos! but the mister's mean streak is one of the things i find most attractive about him, because being nice is never enough, and i don't want to be saddled with some pushover for life. it was also a bit scary that we signed up to improve our marriage because hey, it's a work in progress. we're far from perfect and strong marriages are intentional. but uhoh it was actually also for couples in trouble??? oops. cue occasional awkward silence. on the plus side, we played the student card and got a highly subsidised rate! be still, my parsimonious heart. the mister called me out for robbing the church. i see it as redistribution. attitude to money - also on the course agenda...

the mister spent a bit of time in NYC for class this year and when he was away i jumped at the chance for some solo travel, hopping over to barcelona for sunshine and tapas, although not in that order. we also went back to singers in march for my cousin's wedding, and he stayed on to represent at our good friends' too. lost a dear family member about the same time and the mister represented at that while i had to go back to school. went walking by the cliffs during the funeral and saw a rainbow, which was a nice touch, then had some sake in remembrance. 

we were meant to go to cinque terre over easter but work drama threw a spanner in our plans. thank goodness for insurance, got back every penny, and ended up across the channel instead. yay for a car and cheap eurotunnel. while i'm partial to the south of france having spent many happy summers with J and her fam in aix, the north has its charm and is growing on me. spent the spring bank holiday long weekend back singers with the mister's classmates who were en route to shanghai for an elective. any excuse to be home, really, and thoroughly enjoyed playing tour guide. also spent a weekend in stockholm in may, my home away from home and where i lived as an undergrad.

on the family front, our dear friends asked us to be godparents to their precious little bundle. this sent me into another tizzy because if i didn't want children of my own (for now) why would i shoulder extra responsibility??? but the mister was mature and sensible, suggesting a skype four-way (he was in NYC, i was in london, father-to-be in JKT and mother-to-be in sg!) for us to talk things over. our primary concern was/is our friendship so i didn't want to be an abysmal godparent, drop the ball and buang that relationship... hey, one never knows how these things can go! having drafted terms&conditions and sussed out expectations (they'd none, we'd plenty) we decided it was something we wanted to commit to because it's a lifelong responsibility. there was also a hairy moment when D&N and the mister were on holiday in croatia together and i tried to shove morbid thoughts outta my mind because if anything happened to the trio, i'd literally be left carrying the baby. paranoia, be gone!

summer was a whirlwind! desperately wanted to go somewhere exotic for elective but felt best to be grown up and do it half in london and half in singers. to make up for the lack of excitement (actually, protein crystallography was plenty exciting and i loved my time at the lab!), did a speedy west coast tour in between elective periods for london and singers. flew to frisco then meandered down the coast (big sur, monterey, yosemite) to beverly hills for a wedding at greystone mansion before returning to singers via tokyo. did my elective in singers but skipped town on weekends, to KL for P's wedding and to visit J&A, then phuket over the national day long weekend then hosted J&A in singers. completed the last leg of globe circumvention (SIN-LHR) had some down time in london with a quick trip to paris (yay eurostar!) before hunkering down for final year, which has been fast and furious. if all goes well, final years in may and will be a doctor by june. here's hoping!

tell a lie, one week into final year and i was climbing the walls so the mister assuaged with a spontaneous trip to copenhagen with friends. in the midst of the three week mini nightmares that are our senior rotations (obgyn, general practice, paeds, psych), we also escaped to majorca for the weekend just because. before that, he ran his first marathon (NYC!) then spent some time in boston to see the fall colours before coming back to london. the junior doctors threatened to go on strike, which meant i'd the day off even though they didn't, and we snuck away to the lakes. when the mister was in NYC for his final eMBA class, my folks were in munich and i managed to wrangle a stolen weekend with them. bummed we spent christmas apart (them in singers, us in the dolomites) but a bonus 48h together was just what i needed.

so the hard stuff i was talking about earlier? the mister's got a new job! it's been some time coming and hm being the big nerds we are, we talked about life after lawsch on our first date. he wanted to be a consultant with X, and i wanted to be a doctor. then we both laughed at how ridiculous we were. more than eight years later and in an extraordinary turn of events, he's been offered a position at X. wish i could take credit and say that it was all planned and everything he's done since lawsch has led him there, but it wasn't. in fact, he'd forgotten all about it until the recruitment opportunity arose when X started visiting bschool. so in a way, he had to go there to get here, and through it all we see God's goodness and grace. if someone had told me at the beginning of the year that the mister would be an X consultant by october, i'd have thought they were out of their mind. because X is literally the hardest company to get into in the world. well, X and goldman. thank you, God.

