Friday, January 8, 2010
Photo links here are broken but...
You can find most of them on www.gretchenjones.com under the photos. This blog has also been turned into a pdf book. (VERY LARGE) and can be found there as well.
Friday, June 15, 2007
June 15 - Sugar Creek - Lindesfarne pics
We're back from Britain - invasion successful. We had a ball and it's a vacation I'll never forget!
Here's some photos from Lindesfarne that I haven't had a chance to post yet but thought you'd like to see them.
And for my final image I'll leave you with this one. (Thanks Hannah for taking it - Terry was already asleep)
gj
Here's some photos from Lindesfarne that I haven't had a chance to post yet but thought you'd like to see them.
And for my final image I'll leave you with this one. (Thanks Hannah for taking it - Terry was already asleep)
gj
Thursday, June 14, 2007
14 June 2007 - Chicago
We're almost home. The flight from Glasgow to Newark wasn't too bad. We each got seats that were window or aisle with no one in the middle seat. I'm afraid I'm in the dog house though, I got bumped to first class PURELY BY ACCIDENT, I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT I SWEAR! Terry and Meg were not so lucky. Then someone gave her the wrong time and we ran to the next gate only to figure out when we were out of breath and feeling the burn that they were off by an hour. We are waiting patiently for the next flight...Home is within reach.
Now about Hannah, since she is sitting next to me whining that I'm leaving her out. So she got the middle bulkhead seat in coach and had a really fun time talking with the gal next to her and picking on me in my big wide leather seat while I drank wine and had a nubile young cabana boy peel me grapes (that last part is a lie...the grapes were not peeled)...We'll be home in awhile talk to you later...gj
Now about Hannah, since she is sitting next to me whining that I'm leaving her out. So she got the middle bulkhead seat in coach and had a really fun time talking with the gal next to her and picking on me in my big wide leather seat while I drank wine and had a nubile young cabana boy peel me grapes (that last part is a lie...the grapes were not peeled)...We'll be home in awhile talk to you later...gj
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
One more thing
We're back in the land of $15.00 per mb of data so no more photos till we get home I think. Then I'll post something from Lindesfarne (for you ruined priory fans) and the cheviots.
Later gj
Later gj
13, June 2008 Glasgow Scotland
Tomorrow we leave for home. It's been a whirlwind in spite of our best intentions to have it remain restful. The last few days have been especially busy.
Today we walked through the shopping district that starts (from our perspective) on Sauchiehall street. We had originally planned to do museums and such but we're all kind of museumed out after yesterday.
Hannah bought many textile objects and a shiny new red suitcase to hold her purchases. Meg finally found a particular tartan she was looking for and I bought a diet coke so I could break a 10 pound note to get into the bathrooms at Central (train) station. We had lunch at TGIF - a sure sign of travel fatigue. We also managed to find a way to avoid the 20% grade hill back up to our hotel. That would be 18 degrees of elevation in one city block for you who are keeping score. We also found another Tardis but someone was selling coffee out of it. There was a guy painted up like and egyptian kings tomb - an interesting choice of busking art - who we gave almost all our copper to in exchange for an elegant bow.
Yesterday was a travel day but having not yet learned the lesson we went out in the morning and hit the museum (having bypassed that the day before for Falkirk and the wheel). It was a great museum and we finally got to see the Lewis Chess Men. There was shopping in a great many kilt / woolen shops and a wonderful lunch at the Tower Restaurant in the Museum of Scotland afterwards. The winning dish was the carrot and fennel(or was it caraway - I can't remember now) soup. About five we headed back to the B&B to cab with our mountain of luggage to the train station and head out from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
Getting the four of us and the 9 bags onto a crowded train rachets up the stress levels and an hour later when we debarked at Glasgow we were already tired. We were collected at the station by a bossy taxi driver (not at all encouraging like our favorite driver Derek from Alnwick) in the rain. He managed to get us and our luggage into the taxi (not that we had any choice as he wedged us and our luggage in the back of a traditional black cab. He then did the usual quiz to make sure we still knew where we came from and how long we have been in the country. His brogue was quite heavy but we were able to keep up by picking out key phrases we were able to understand. The rest we nodded said Oh Aye, and when completely unsure what he had said laughed nervously. That last part usually works regardless of the language. He was quite a character, he thought Ronald Reagan waved his hand like a poof.
A foggy taxi drive later arrived at our latest mountaintop retreat. The Old Schoolhouse Hotel. Incidentally the picture on the website for the OSH is not the hotel itself but we suspect the old school house that the hotel is located somewhat near. That mystery has not yet been solved. These Scots are certainly wily when it comes to marketing their properties. Don't get me wrong each has been a pleasant facility with accomodations that met our needs and in most cases exceeded our expectations for service but there seemed to be a little slight of hand going on at any rate.
Once we were properly settled we set out for dinner in the rain by trudging down the hill where we found an italian restaurant that appeared to be owned/operated/staffed largely by Greeks. One of them in particular had a grand time poking fun of my pronunciation of water which is apparently more like wadder. Well, we got back at them good. About half way through dinner Hannah wasn't feeling well so I walked her back to the hotel (I get triple bonus points for walking up that hill at full speed TWICE last night). When I got back both the apparent owner and his manager had very worried looks on their faces and wondered what had happened. We were very tempted to tell them it was the wadder. Other than that dinner was very good with a nice sangeovese to accompany. There was really awesome bruschetta with tomatoes and basil and then I had a penne pasta with a creamy tomato and pesto sauce while Meg and Hannah each had calzone and Terry had a pancetta pizza.
That brings you up to date from our day at Falkirk I think.
Tomorrow we leave around 10am for the airport and the flights back home. Here's fair warning for those of you who may be eager to talk to us once we get back. We leave at 12noon Glasgow time which is 5am Kansas City time. Once we get to Kansas City (assuming everything goes as planned) it will be 10 pm then another hour for each of us to get home. So that's 18 hours travelling. I for one will want to sleep VERY VERY VERY LATE. I have two Dr. appts on Friday as well so give us until Saturday to get our brains back on Central Daylight time and our brains together before expecting a recount of our adventures. We can't wait to give you the 17 hour slide show presentation with charts, maps, books, videos, and 3700 8x10 color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us...... gj
Today we walked through the shopping district that starts (from our perspective) on Sauchiehall street. We had originally planned to do museums and such but we're all kind of museumed out after yesterday.
