Posted by Peter Ceresole on January 28, 2005 at 11:16:57 from 80.177.22.49 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: The Englishman who went up a MOLEhill... posted by Adam Quinan on January 28, 2005 at 08:53:49:
Surely the point about the Lake District is nothing to do with size- the lakes are plenty big enough to drown in, and the mountains will kill you if you let them?
Their attraction is their Englishness- or perhaps best expressed as their ARness. If I'm in Bowness, I can *see* the books, because although the place, like everywhere else, has certainly become hugely more prosperous since the '30s, it still has that essential feel that comes from a very ancient geology, so the mountains are pretty eroded and blunt really, and the human habitation fits mild weather, with roofs that end at the wall and details of that kind. Whereas the other place I live (other than London that is) is Geneva. There, the lake is larger (about 70kms long I think) and deeper at more than 300m; from our window we can see Mont Blanc (4800m) and 'young' alpine chains that haven't had time to be eroded. The weather is more extreme (today in Geneva it's -7C at mid-day, -20C overnight, London is 7C and 5C, both firmly +) so Swiss houses are different and eaves extend several metres beyond the walls to protect the immediate surroundings of the houses from shed snow.
The places are unlike as can be. I love them both for their different charms.