Last week in Durham

This'll have to be quick because I'm now on the other side of the Atlantic and faced with the somewhat monumental task of moving our household and family across the country...  in a few short weeks!

Monday of our last week -- met our friends at the train station and enjoyed a lovely evening with their jet-lagged and exhausted selves.

Tuesday -- beautiful weather for the second day in a row.  The day included a cathedral tour, climbing-up-the-Tower, walking around town, card-playing...  Evensong at the Cathedral followed by a yummy dinner at a Spanish restaurant in town.

Wednesday -- day trip to Lindisfarne (the "Holy Island").  Perfect weather.  Really nice.  Dinner tonight at a Thai restaurant.

Thursday -- the rains came down.  Quiet day -- didn't do much, me just mainly getting ready to leave and the rest of us taking it easy, shopping, Chris finishing up his work.  Our plans to visit a local 13th century manor house and gardens were scratched due to the weather.  A Castle tour was on the itinerary but there were no guides...  I guess the students weren't available, it being a graduation day for a lot of them.   Early dinner at our flat.  Some of us went to Evensong at the Cathedral.

Friday -- our friends departed for Edinburgh, we packed up and headed in the opposite direction, for London.  Nice weather -- I took the Underground just a few stops to the National Gallery and enjoyed a few hours there, just me and my audioguide!  Very much the perfect way to do an art museum, I've decided.

Saturday -- last "full English" breakfast and then off to Heathrow.  Flight home was uneventful.  I watched 3 movies.

So there it is.  I would add photos but they are on my laptop and I'm too lazy to go get them.  Not really, I'm not lazy, but I am prioritizing, and moving the photos is NOT on the top of my list.

Thanks for reading over these last few months!

Day 66 (June 7): Bowes Museum & Barnard Castle

Today's outing proved a bit more challenging due to the fact that we missed our bus connection because of a late bus leaving Durham, and had to wait for the next bus in a town that was, well, not the least bit interesting.  So we walked up and down, ate our sandwiches, looked at our watches, and just tried to enjoy the fact that we were sitting at a bus stop in a random village in northeast England, in the rain.  (We did have rain jackets and umbrellas so no worries there.  We've learned to be prepared for rain at all times.)

Then, the bus that came through and picked us up took a rather roundabout "scenic" route to our destination...  but again, the bright side here is that we got to see some more of the English countryside for nothing extra!

the Bowes Museum

Turns out if we'd gotten to the museum when we'd originally planned that we'd probably have had too much time.  So it all worked out.

The museum was interesting, mainly for its fabulous building and over-the-top collections of paintings, porcelain, furnishings, and household decorations.  A lot to look at so at some point one does start to kinda "glaze over".

I don't remember what was so funny but I like this photo

Also in the town is Barnard Castle (ruins) which we visited in the light rain, after a short walk down the High St. and a stop in Costa Coffee.

girls are peering through the opening to the river below

today was Caroline's 14th birthday

inside one of the castle towers

view of the river Tees

Fortunately the bus ride back to Durham was efficient and uneventful.

Day 65 (June 6): Durham & Raby Castle

The girls and I woke up the next day with the energy for a half-day outing and, realizing that one of the places we were interested in visiting was only open Sunday through Wednesday, we studied the bus timetables and routes (online) and headed out! 

There was some stress at the beginning but it all worked out and we arrived at Raby Castle shortly after it opened for the afternoon. 

there are also gardens to enjoy

with really cool 200-year old yew hedges

front door

The current Lord and his family still live in the Castle.  (That is why it isn't open every day, all day, I expect.)  Parts of the Castle date back to the 14th century when it was originally built.  The interior was quite impressive, but not overwhelming.

no photography is allowed inside but I took lots of pictures outside

The outing was really quite perfect, topped off with a visit to the Castle's tearoom for a late lunch, plus dessert and hot drinks. 

We took the bus back to Durham with no trouble.  A really good afternoon out.