2016 is going to be exciting! the mister's done really well and will graduate twice (once in NYC, one in london) while i hopefully pass finals and also graduate. the mister, overperforming and overshadowing me since 2007.

thank you for coming by, and for making your way through this self-indulgent post. i do love recounting the year and counting blessings big and small. wishing you good endings and better beginnings, merry christmas and a happy new year X

(reviews from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 if you'd like to see)

coastal afternoons

hadn't been to the coast in some time and was keen to visit a corner cafe. had breakfast at a beach shack a few weeks ago and enjoyed it so much i'd made a mental note to never turn down an invite to the sea. didn't take much persuasion and despite morning clinic ending late, still made it out before sunset. it was a little grey and very windy at points. skiving friend was insistent on climbing a hill to the monument and there was a point when i was almost blown off (and putting up with horizontal rain) which made me question my better judgment. but all good and made it back to town in one piece.

makfaulls in munich

always up for visiting a new city. love wandering aimlessly, taking in the sights and sounds and the general feel of the place. munich struck me as, dare i say, shabby? not as youthful and buzzing as berlin, nor as 'official' looking as frankfurt. it had a certain faded charm but not what i'd in mind for a large german city? then again i'm not articulating this very well. maybe i expected something new and shiny, swankier even. also felt i didn't really give it a chance as landed on friday night, spent saturday largely in the country and left on sunday evening. walked around on sunday and again maybe went to the wrong places but wasn't impressed? felt a wee underwhelmed and was even relieved that we'd spent saturday out of the city because i got a little bored on sunday and wondered if i was missing the plot. 

the food, however, was excellent. and one of the highlights (apart from all that deep fried goodness and white beer) was catching up with J&A. serendipity had it that this was my third makfaull sighting of 2015, and maybe fourth in 12 months! caught up with A when he was in london at the end of last year, meant to stay with them in KL over summer when i went for P's wedding but, naughty, they surprised me with a room at a lovely hotel i've since fallen for and gone on to stay at (incidentally in munich too!) because it's such a great brand. they were in singers soon after with J's parents who've kindly hosted me in aix a few summers now, and when A was seconded to munich, the far east's loss was the continent's gain! chuffed to have squeezed out extra time with them.

for people who move around as much as we all do, it's a homecoming to see a familiar face, to be spared what we've come to term 'friendship foreplay' with the usual FAQ and pre-amble about where we've come from. for them, they've to explain he's aussie she's french and they met on exchange in stockholm. after which she moved to australia (perth then sydney) before they relocated to KL for work and now munich. who knows what the future holds?! and for me it's the whole barrister-turned medical student spiel which i don't mind on a good day but am admittedly self-conscious of on a bad day because people then expect me to be cerebral when i'm far from, or start asking tricky medico-legal questions i can't always answer, or try to get free medical and/or legal advice which i feel doubly irresponsible dispensing. A put it so nicely when he described 'wafer thin' experiences and friendships in a new place. because one has to start all over again, establishing connections is such a painful necessity and there's the odd person where it all clicks but more often than not it's tedious and don't really achieve anything at the end of cursory pleasantries. hence it's a bonus to meet up and go straight into deep meaning conversation mode because there is quality time without quantity. 