Hannah bought many textile objects and a shiny new red suitcase to hold her purchases. Meg finally found a particular tartan she was looking for and I bought a diet coke so I could break a 10 pound note to get into the bathrooms at Central (train) station. We had lunch at TGIF - a sure sign of travel fatigue. We also managed to find a way to avoid the 20% grade hill back up to our hotel. That would be 18 degrees of elevation in one city block for you who are keeping score. We also found another Tardis but someone was selling coffee out of it. There was a guy painted up like and egyptian kings tomb - an interesting choice of busking art - who we gave almost all our copper to in exchange for an elegant bow.
Yesterday was a travel day but having not yet learned the lesson we went out in the morning and hit the museum (having bypassed that the day before for Falkirk and the wheel). It was a great museum and we finally got to see the Lewis Chess Men. There was shopping in a great many kilt / woolen shops and a wonderful lunch at the Tower Restaurant in the Museum of Scotland afterwards. The winning dish was the carrot and fennel(or was it caraway - I can't remember now) soup. About five we headed back to the B&B to cab with our mountain of luggage to the train station and head out from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
Getting the four of us and the 9 bags onto a crowded train rachets up the stress levels and an hour later when we debarked at Glasgow we were already tired. We were collected at the station by a bossy taxi driver (not at all encouraging like our favorite driver Derek from Alnwick) in the rain. He managed to get us and our luggage into the taxi (not that we had any choice as he wedged us and our luggage in the back of a traditional black cab. He then did the usual quiz to make sure we still knew where we came from and how long we have been in the country. His brogue was quite heavy but we were able to keep up by picking out key phrases we were able to understand. The rest we nodded said Oh Aye, and when completely unsure what he had said laughed nervously. That last part usually works regardless of the language. He was quite a character, he thought Ronald Reagan waved his hand like a poof.
A foggy taxi drive later arrived at our latest mountaintop retreat. The Old Schoolhouse Hotel. Incidentally the picture on the website for the OSH is not the hotel itself but we suspect the old school house that the hotel is located somewhat near. That mystery has not yet been solved. These Scots are certainly wily when it comes to marketing their properties. Don't get me wrong each has been a pleasant facility with accomodations that met our needs and in most cases exceeded our expectations for service but there seemed to be a little slight of hand going on at any rate.
Once we were properly settled we set out for dinner in the rain by trudging down the hill where we found an italian restaurant that appeared to be owned/operated/staffed largely by Greeks. One of them in particular had a grand time poking fun of my pronunciation of water which is apparently more like wadder. Well, we got back at them good. About half way through dinner Hannah wasn't feeling well so I walked her back to the hotel (I get triple bonus points for walking up that hill at full speed TWICE last night). When I got back both the apparent owner and his manager had very worried looks on their faces and wondered what had happened. We were very tempted to tell them it was the wadder. Other than that dinner was very good with a nice sangeovese to accompany. There was really awesome bruschetta with tomatoes and basil and then I had a penne pasta with a creamy tomato and pesto sauce while Meg and Hannah each had calzone and Terry had a pancetta pizza.
That brings you up to date from our day at Falkirk I think.
Tomorrow we leave around 10am for the airport and the flights back home. Here's fair warning for those of you who may be eager to talk to us once we get back. We leave at 12noon Glasgow time which is 5am Kansas City time. Once we get to Kansas City (assuming everything goes as planned) it will be 10 pm then another hour for each of us to get home. So that's 18 hours travelling. I for one will want to sleep VERY VERY VERY LATE. I have two Dr. appts on Friday as well so give us until Saturday to get our brains back on Central Daylight time and our brains together before expecting a recount of our adventures. We can't wait to give you the 17 hour slide show presentation with charts, maps, books, videos, and 3700 8x10 color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us...... gj
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Tuesday June 12. Day Twenty
6/12/07 Day Twenty. Tuesday.
A good breakfast, another 44 bus ride, and a walk of 7 or 8 blocks put us at the National Museum of Scotland this morning, where I finally got to see the Lewis Chessmen. I don't know why I am fascinated by these figures, but I just am. After staring at them for a long time, taking several pictures, and running to the museum shop to purchase a little book about them, I finally tagged along with the rest of the crew to look at the rest of the museum. It's an excellent museum. I was struck again with the sense of time travel while looking at the prehistoric Scotland exhibit. A large rock sits near a plaque which states that this country is founded upon Lewisian Gneiss approximately 3400 million years old. Somehow it seems poetic or something that we four started our own journey to Scotland sitting, walking, admiring and climbing on this same Lewisian Gneiss in its home turf, or bog, more appropriately.
This rock, with its smooth sides and mysterious ripply markings crashed itself into my heart when our trip began. I cannot look at it without also seeing huge waves crashing on cliffs, seabirds soaring overhead, feeling ocean spray on my face, smelling peat burning, hearing sheep bleating and watching the sunset from the most beautiful place on earth. This rock has formed my first and most lasting impression of Scotland, and I think it is indeed a most poetic and perfect coincidence that this rock is the foundation of the country itself.
A country built on this rock cannot help but be rugged, strong and beautiful. A person who treks across this rock cannot help but be changed forever.
--------
We split up for a few hours in the afternoon. Terry went off galavanting by himself while we women just walked a bit down Princes Street, finally stopping at a coffee house and just doing some people watching.
Once we met up again, we went back to Melville and gathered our belongings, taxied to the train station, and hopped the next train to Glasgow. After getting our rooms and dropping off the luggage at The Old School House, we went for a short walk to a fine Italian restaurant not far from here. Hannah wasn't feeling well, and ended up going back to the hotel before her meal even came, but the rest of us (after making sure she was home and safe and alright) stayed and stuffed ourselves and enjoyed a nice Sangiovese before returning and heading to bed.
------------
PS I think all of Scotland is uphill. I don't know how they do it. Everywhere we go though, we have some huge hill we have to walk everyday. This time it's where we're staying. Renfrew street is just one block from Sauchiehall, (pronounced SokeeHoe) the main shopping street, but to get back to Renfrew to go home, we have to walk pretty much straight up.
Amazing.
Quick Post on Falkirk for photos
Just a quick post before we leave this morning to post a picture of Falkirk Wheel. By the way it is the very coolest thing ever. I got lots and lots of pictures (Dad) and a CD presentation so we'll be able to give the full effect.