Day 61 (June 2): Isles of Mull & Iona

Our plans for today were a day trip to two islands in the Inner Hebrides.  At 9 am we queued up for the ferry which would take us from Oban to the Isle of Mull. 

you probably can't make it out but there is a small castle tower (ruins) in amongst those trees

Then we rode in a coach across this beautiful island (while being informed and entertained by our driver/guide) to catch another small ferry to the gorgeous Isle of Iona.  We had almost 3 hours on Iona, most of which we spent walking and enjoying the views and scenery.

taken from the highest point on Iona

my husband and youngest daughter are those two specks on the rocks

Just before catching the ferry back to Mull, we quickly toured the abbey on Iona which is on the spot where St. Columba and his followers built a church and established a Catholic community way back in the mid-6th century.

the restored abbey, built on a medieval foundation

bracken grows everywhere on the mountains and hillsides around the sea lochs

We at dinner on the ferry because we needed to attend Mass that evening, which we did at St. Columba's Cathedral in Oban.  

A bit of relaxing in our room and welcome sleep!

Day 52 (May 24): Durham and Beamish Museum, Pt. 2

Afternoon out to Beamish Open Air Museum today -- Chris rode with Grandad in his rental car (eek!) to help him get used to it, and the girls and I rode the Park & Ride to the bus station and took the bus from there.  This was our second visit to the Museum.

under the arbor at the Georgian house

It was another gorgeous day and we enjoyed our afternoon wander through the Georgian house, the Town, the Home Farm, and the Pit Village school and houses.

at the Georgian farm

front of the Home Farm

the Pit Village

the Coal Mine

early 20th century Town

Riding the bus back to town was fairly simple.  Dinner, a bit of TV (American Idol), and bed.

Day 48 (May 20): Durham & Bishop Auckland

Today was sunny and we enjoyed our walk to church.   The walk back to the flat took us through the center of town as we needed to make two quick stops.

River Wear looking north from the Old Elvet Bridge

River Wear looking south from Old Elvet

on the Old Elvet Bridge, looking up into town

After lunch and a rest I took a long walk in a direction I hadn't gone before.  And then, still itchy and wanting to enjoy the good weather, I decided to take a bus to Bishop Auckland, a town about 12 miles away through the countryside, in order to see Auckland Castle, home to Durham's Prince Bishops from the 12th century until just a few years ago.  (I felt very brave doing this all by myself.   Chris was enjoying a long Sunday afternoon nap and Caroline didn't feel like going anywhere.)

12th century part of the building, originally a banqueting hall, now a chapel

nice view from inside the castle

inside the chapel (largest private one in Europe)

I had a very nice tour guide all to myself who took me all through the building and told me lots of interesting stuff.  There are also lovely grounds that used to be the Bishops' "deer park".  Basically the estate was the Prince-Bishops' weekend home and I guess the town that is there now grew up around it.

Home, dinner, some reading, some dumb TV.  A good day all-around.

Day 31: Durham

After an emotionally draining morning (lack of sleep didn't help things) Caroline and I decided to figure out the Park & Ride bus system here in Durham City.   We successfully navigated ourselves into town without walking much at all, stopped in the post office, Waterstone's books (yay!), the bank, and the library.  Much reading material was acquired.  We were not exhausted upon getting home, which was a good thing.  I like the Park & Ride.

our driver was very helpful

Today (for Caroline)  also included ice cream with a Cadbury Flake.

they are really yummy

In the evening there were walks -- some of us went searching for cows and another of us was just out enjoying the sun and the evening sights and sounds.

Day 26: Durham & Beamish Open Air Museum

The rain stayed away again today.  We took advantage of the good weather, walked to the bus station, and rode the bus to the Beamish Open Air Museum.  The weather cooperated and stayed really nice all day! 

The museum is divided into different sections, each representing an era in North of England's history:  a Georgian period gentleman farmer's "estate", a railway station with steam trains, 1913 Edwardian market town, early 1900s mining village and colliery, and an early 20th century farm.  There are fields and meadows in between and period buses and trams to take you from one part to another.  We didn't visit everything today since our ticket is good for future visits and we expect to go back.

we rode this steam train

garden at the Georgian-era gentleman's farm

view of the "Pit Village" and Colliery

What was most impressive from today's visit was when Caroline and I entered a mine and walked down a ways and saw the working conditions of the coal miners who worked here in the North East of England.   The Mahogany drift mine here was opened in 1850 and was worked for over 100 years. 

this mine originally went down 1.5 miles and 5 miles in each direction

I can't tell you how happy I was to get out of there and we were only down there for 10 minutes at the most.  Amazing what those miners did for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.