Turning Japanese!

Ah the English Lake District in summer ... The grey slate buildings match the slate grey skies and the trees, likened to Wordsworths daffodils, are truly "fluttering and dancing in the breeze." Nevertheless the scenery is spectacular, the hiking and sailing therapeutic and the shops ... well great if you're partial to hiking and sailing paraphernalia!

As we drove past Windermere we reminisced about a boat trip taken across the Lake four years ago. We smugly congratulated ourselves for securing seats on deck before a large party of Japanese tourists boarded. Having only just departed the jetty the first spits and spots of rain began and we stumbled downstairs to the lower deck which was full ... of Japanese tourists. We squeezed ourselves into a corner and, with only the lashing rain to view from the window, we turned our gaze inwardly.

The tourists had obviously just left their hotel for a trip across the water carrying backpacks and cameras aloft. A middle aged couple began to unpack their bag and set up a mid morning snack. First came the hard boiled eggs which were nibbled surreptitiously (although the eggy aroma soon let the secret out). Next a miniature pack of cornflakes were shared as if they were a bag of crisps and then a weetabix eaten like a biscuit! As each item of contraband was unpackaged my husband and I furtively nudged each other. The couple were clearly quite thirsty after all that dry food and so knocked back a couple of shots ... of UHT milk! Hilarious!

They had obviously raided the breakfast buffet (and who hasn't?) but surely surmised that English cuisine was fairly underwhelming. Still, funny as it was to watch, I dread to think how we would have fared had the roles been reversed and we had snitched a Japanese breakfast!