For the Joneses in the bunch -
Can you believe it - I ran out of battery half way through the trip. But not before I got this one of the locks at the top of the wheel.
And this lock below the wheel...
For the Joneses in the bunch -
Can you believe it - I ran out of battery half way through the trip. But not before I got this one of the locks at the top of the wheel.
And this lock below the wheel...
Monday, June 11, 2007
Monday June 11
6/11/07 Day Nineteen. Monday.
Alrighty then! Re-using the strategy we developed to invade the castle, We successfully conquered Falkirk today. Deceptively simple, yet ingenious; train to Falkirk High station, walk 6 blocks or so to the number 3 bus, ride that all the way to the wheel, keep handing them 10 pound notes until they let us ride in the nifty wheel thingee. Since the Union Canal runs into a tunnel there right under what's left of the Antonine wall, we walked on up there to take a look at it, too. Guess what??? Yup. Just like the other wall. 1/2 mile. Straight up. Gah. They really need to learn to put these ruin thingees much closer to the car parks, I think.
We celebrated this monstrous success by returning to Edinburgh (number 3 bus again, and the 17:22) and indulging ourselves at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Och, it was loovely, thank you very much. American sized tables and chairs with enough room in between them to actually get around without bumping people with your butt.. Vegetables other than of the root variety.. A menu that didn't require a translation.. or a dare.. I guess we must all be getting just a little homesick, because it just seemed like heaven.
Our invasion is almost complete. We've taken the Outer Hebrides, the Highlands, and now the east central portions of Scotland. Tomorrow, after a good breakfast and a museum or two, we'll gather our strength and head in full force for Glasgow.
Alrighty then! Re-using the strategy we developed to invade the castle, We successfully conquered Falkirk today. Deceptively simple, yet ingenious; train to Falkirk High station, walk 6 blocks or so to the number 3 bus, ride that all the way to the wheel, keep handing them 10 pound notes until they let us ride in the nifty wheel thingee. Since the Union Canal runs into a tunnel there right under what's left of the Antonine wall, we walked on up there to take a look at it, too. Guess what??? Yup. Just like the other wall. 1/2 mile. Straight up. Gah. They really need to learn to put these ruin thingees much closer to the car parks, I think.
We celebrated this monstrous success by returning to Edinburgh (number 3 bus again, and the 17:22) and indulging ourselves at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Och, it was loovely, thank you very much. American sized tables and chairs with enough room in between them to actually get around without bumping people with your butt.. Vegetables other than of the root variety.. A menu that didn't require a translation.. or a dare.. I guess we must all be getting just a little homesick, because it just seemed like heaven.
Our invasion is almost complete. We've taken the Outer Hebrides, the Highlands, and now the east central portions of Scotland. Tomorrow, after a good breakfast and a museum or two, we'll gather our strength and head in full force for Glasgow.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Sunday June 10
6/10/07 Day Eighteen. Sunday.
Today we saw Edinburgh Castle. Very impressive huge old thing set high on a cliff overlooking the town. At one point the castle had been used as a prison for war, and they held American revolution war prisoners there. I tried to imagine how horrid that must have felt to be a prisoner then, and being marched into town and seeing this huge old dour castle on the hill and the sinking feeling that might enter your soul as you realized this was where you were headed.
I got a bit emotional this afternoon, after touring the castle, we were walking down the Royal Mile, shopping a little. There were street musicians everywhere, and the bagpipe music was thick in the air. I've been shopping for scarves and badges for the clans that represent our family blend. It just kind of overwhelmed me at one point, after shopping and finding our Mackenzie, McCallum (Maccalum), and Campbell symbols, hearing the bagpipes and realizing that perhaps not just one, but many of my own ancestors had walked this same street at some point, looked at these same old castles and churches, listened to perhaps this very music.
It kind of stopped me in my tracks for a moment, this sensation of a whirlwind of time. I think Hannah felt it too, as she also got a touch teary eyed for a minute, and all of a sudden she wanted to shop for a kilt. Over the next few days we are hoping to find the right place to get her outfitted properly as a Mackenzie. Looking at these beautiful old buildings, seeing the art, seeing the beauty and strength of the Scots makes me proud to have a bit of this in my blood. I am so glad we are here.
Love to all
Marg
Sunday June 10 - Attack on the castle
Well, we decided that since we've just been vacationing so far it was time to get busy and do some serious attacking. So we started out in the morning to make a run on Edinburgh Castle and then we saw where they put the thing and decided to think about it a little more.
This thing is clear up on top of a cliff as you can see. Here's a better view from below...
Then we got to the top of the hill and found out if you give them 9 pounds they'll let you walk right in and do just about anything you want except take flash photographs of the "honors" which are the stone of destiny, the crown, sword and scepter. So we gave them the money and went for a walk around. Here's what we saw:
One of the windows in St. Margarets Chapel a beautiful tiny chapel on top of the hill. The window is a depiction of Wm Wallace I think.
Here's a little something for the warmongers among you. This is a Georgian Trench Mortar. It is quickly repositionable cannon made of bronze. This particular one is the first model they came up with. The base is wood and it is designed to move quickly to reposition and fire. Guerrrrrrrilla warfare if you will. This model was revised when they got it in the field and discovered that every time they picked it up to move it the thing wanted to turn upside down. Later versions had a wider wooden base and the handles were positioned on the sides instead of front and back to carry the thing.
They also have an impressive World War I memorial right smack on top. They really know how to make things look like they've been there all along. Maybe it's just that everything has the same layer of soot on it.
Once done there we went on the Whisky Heritage Experience and learned all about how to find a single malt that will become our friend for life. Hannah said "this is where alcoholics come from". I didn't take any photos there. We were taught how to properly appreciate a scotch whiskey and rode through a Disney-esque (sans moving mannequins) presentation in a four seat whiskey barrel. They have a real odd thing here for taxidermied dogs and cats. There were two dogs and a cat in this presentation.
Wandering down the Royal Mile we shopped again and again and then Terry and I went into St. Giles Cathedral for a look around.
Lovely stained glass (though I thought Meg's chapel were more beautiful) a huge pipe organ and a choir was practicing for a concert so the hall was filled with voices. It was a restful moment.
Later we continued down the hill and ended up back on Rose street which is where there are many restaurants. We selected a likely looking location and went inside for a pint or two and dinner. The hilarity began when we tried to order. For the sandwiches you could select from a wrap, multigrain or white bloomers, or white bap. I tried my luck with the bloomers and it turned out fine. Just whole grain bread. There was ketchup for the chips and Terry ordered nachos which were really good.