had dins with my folks then escaped to J&A's beautiful apartment. they've impeccable taste and by chance had two of J's aix girlfriends and their respective +1s over too! funny story - i'd met the lovely girls summer 2010 in aix. one of them had a new bachelorette pad and we'd all gone round for the provencale cliche of rose on the terrace (with tapenade!). little did i know then that five years later our paths would cross once again in munich. the world is small and it shows just how J draws people to her from all over. was secretly relieved to be having a cosy night in with wine and chocolate because after a crazy week and marathon day out with folks the last thing i wanted was to be head banging in a grungy club. too old? or more like too lazy :P and with J&A i know they pick their nights and a grown up night in with riveting conversation (hitting one pressure point after another in a safe environment...) was just what i'd wanted. without going into two much detail, there was a german, three french misses, a frenchman, aussie and me and oh boy did we play to our national stereotypes ;)

munich eats

went a little overboard and researched where to eat in munich, only to have plans scuppered. but it's ok - book first, talk later! after a long day out to the castles, the last thing any of us wanted to do was to haul ourselves across town. cancelled original reso and got the hotel to book something closer by. not proud of it and ended up being half an hour late for that, because, well, inertia. so the queue was out the door by the time we got there and had to be thick skinned about the dirty looks (sent brother in! always send the scout hehe) as we walked to the head of the queue and to our relief found they hadn't given the table away. thank goodness had foresight to book in hotel's name (tip: resto less likely to cancel reso for fear of damaging goodwill!) and couldn't help but feel smug about not having to queue :) hearty german food and while i initially thought the waitress was trying to scam us (paranoia wahey!) what she recommended (two course traditional german taster with starters and mountain of mains) did work out well. although i think she was trying to push us to order for the table, i saw through her sneaky ploy and ordered two (minimum order) and supplemented that with small sides. hah! (like the bavarian ox tartare below)

german food does not photograph well!

lunch the next day was the only one of my original resos we made. it was a safe choice and surprisingly tourist-free and found ourselves surrounded instead by well-heeled locals. elegant sorts who waltzed in amidst a whiff of expensive perfume. must've sounded pleading in my reservation about being a family from singers on holiday that they gave us a lovely table with a view of the opera house :) gorgeous interiors too with frescoes and the food was excellent. prices up 30% from already touristy hotel muller but hey, go in with eyes open.

consome with dumpling

wiener schnitzel and rosti

venison goulash

deep fried pork (!!!) in bavarian beer

hamsteak under eggs

and i need to sing praises of white beer. i'm not a beer drinker, only starting to drink when i first moved for uni. but i do enjoy craft beer and local ales, and did try to drink something brewed (practically) on site at every pub in the lakes. but if i was in japan, i'd only drink sake and when in munich i only drank beer. no gluehwine, even! just lots and lots of wonderful white beer. so very good and doubt will find better any where else.

day in bavaria

didn't take much persuasion to get me across the channel. was bummed not to spend christmas with family and jumped at the chance for an early celebration on the continent instead. glad to be based on this side of the world and i'd never been to munich. the mister had been twice this year (for BMW driving course and oktoberfest!) so i was more than a little envious. of course the irony is that i get in on friday night and they've booked a whole day out on saturday. we ventured into the country with stops at lindenhof and oberammergau before rocking up to neuschwanstein. tell a lie, while it was my first time in munich, we'd done a similar castle tour about 15 years ago on a skiing holiday while holding out for powder (and not that icky artificial ice). this sort of gave us license to skip the castle tours in favour of food. 

joked that old schwanstein (above) because neuschwanstein (below)

don't usually name restaurants /  cafes unless they're really good because 1) i'm not paid (haha) 2) happy to share if someone asks personally but all too wary that the www is a public space. but hotel muller at the base of neuschwanstein (it's a 30min uphill trek from there!) has the most amazing restaurant. at first glance it looks like a tourist trap and the staff seemed a little overwhelmed by the sudden influx of tourists (weird, you'd think they'd be used to it by now!) and tried to get us to sit in the lobby (???). why on earth we'd want to eat off a cramped coffee table is beyond me. but maybe they thought we were in a hurry to join the castle tour (we weren't). so i held my ground and said, "no thank you, we'll wait for a table inside the restaurant... (bathed in natural light and stunning alpine views)" didn't end up waiting long and the food was served almost instantly. they must have a high turnover! 

