A Warm Welcome in Windermere

So, we set off for a nice touristy day driving around the lakes. We decided to head for Windermere as it'd been years since either of us were there. 

We had a lovely drive there, via Penrith and Keswick and particularly liked the road just coming out of Keswick and along Thirlmere. Gorgeous. 

We got to Windemere, parked up, and went for a little wander around the town to get our bearings and then choose somewhere nice for lunch. There had been some lovely pubs along the road getting here so we had those in mind as well when we were walking round. However a nice little cafe/bar/restaurant presented itself at one end of the town. It looked modern, sold cocktails, and had a long, thin, neon blue light embedded in the pavement around the outside seating area. I was sold. 

In we went. 

There were about 8 tables (it was quite small) about half of them were twos and half fours. The one to our left beside the door was for four, but it was empty, and clean. We looked over at the bar as you do when you walk in to an eating establishment. One waitress was dealing with a customer at the till. Both her and the customer had their backs to the door. Clearly a discussion about the bill was going on. The other waitress was behind the bar and didn't look up as we came in. 

A big sign over the bar said, "Table Service, Pay at the bar". OK I thought, we'd just sit down and someone would come over to serve us. We sat. And waited. The waitress from behind the bar came out from behind it...and disappeaerd into the loo. The waitress serving the customer at the till finished doing that (it had taken some time) and he came back to his table, next to ours, and him and his wife gathered their belongings and left. 

The waitress who went to the loo, then came out and looked like she was walking towards us, but no, she was wiping up the table and clearing away the plates left by the people who had just vacated their table. I was, at one point, less that 2 feet away from her. Looking directly at her and waiting for an acknowledgment; a nod in our direction, an 'I'll be there in a minute'. But nothing. 

At this point another customer came in and the waitress then came over to her, menu in hand, asked her what she wanted, and seated her at the table next to ours. Even then, no eye contact. She shouted the order to the girl behind the bar and went over to the table opposite ours to clear up. At the same time she was sort of looking over her shoulder at us in a kind of 'out of the corner of her eye, but without really looking' kind of way. It was quite odd and made me feel like we'd stumbled into something we shouldn't have.

So then we did something that we don't often do - we got up and walked out. After 10 minutes  of no eye contact, and serving customers ahead of us, it was clear we weren't welcome, or that we had done something to upset them, or 'done it wrong' in some way. I have no idea what it was.

All I can say is, what a lovely warm welcome in Windermere!