Then things started getting dodgy again. Meg and I went up to the bar to order more drinks (there's no table service in pubs here) and there was a man standing there wearing a car length coat and he did not appear to be wearing any pants. He was not wearing a kilt either. I'm assuming that he had on short shorts under that coat but I decided to restrain myself and not peek. The funny thing was another guy at the bar apologized to us saying it wasn't at all the usual fashion for guys to go into bars bare-assed (though I have seen them go out in their y-fronts - but that's another story). Meg and I shrugged it off Meg ordered three pints then went back to the table.
Well, we didn't look at the tap when we ordered the drinks and ended up with three pints of cider, which looks just like a lager but when you drink it just messes you up. We wandered on after that, unable to suck down an entire pint of the cider and went to another establishment for a nice predictable brown ale and another chocolate monstrosity for Hannah before heading back to Princes street and the buses back home.
We took turns plotting against the people on the inside of the restaurant who kept staring at Hannah and jacking with the locals by trying to remember how that song by ...oh hell, now I can't remember the name of the band. But we finally remembered the song and I'll share it with you now....(throat clearing noises)...Come on Irene oh I swear da da da da....you mean everything ....da da da doo....Dexies Midnight Runners, yeah that's it. I hope you enjoyed this musical interlude and now we return you to your regularly scheduled program so that I can once again prepare to board old number 44 for the daily trip into town.
Later...gj
This thing is clear up on top of a cliff as you can see. Here's a better view from below...
Then we got to the top of the hill and found out if you give them 9 pounds they'll let you walk right in and do just about anything you want except take flash photographs of the "honors" which are the stone of destiny, the crown, sword and scepter. So we gave them the money and went for a walk around. Here's what we saw:
One of the windows in St. Margarets Chapel a beautiful tiny chapel on top of the hill. The window is a depiction of Wm Wallace I think.
Here's a little something for the warmongers among you. This is a Georgian Trench Mortar. It is quickly repositionable cannon made of bronze. This particular one is the first model they came up with. The base is wood and it is designed to move quickly to reposition and fire. Guerrrrrrrilla warfare if you will. This model was revised when they got it in the field and discovered that every time they picked it up to move it the thing wanted to turn upside down. Later versions had a wider wooden base and the handles were positioned on the sides instead of front and back to carry the thing.
They also have an impressive World War I memorial right smack on top. They really know how to make things look like they've been there all along. Maybe it's just that everything has the same layer of soot on it.
Once done there we went on the Whisky Heritage Experience and learned all about how to find a single malt that will become our friend for life. Hannah said "this is where alcoholics come from". I didn't take any photos there. We were taught how to properly appreciate a scotch whiskey and rode through a Disney-esque (sans moving mannequins) presentation in a four seat whiskey barrel. They have a real odd thing here for taxidermied dogs and cats. There were two dogs and a cat in this presentation.
Wandering down the Royal Mile we shopped again and again and then Terry and I went into St. Giles Cathedral for a look around.
Lovely stained glass (though I thought Meg's chapel were more beautiful) a huge pipe organ and a choir was practicing for a concert so the hall was filled with voices. It was a restful moment.
Later we continued down the hill and ended up back on Rose street which is where there are many restaurants. We selected a likely looking location and went inside for a pint or two and dinner. The hilarity began when we tried to order. For the sandwiches you could select from a wrap, multigrain or white bloomers, or white bap. I tried my luck with the bloomers and it turned out fine. Just whole grain bread. There was ketchup for the chips and Terry ordered nachos which were really good.
Then things started getting dodgy again. Meg and I went up to the bar to order more drinks (there's no table service in pubs here) and there was a man standing there wearing a car length coat and he did not appear to be wearing any pants. He was not wearing a kilt either. I'm assuming that he had on short shorts under that coat but I decided to restrain myself and not peek. The funny thing was another guy at the bar apologized to us saying it wasn't at all the usual fashion for guys to go into bars bare-assed (though I have seen them go out in their y-fronts - but that's another story). Meg and I shrugged it off Meg ordered three pints then went back to the table.
Well, we didn't look at the tap when we ordered the drinks and ended up with three pints of cider, which looks just like a lager but when you drink it just messes you up. We wandered on after that, unable to suck down an entire pint of the cider and went to another establishment for a nice predictable brown ale and another chocolate monstrosity for Hannah before heading back to Princes street and the buses back home.
We took turns plotting against the people on the inside of the restaurant who kept staring at Hannah and jacking with the locals by trying to remember how that song by ...oh hell, now I can't remember the name of the band. But we finally remembered the song and I'll share it with you now....(throat clearing noises)...Come on Irene oh I swear da da da da....you mean everything ....da da da doo....Dexies Midnight Runners, yeah that's it. I hope you enjoyed this musical interlude and now we return you to your regularly scheduled program so that I can once again prepare to board old number 44 for the daily trip into town.
Later...gj
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Quickie post and bunch of photo links from last week
It's a grey morning about 6am local time. We're in Edinburgh and so far I think everything is just dandy here. We settled into the B&B yesterday afternoon and then went out for some dinner. The only problem with this place is that it isn't near anything. We have to hop on the 44 bus to take us into where the action is. It's about a 15 minute bus ride into town. We're kind of out in the suburbs if you will. Anyway the rest of this week promises to be a whirlwind. I'll get more photos up as I can...here's a taste of what we saw last week...gj
Playing catchup here with the photos. Here's what you may have missed.
Alnwick Town Square
Alnwick Town Square
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
Alnwick town
Alnwick
Views of Hadrians Wall and the Roman Ruins at Housesteads Roman Fort
More
More
More - the roman latrines Terry blogged about
This was taken without a flash so it's a little blurry - our octopus friend
They had Seahorses, but they wouldn't let us ride them
I haven't gotten the photos from the cheviots downloaded from the camera yet so I'll save that for another time.
Playing catchup here with the photos. Here's what you may have missed.
Alnwick Town Square
Alnwick Town Square
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
AlnwickGardens
Alnwick town
Alnwick
Views of Hadrians Wall and the Roman Ruins at Housesteads Roman Fort
More
More
More - the roman latrines Terry blogged about
This was taken without a flash so it's a little blurry - our octopus friend
They had Seahorses, but they wouldn't let us ride them
I haven't gotten the photos from the cheviots downloaded from the camera yet so I'll save that for another time.