so can i just say best. wiener. schnitzel. ever. you know how these things often look deep fried and disgusting? one can almost feel the heartburn from looking at a piccie? well this was different. the veal so fresh, tender and juicy, the breadcrumbs crunchy and fried to golden perfection but not oily (how???)  but it wasn't just that. everything else was amazing. even the salad. salad!!!! frau muller was also a reknown baker so the pudding was worth trying too but i was still reeling from that schnitzel. 

have to agree the best views of a castle are from the outside? or maybe that's me being sour grapes having not gone in but did go in as a teenager and must've been forgettable because i don't remember it now. and i do remember most other things, whether i want to or not! gimme food over culture anytime :)

team dins

had my clinical group round for dinner recently and realise how i lucked out with this bunch. everyone is nice, and that's often harder to come by than it sounds. i mean there seems to always be one or two people to prudently hold at arm's length, to say 'hmm i'm not so sure about so and so...' but in this happy group of eight, i'd love to work with anyone. it's a good team! and in true all-inclusive, "let's embrace diversity" fashion, did chips and dip (M's secret texan recipe!) that i fell for last thanksgiving, a massive cheese board, veggie (lentil bol) lasagna and lamb lasagna with a side salad. funny how lamb is the least offensive meat! H (pictured!) very kindly brought banana bread fresh from her over - and i'd a tiramisu on the go too. the mister had sponsored the cheese plate (aww!) and i'm a self-confessed feeder. it was so great to watch them try different cheeses and slowly a smile would creep up their faces and their eyes would light up! kept the bubbles going (tesco's finest rose wins hands down, trumping the more upmarket italian proseccos!) and then mulled wine at the end. 

before dins, it was a long day where almost all of us got yelled at by patients, so much so the supervisor had to sit us down at the end and make us talk about happy things, like what we were doing that evening. so important to re-enter earth's atmosphere and get re-oriented, you know? so this mid-rotation gathering was a much welcome distraction. and i've only experienced this with medics but they did the dishes and cleaned up the flat before leaving. felt like a terrible host but they insisted, and we all ended up squeezed in my tiny kitchen as someone washed, someone dried and the rest of us provided moral support.

scottish foray

(sorry to the unsuspecting fellow passengers across the aisle!)

one thing to remember if ever fortunate enough to take the east coast train north is to sit on the right hand side if the weather is good. because, seriously, the coastal views are stunning. was up for a spontaneous stockholm mini-reunion and because this was the weekend desmond was wrecking havoc, standard class was sold out and i resorted to a firstie. how it all came about was nothing short of fortuitous timing. i'd sent out the annual, "guysssss i need your current mailing addresses please!!!" and found out that A was going to be in europe for work, flying into ed to visit K and his blushing bride. realised i could afford the time and invited myself to their tete a tete, because i'm shameless that way :P 

there were some anxious texts exchanged because of the hurricane, and there was no guarantee my train would leave in the morning. all was going according to plan when suddenly we stopped outside berwick and waited what seemed like forever (70min) before continuing. this naturally scuppered plans because i'd only 4 hours in edinburgh! meant to arrive by 11am and booked the 3pm out. something about bags on the overhead lines. so we sat like sitting ducks in the stifling heat (NO POWER! no light would be tolerable because it was a lovely sunny day but no ventilation???) which was pretty unpleasant. a train had to come from behind us, overtake us, fix the problem then go ahead to scout there were no other issues. the mister was still sleeping but i may or may not have sent a flurry of angry texts to anyone who'd listen (sorry my dear support network, i'll try to be better in 2016!!!) and of course A and i were on fb messenger the whole time lamenting the sheer inadequacy of UK trains. her hyper-efficient japanese sensibilities could not believe that a little rain caused such disruption. recounted this to a scottish friend after who suggested i remind her about the tsunami. touche!

did eventually make it to edinburgh, by which time we were horrendously late, then A's train for that afternoon was cancelled and we spent another hour trying to find alternative means of getting her to dumfries. it was frustrating enough as an english speaker to try to get assistance amidst the mayhem that was waverley, what more for A when it's her third/fourth language. we were sent from pillar to post, from one unending queue to the next, and the staff were polite but unhelpful. again, it was said scottish friend who helped get a taxi to take her to dumfries because a >2h taxi ride is the only way to get around this country... 