Saturday June 9
Hello everyone! Woohoooo! We are in the land of the WiFi again! Expect pictures soon for many of our previous blog posts. As you may already see, we're trying to catch up on our blog posts, too.
Today has been fairly uneventful as it is a travel day. We spent most of the morning just getting packed up and the rental car returned, and doing those sorts of things. We did have enough time to go back to Alnwick to the city center to check out market day. It was a lovely little farmers market which we quickly browsed, then enjoyed sitting outside and sipping coffee and people watching.
We took the 2:03 train, and have now arrived in Edinburgh and checked into our inn. We're just going to rest here for a few minutes, then go exploring a bit.
Love to all of you
Marg
Today has been fairly uneventful as it is a travel day. We spent most of the morning just getting packed up and the rental car returned, and doing those sorts of things. We did have enough time to go back to Alnwick to the city center to check out market day. It was a lovely little farmers market which we quickly browsed, then enjoyed sitting outside and sipping coffee and people watching.
We took the 2:03 train, and have now arrived in Edinburgh and checked into our inn. We're just going to rest here for a few minutes, then go exploring a bit.
Love to all of you
Marg
Friday, June 8
6/8/07 Day Sixteen. Friday.
The morning was spent doing some laundry, sorting out things to be shipped back home, and just generally kind of getting packed up for our travel day tomorrow. Around noon we got out to the post office and mailed off our extra crap, then back to The Towers for lunch. (Hannah had a hankering for a real hamburger)
After lunch we took a drive up to the Cheviot Hills. Lovely. Absolutely lovely. That's all I can really say about it. Babbling brooks. Amazing colors. Little forests that look like little red riding hood might be wandering through them. Whippy windy little roads all the way. It was a wonderful drive. I think we're all still a bit tired from our Roman Road day, because nobody was too keen on the idea of getting out and walking much. We just stopped here and there and got out and took some pictures, then climbed back in the car. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.
We got home about 4, I think. I went over and settled up with Laura, our landlady. Then we just kind of relaxed for a bit before going out to dinner and a play. Dinner was at The Oaks again. We had heard good things about their "carvery", so we decided to give it a try. I'm glad we did. It was delicious.
The theatre performance was "The Knicker Lady", a one woman humourous talk/show about undergarments throughout history. It was very funny. I think we all enjoyed it.
We're back at the cottage by 10, and I think we're all planning on a fairly early night. Tomorrow we head to Edinburgh, and I think we're all looking forward to that.
The morning was spent doing some laundry, sorting out things to be shipped back home, and just generally kind of getting packed up for our travel day tomorrow. Around noon we got out to the post office and mailed off our extra crap, then back to The Towers for lunch. (Hannah had a hankering for a real hamburger)
After lunch we took a drive up to the Cheviot Hills. Lovely. Absolutely lovely. That's all I can really say about it. Babbling brooks. Amazing colors. Little forests that look like little red riding hood might be wandering through them. Whippy windy little roads all the way. It was a wonderful drive. I think we're all still a bit tired from our Roman Road day, because nobody was too keen on the idea of getting out and walking much. We just stopped here and there and got out and took some pictures, then climbed back in the car. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.
We got home about 4, I think. I went over and settled up with Laura, our landlady. Then we just kind of relaxed for a bit before going out to dinner and a play. Dinner was at The Oaks again. We had heard good things about their "carvery", so we decided to give it a try. I'm glad we did. It was delicious.
The theatre performance was "The Knicker Lady", a one woman humourous talk/show about undergarments throughout history. It was very funny. I think we all enjoyed it.
We're back at the cottage by 10, and I think we're all planning on a fairly early night. Tomorrow we head to Edinburgh, and I think we're all looking forward to that.
Thursday June 7
6/7/07 Day Fifteen. Thursday.
Hannah is exhausted and has bowed out of joining us today. She wants a lazy day, as do we all, I think, but she is more adamant about it, so she's taking a day off while the rest of us go off in our rented car.
We were slow to move out, but about noon we three went off to Lindesfarne.
It was a drizzly day at the start, and we decided to stop at a cafe there for lunch, hoping the rain would end while we ate. Just as we were finishing up though, we heard some loud cracks of thunder and saw that it was raining quite hard as about 30 school children rushed into the cafe clamoring for ice cream. We ducked out of there as quick as we could, pulled our hoods over our heads and went ahead and toured the priory anyway. It was a bit of a bummer in the rain, but it meant we had the place pretty much to ourselves, so that was nice. The priory is a beautiful old place, and I enjoyed wandering around there a lot.
After the ruins, we toured the priory museum, which was also quite interesting. We finished our tour and were heading back to the car, thinking that perhaps we might go somewhere else, too, but it was raining hard and as we were walking, a car drove quickly by, splashing me and Gretchen pretty much from head to foot, drenching us with water. Thankful that we had a car, we just hurried to the car, then home to dry clothes.
Terry and Gretchen went off to the store and picked up a couple of frozen pizzas for dinner while I rustled up some dry clothes and hung about the house. After eating we stopped by Barter Books, the largest used book store in Great Britain for a little looksee. Oh my, I just loved it. If we had had more time, I might like to stay there and browse for a couple of days. The walls were lined with glass cases of rare books and first editions, and just looking at those took me close to an hour. Lucky for us, really, (or we might have spent a lot more money) the place was closing soon, so Hannah and Gretchen found a couple of things they wanted, but Terry and I left empty handed. The idea of hauling books home through three airports really hampered my desire. I do admit that a signed first edition of The House on Pooh Corner did make me consider it, though.
Gretchen, Hannah and I stayed up a while sipping whisky (Gretchen and I that is - not Hannah) and gabbing, but Terry made a fairly early night of it.
Hannah is exhausted and has bowed out of joining us today. She wants a lazy day, as do we all, I think, but she is more adamant about it, so she's taking a day off while the rest of us go off in our rented car.
We were slow to move out, but about noon we three went off to Lindesfarne.
It was a drizzly day at the start, and we decided to stop at a cafe there for lunch, hoping the rain would end while we ate. Just as we were finishing up though, we heard some loud cracks of thunder and saw that it was raining quite hard as about 30 school children rushed into the cafe clamoring for ice cream. We ducked out of there as quick as we could, pulled our hoods over our heads and went ahead and toured the priory anyway. It was a bit of a bummer in the rain, but it meant we had the place pretty much to ourselves, so that was nice. The priory is a beautiful old place, and I enjoyed wandering around there a lot.
After the ruins, we toured the priory museum, which was also quite interesting. We finished our tour and were heading back to the car, thinking that perhaps we might go somewhere else, too, but it was raining hard and as we were walking, a car drove quickly by, splashing me and Gretchen pretty much from head to foot, drenching us with water. Thankful that we had a car, we just hurried to the car, then home to dry clothes.
Terry and Gretchen went off to the store and picked up a couple of frozen pizzas for dinner while I rustled up some dry clothes and hung about the house. After eating we stopped by Barter Books, the largest used book store in Great Britain for a little looksee. Oh my, I just loved it. If we had had more time, I might like to stay there and browse for a couple of days. The walls were lined with glass cases of rare books and first editions, and just looking at those took me close to an hour. Lucky for us, really, (or we might have spent a lot more money) the place was closing soon, so Hannah and Gretchen found a couple of things they wanted, but Terry and I left empty handed. The idea of hauling books home through three airports really hampered my desire. I do admit that a signed first edition of The House on Pooh Corner did make me consider it, though.
Gretchen, Hannah and I stayed up a while sipping whisky (Gretchen and I that is - not Hannah) and gabbing, but Terry made a fairly early night of it.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
June 6th - Newcastle and thereabouts.
We somehow managed to leave the house at 7:45 in time for Derek (the most wonderful taxi driver in the whole world and honorary member of our team) to take us to the train. So yesterday was filled with the joys of public transportation.
We managed to make it to Newcastle, find the AD122 bus that drives along Hadrians wall and get aboard without incident. There is only one morning bus at 9:00 am so it was important that we make that one. I thought the bus was great. The driver introduced our guide as Rob who then
informed us his name was actually Keith. I'm still not sure who he was but
who cares right?
We toured along the wall out to Housesteads Fort which was well worth the effort for the trip. There are several sections of the wall in ruins that
you can still see while on the way out of the city. The bus drove along the
route of the wall and once we were well out of the city you can still see
the huge ditches they constructed on either side of the wall to make life
more difficult for those wanting to cross it. They had a fancy name
"vallum" (maybe 1 L) for the ditch on the Roman side but the ditch on the
barbarian side was just called the ditch. We forgot to ask why. Perhaps
they felt the barbians didn't deserve a name for their ditch. But several
times we glimpsed portions of the wall still standing in some form or other.
In places the road was built over the wall itself. During the war between
the Scots and the English The military general Wade ordered a road built to
haul supplies and that's where they put it. It apparently made an excellent
foundation for the roadway. I think they called it the military road.
Many of the houses, churches and towers constructed along the way were made of the stone from the wall. The guide pointed out several with their
distinctive rectangular stones (I never saw any other kind so ...). The bus
travelled through a number of picturesque towns and paused to push his
hometown in particular. Later he pointed out another town and a
pub/restaurant/hotel there punctuated with "apparently" when referring to
it's quality. He was evidently English and several times made disparaging
comments (in jest of course...hmmm...) about his Scottish neighbors to the
north. We stopped briefly at Hexam (which was prophetic as it turned out) and experienced yet another English loo. They have the single little squares of toilet paper there just like in the states.
We stumbled along trying to figure out where we wanted off the bus until
that point and then decided that Housesteads fort was the place. At
Housesteads we hopped off and grabbed strange sandwiches (Meg and I had ham salad which was sliced ham with salad on top, Hannah had spicy chicken which was chicken salad) and a cup of coffee before heading up the hill. The operative word here is up. They could have put in stairs. We managed the quarter to half mile walk up the hill to the museum and the site of the ruins. It was a roman fort built up against the wall at the top of the hill. We could certainly see why it was built up there. You could see for miles. It's just inside the Northumbria National Park.
The ruin is basically a small city. There were several structures which had
raised floors presumably for heating. There is evidence of plumbing with
troughs covered over with stones that allowed the detrius to flow downhill. The latrines were still in good shape and you could see the washtub where laundry was presumably washed beside it. There were remains of columns still standing and it really was impressive. At the top of the hill was Hadrians wall. It ran along the ridge and then down to the field below. Not only for defense, the Romans used it for collecting tolls and controlling commerce for those who would travel across.
Meg and Terry will probably go into some detail and I have about two hundred photographs from the wall which will hopefully get posted (not all of them mind you) once we get to a town with some REAL internet. Once we were satisfied that we had absorbed the quiet ambience of the place and had documented each stone we headed back down the hill and waited for a bus to take us back to Newcastle. The plan was to visit an aquarium in Tyneside in the afternoon.
We successfully hopped a bus back to Hexam where Meg posted a brief blog entry from an internet "phone" booth and then we all hopped on the next train back to Newcastle. Once there we stopped in the Burger King for a quick lunch where "Have it your way" means something more like "You'll get whatever I decide to give you - and no arguments about it". Regardless we were happy for a very quick lunch of something we didn't have to look underneath and examine carefully for it's cultural significance before eating.
Finding and then boarding the Metro (subway) was relatively uneventful and we made our way among the school children in their monogrammed school sweatshirts out to Cullercoats stop where we walked for about 15 minutes (not the 5 minutes promised in the literature) to the Blue Reef aquarium. I think it wasn't as big as Hannah had hoped but it was a fun outing. I especially liked the sea otters - there were about six of them - and the sea horses a whole stable full. Hannah wanted to cuddle with the seals but I thought they were looking at me like maybe I'd be tasty. They also had an octopus there. He was awesome, very actively sliding along the glass like the gelatinous slithering thing that he was. Meg and I discussed the image of having to pull him off of your face (yours, not ours mind you). Though Meg thought he could give a heck of a sinus massage...
Once we were through the aquarium we headed back all the time wondering if we'd really be able to figure out how to get on the correct train and make it back to Alnwick without becoming stranded. The train tables aren't exactly the most intuitive. We somehow managed after a subway ride, bumbling around the station trying to figure out why the train at platform 2 wasn't going to where we thought it should be going (our train wasn't in yet, that's why) and once the correct train did arrive we boarded, everyone still had their tickets and we sat at a table all four of us together.