lengthy pre-amble and travel angst aside, it was tick tock tick tock because by the time we'd everything sorted, we were 90min away from my train back south. ducked into a simple chinese resto off the main street and it was as if time stood still. calmed down and wonderful catch up. A and her friend had visited and stayed with me last year but hadn't seen K since leaving stockholm summer 2010 and in that time he's gone on to finish his phD, start teaching at ed uni and got married (in that order!). he was the sweetest housemate in stockholm. while the rest of us would lock our food cupboards (trust no one!) his was always open and invited us to help ourselves. he also took it upon himself to cook for the house and i once offhandedly mentioned i missed tandoori chicken and came home (probably hungover) that night to a pile of chicken he'd cooked and kept for me :') selfless to a fault, he'd go home once a year and in the lead up to that would spend all his money on gifts for his sisters and their families. he explained that as the only son, the expectation was that he'd provide for his sister as he'd one day inherit everything from their parents. well, that's only equitable if their parents had something to pass on? when in fact they didn't and everything his parents had (house etc) he'd gifted them. but that's K for you - biggest heart on earth and we used doubt there was anyone 'good enough' to match his generosity. so one can imagine A and my delight when he and C found each other. she's absolutely perfect for him and while i don't believe in karma, this was the best possible outcome. they're all loved up and googly eyed in a non-gross way and she's wonderful to and for him. to risk sounding catty, there are +1s i adore, and +1s i feel friends could've done way better than. but hey, it's not about me, is it :P but it's sad i guess because in the case of substandard +1s i feel myself pulling away and sort of disengaging because i find it hard to affect interest.

what's nice was that while stockholm was our springboard and we had a lovely little house together, it didn't make up the bulk of the conversation. it was a good five years ago but i'm glad our friendship has evolved with us. lots of current and future talk (always healthy!) and i'm reminded how lucky i am our paths crossed, albeit briefly, all those years ago.

sunday roast and coast

the weather's been weird and at the first sign of blue skies it was time to break free. fancied a sunday roast in the country and didn't have far to go based on jamie oliver's (i think it was him!) recommendation. scored the last two top for the noon sitting and was charmed by the sweet proprietress and the hearty, home-made fare.

driving across a river might've not been the brightest idea but hey no harm no foul.

was toying between going to the coast when we spied brown sign for a different beach. figured it was too late to head to the beach shack (in december, silly) i'd originally wanted to go to and changed course to make it in time for sunset. turns out my sense of direction is non-existent and we ended up east instead of west. did see some colour gradient change and made do with that, and some colourful beach hut we took wannabe hipster photos next to.

b

the b never fails to attract a crowd and boy was it busy on a pre-christmas weekend. seems like everyone went from christmas shopping to needing a winter warmer! find the door bs kinda haughty, presuming only there for drinks as who'd be so stupid as to think they could waltz in without a lunch reso :P it's as if they derive some pleasure from smugly turning people away. but hah wouldn't eat there (food's not great) and was just after mulled wine that wasn't in a styrofoam cup (the mulled wine at the pseudo christmas market was all in disposable cups...) so that suited just fine.

warmed up then ducked indoors to avoid the rain and chanced upon this sweet little deal. lindisfarne oysters going for £1 a pop (when it's usually £2.50!!!) even with my abysmal grasp of numbers i knew it was a good deal. tried not to fall for their loss-leader trap and got the house white and nothing else. win big lose small?

have also passed a furniture shop with alarming regularity but failed to venture in to their cafe. it reminded me of cafe string in stockholm where the furniture is for sale. clever tactic but pity the flat white came as a cappucino but was too tired to send it back and left it undrunk. need to get better at polite, constructive feedback. find i'm too shy / apologetic to be any good at it. probably why commercial litigation wasn't for me :P

it's beginning to look

don't usually run on nerves but had excess nervous energy before psych exam and felt the need to expend it. last thing i'd want was to be all pressure of speech (hahah) during the assessment. also haven't exercised in over a month and thought to get the circulation going. it's embarrassing, really, when classmates talk about running times and i'm so easily impressed. but running slowly is better than not running at all? did a short one and stopped to take more photos than actual running but it did the trick and i was less antsy when it came to my afternoon slot. 