Feeling splendidly pleased with our transport navigation abilities things
were looking up until this nice older man climbed into the seat behind Meg. He proceeded to ask if the train was going south to which Meg replied, uh no, it's going north. He sat back in the seat wrestled with a quart of lager trying to get the lid off on the hook holding the tray table in place. Coughing just like the audio narration at the castle (see I finally came back to that) and making us just sure he was going to hurl his lunch through the split between the seats all over Meg's new purse - good thing that's weatherproof - he finally tried to hand Meg his beer and said "Open that". Meg declined, informing him she didn't know how (snort). We're rolling by this time so we are just sure we'll be dealing with him all the way to Alnmouth. He once again asked if we were going south to which Meg informed him "No, still going north".
Before anything else happened Meg made emphatic eye motions to the two cops that had climbed on board before we left and they escorted the old guy to the area between the cars so that we were no longer threatened by his
swinging the beer bottle trying to open it.
He spent the rest of his journey alternately falling down, crying and trying to find out of the train was going south or not in the presence of the two officers. They put him off at Alnmouth since he didn't have a ticket and he's presumably still wandering around Alnmouth trying to find a train south.
We were picked up by our wonderful taxi driver Derek and he proceeded to
deliver us to the Oaks hotel for dinner, after driving us by the Vauxhall
dealer and providing introduction so that we can rent a car to go to Lindesfarne and the Cheviot Hills over the next two days.
It was another wonderful dinner though Terry's steak was creamated. Medium well? - He must have been really tired when he ordered. Meg and I had a chicken and pasta dish that had a wonderful stuffing under the skin and morel mushrooms in the sauce. Hannah had scampi which here apparently means any shrimp breaded and deep fried.
We drank a couple of real ales and debated the wisdom of trying to walk the mile back to the cottage finally giving in, letting Hannah take the blame
and calling Derek to come get us. Meg obsessed about it for awhile feeling
guilty about calling him again but finally gave in and called. She tried to
fake that it wasn't us by just telling the woman who answered that we'd like to call a cab. The woman replied "At the oaks are ye? Four of ye?" Meg laughed and admitted that in fact it was us and we finished our ales then waited outside for the cab. Hannah took the blame and accomodated us by laying down on the wall so that when Derek pulled up we looked appropriately exhausted. He didn't charge us for the ride home - Did we say how much we really like him? He reminds me of someone, maybe one of the Blumenthal boys - Eric? I don't know. We hope to get a picture of him and will promote his services to the best of our abilities. He's really a wonderful guy. It doesn't suck being driven around in a Mercedes either.
Exhausted - really, everyone went straight to bed. Well almost, I needed to
do laundry but wasn't able to stay awake through the wash cycle and finally
gave up about 10:30 and went to bed.
So now here we are on Thursday morning, laundry is clanking in the dryer
like it's full of spoons. I've been cleaning out the lint trap every five
minutes having accidentally left a package of kleenex in the pocket of a
jacket I'm washing. It's cold and grey out, the hills across the road
generally obscured by the low clouds and mist. The last two days have been increasingly worse on that count pretty much ruling out Lindesfarne for today since I don't think we'd be able to see it. We may still try for that
tomorrow and if we ever get rolling today we may get to the Cheviots.
I'm looking forward to leaving Saturday and heading to Edinburgh as we have pretty much exhausted our Alnwick experience. There hasn't been a single bar fight. We thought about fighting amongst ourselves just to make sure we got the full Alnwick experience but that seems like an awful lot of effort.
Come to think of it one of the bartenders at the Oaks did kind of have a
black eye....
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Wednesday June 6
6/6/07 Day Fourteen. Wednesday.
Oh my it hurt to get up this morning after staying up so late with Gretchen and Hannah. But get up we did, all of us ready on time for our 7:45 cab ride to the train station. Derek was cheerful and chatty as usual, and we arranged to give him a call when we were on our train coming home and he would come and retrieve us, too.
Our 8:12 train to Newcastle arrived on time, and we were in that lovely city before we had even got settled. From the train station it was a short walk to the bus stop where we picked up our guided tour bus for the Roman Wall.
There were many points of interest, and I'm sure Gretchen has blogged most of the events of the day, so I'll just kind of concentrate on one thing that kept me pondering most of the day.
The guide was talking about a point in history in which the English and the Scottish were almost constantly having little skirmishes and raids along the borderlands. These were called the Reaver Wars. (A reaver, I found out at another museum, is an assistant to the king). So anyway, the people trying to live in the border lands were often getting their animals confiscated, or their homes looted, or even getting themselves killed because of these little skirmishes, and that became known as "being reaved". Our modern word "bereaved" comes from that, meaning "to have a loss".
I find it fascinating to be in an area where almost every building, every street, every hill, and almost every name have some historical story behind them. I wonder what it would be like to grow up in an environment like this, so aware of the history surrounding you. Would one feel much more connected to a place and those around you? Would one feel more sure of themselves, knowing their place in the long tide of history? I just don't know.
Anyway, the tour was fascinating, and we jumped off the bus at Housesteads Fort and took a look around. Oh. My. God. These ruin things are not easy to get to, I'm telling ya. To get to this one from the car park, you have to walk up a windy path up this absolutely HUGE hill. It's probably at least 1/2 mile of hard walking straight up before you get there. I am amazed more people don't just keel over from the strain of it. If you do it, though, you are rewarded. The ruins are wonderful, and we wandered around there for a couple of hours at least, I think. Terry really wanted to walk along the wall, so he did so while we girls took pictures of him. We probably would have stayed longer on a nicer day, but it was quite chilly, and it didn't take too long for us all to decide we'd had enough. Back down that bitch of a hill, we went, and got another tour bus to take us back to Hexham. We couldn't catch one all the way back to Newcastle at that time, so we just went as far as they went then, which was Hexham, and then we caught a train back to Newcastle. From the train station we hopped over to the subway station, and got on that for Cullercoats, which was our stop to get to the aquarium.
The sign at the Cullercoats station said "Just turn left and 5 minutes to the aquarium", but that was a just plain lie. It's at least a mile to the aquarium, so I don't think anyone but a track star could do it in 5 minutes. It's a pretty walk, though, stretching along the waterfront. If it had been warmer, and if we had had more time, I would have liked to explore the beaches some more. As it was, we were short on time, though, so we headed straight for the aquarium.
The aquarium was small, but nice. I think we all enjoyed it. At the very least, we all enjoyed being inside a warm building for a couple of hours. It was close to closing time when we decided it was time to make the trek back to the station.
Subway back to Newcastle train station, then as luck would have it, a train heading back to Alnmouth was there within just a few minutes. Other than a weird drunk behind me, which I'm sure Gretchen told you all about, the ride was fairly uneventful. Derek, the absolutely best taxi driver in the universe picked us up at the station and brought us in to town. We had him drop us at The Oaks, which is just about a 15 minute walk from the cottage, so we could get a bit of supper before going home.
The Oaks was warm and toasty, and their ale was tasty. The potato leek soup was fantastic. I don't actually remember what else I had. Something involving chicken and stuffing, I think. We were so tired by that time, I think the warmth and the ale got to us, and we all just bumbled through our supper. We all were dreading the walk home, too. We had walked so much all day, we just didn't have it in us to go any more, so I called Derek again, and he hopped over in no time at all to take us home. Bless his heart, he didn't even charge us for that one. I tell you. Amazing.
Needless to say, it was early to bed for all of us. We came into a cold house, and we talked about how someone should light a fire. That conversation lasted about a minute and a half, all of us realizing that no matter how cold the house was, our beds were cozy and warm. We all just climbed into bed, instead. I think I might have broken a personal record as to how fast I was asleep that night.
Oh my it hurt to get up this morning after staying up so late with Gretchen and Hannah. But get up we did, all of us ready on time for our 7:45 cab ride to the train station. Derek was cheerful and chatty as usual, and we arranged to give him a call when we were on our train coming home and he would come and retrieve us, too.
Our 8:12 train to Newcastle arrived on time, and we were in that lovely city before we had even got settled. From the train station it was a short walk to the bus stop where we picked up our guided tour bus for the Roman Wall.
There were many points of interest, and I'm sure Gretchen has blogged most of the events of the day, so I'll just kind of concentrate on one thing that kept me pondering most of the day.
The guide was talking about a point in history in which the English and the Scottish were almost constantly having little skirmishes and raids along the borderlands. These were called the Reaver Wars. (A reaver, I found out at another museum, is an assistant to the king). So anyway, the people trying to live in the border lands were often getting their animals confiscated, or their homes looted, or even getting themselves killed because of these little skirmishes, and that became known as "being reaved". Our modern word "bereaved" comes from that, meaning "to have a loss".
I find it fascinating to be in an area where almost every building, every street, every hill, and almost every name have some historical story behind them. I wonder what it would be like to grow up in an environment like this, so aware of the history surrounding you. Would one feel much more connected to a place and those around you? Would one feel more sure of themselves, knowing their place in the long tide of history? I just don't know.
Anyway, the tour was fascinating, and we jumped off the bus at Housesteads Fort and took a look around. Oh. My. God. These ruin things are not easy to get to, I'm telling ya. To get to this one from the car park, you have to walk up a windy path up this absolutely HUGE hill. It's probably at least 1/2 mile of hard walking straight up before you get there. I am amazed more people don't just keel over from the strain of it. If you do it, though, you are rewarded. The ruins are wonderful, and we wandered around there for a couple of hours at least, I think. Terry really wanted to walk along the wall, so he did so while we girls took pictures of him. We probably would have stayed longer on a nicer day, but it was quite chilly, and it didn't take too long for us all to decide we'd had enough. Back down that bitch of a hill, we went, and got another tour bus to take us back to Hexham. We couldn't catch one all the way back to Newcastle at that time, so we just went as far as they went then, which was Hexham, and then we caught a train back to Newcastle. From the train station we hopped over to the subway station, and got on that for Cullercoats, which was our stop to get to the aquarium.
The sign at the Cullercoats station said "Just turn left and 5 minutes to the aquarium", but that was a just plain lie. It's at least a mile to the aquarium, so I don't think anyone but a track star could do it in 5 minutes. It's a pretty walk, though, stretching along the waterfront. If it had been warmer, and if we had had more time, I would have liked to explore the beaches some more. As it was, we were short on time, though, so we headed straight for the aquarium.
The aquarium was small, but nice. I think we all enjoyed it. At the very least, we all enjoyed being inside a warm building for a couple of hours. It was close to closing time when we decided it was time to make the trek back to the station.
Subway back to Newcastle train station, then as luck would have it, a train heading back to Alnmouth was there within just a few minutes. Other than a weird drunk behind me, which I'm sure Gretchen told you all about, the ride was fairly uneventful. Derek, the absolutely best taxi driver in the universe picked us up at the station and brought us in to town. We had him drop us at The Oaks, which is just about a 15 minute walk from the cottage, so we could get a bit of supper before going home.
The Oaks was warm and toasty, and their ale was tasty. The potato leek soup was fantastic. I don't actually remember what else I had. Something involving chicken and stuffing, I think. We were so tired by that time, I think the warmth and the ale got to us, and we all just bumbled through our supper. We all were dreading the walk home, too. We had walked so much all day, we just didn't have it in us to go any more, so I called Derek again, and he hopped over in no time at all to take us home. Bless his heart, he didn't even charge us for that one. I tell you. Amazing.
Needless to say, it was early to bed for all of us. We came into a cold house, and we talked about how someone should light a fire. That conversation lasted about a minute and a half, all of us realizing that no matter how cold the house was, our beds were cozy and warm. We all just climbed into bed, instead. I think I might have broken a personal record as to how fast I was asleep that night.
Hadrian's Wall
Today we went to Hadrian’s wall via Newcastle. I happen to like old falling-down rocks, and am a history buff to the core, so I had a blast. But this really is a big “don’t bother” unless you really like old broken things. There isn’t much of the wall left. Looking at the pictures made me think there were miles of the thing that one might enjoy hiking along. But the thing’s been pillaged over the centuries, and there are just a few fragments. Still, walking around what little we saw was fun for me, as well as wandering through the (broken foundations of the) buildings in the Roman fort at Housesteads.
There was one thing these Romans did right. The fort was built on the south slope of a tall hill, and the latrines were situated such that the drainage pointed away from the well. But the (broken foundations of the) village outside the south gate of the fort looked a little close to the latrine drainage path for my likes.
There was one thing these Romans did right. The fort was built on the south slope of a tall hill, and the latrines were situated such that the drainage pointed away from the well. But the (broken foundations of the) village outside the south gate of the fort looked a little close to the latrine drainage path for my likes.
Quickie post
Hello all. This is just a quick post from the train station in Hexham,mostly just to see if it works. We are train hopping today, visiting Newcastle and Hadrians wall. Love to all -Marg
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