to celebrate after, broke out the cute cheese plate dear R gifted me when she stayed and thought to put up some christmas decorations. read somewhere that there should be things that reflect awareness of the seasons so here's me trying to look put-together for once. excuse the chavy taste, it's poundland's finest i'm afraid. but what i like about the window sill is that it's got things from people near and dear to me. the robin in the bell jar was cleverly improvised by C after we wandered round covent garden one day and she noticed me longingly eyeing something similar in a hipster shop but refusing to spend money. the lino print is of local spots i've visited recently and have fond memories of. one of the bottles was a wedding present from my winemaker friend who knows my weakness for californian pinot, the other bottle is almost older than i am and misappropriated from my parents' cellar (shh)... and a thoughtful card from a new friend whose kind words never fail to cheer me up.

scored some local aged tenderloin and did a simple pan fry for dins, then followed a friend's tip and roasted apple (while potatoes in oven) to serve with natural yoghurt for pud.

day and a bit in the lakes

remain resolutely apolitical but was nonetheless pleased to have the day off owing to potential industrial action. this really isn't the forum for whether the junior*doctors should strike and their ongoing battle with the powers-that-be. all too pleased with the day off, decided to swing by the lakes on a whim because, hey, why not? not a huge fan of the lakes. the towns are overly touristy and sell the same things (walking gear, more walking gear) and it's a bit too twee and disconcerting. have a thing about cookie cutter small towns and feel claustrophobic in them (durham, berwick etc) but maybe that's being unfair. sure there's some beauty to be had in each picturesque village if one bothers to look hard enough. that said, glad to have eschewed more commercial towns in the lakes, although i did lament to a friend that the lakes seem to be crawling with sad soggy sorts in waterproofs. 

and sod's law, really, because the more disinclined i was to the lakes, the better the weather seemed to get. not that i'm complaining because with this funny country, you take what you get! blue skies and vibrant colours, it was like looking through a lens on vivid mode. the greens more lush and the browns richer than normal. must be all that rain!

the place we stayed was new-ish and set in a slightly spooky forest, not unlike what i'd imagine the blair witch project to be. there were some really nice things about it - like the lovely, friendly hosts with amazing service recovery, beautiful room and walking gear provided. had a small issue with the loo in original room (ceiling dripped) and they very kindly double upgraded to the best suite (!!!). the minus was how it was tacked onto a less luxurious hotel, with shared facilities. so it felt like a downgrade :/ traipsing across the driveway to use the steamroom and sauna. had the option of breakfast in the room (yes please!) and glad to have done that instead of going to the other side for buffet breakfast at what looked like a dim resto. there was a functional reading room with comp food and alcohol through the day but it was an odd long-ish room that felt stuck on and had no natural light despite the gorgeous setting. it was also being re-carpeted on our second day so we didn't get use of it. that said, when requesting late check out it was £20/h (!!!) but they comp-ed an hour because it's not like we could enjoy the hotel before heading off. did end up going for a walk in their waterproofs and walking shoes, so that wasn't too bad. also, the breakfast while beautifully displayed and served in-room wasn't amazing, probably because it came from somewhat lower-standard resto. felt mass produced. have stayed in places that charged less but served in-room brekkie course-by-course. 

lovely lazy break, leisurely drive in good weather then were shown to the room. should've ruined appetite with cream tea (yummy scones and clotted cream!), read for leisure, went to steam / sauna before heading to the local for dinner. wonderful local ales then back to the hotel. went on a bit of a fires tarting spree and kept it going till bedtime. slept in, had breakfast in bed as late as possible, got late check out then went walking. 

just the right length of time in the lakes before going stir crazy. enjoyable as it was, don't think could've done another night. and suppose that's the point of a mini break :)