Day 8: Newcastle & Durham

This morning I woke up and discovered that one of my roomies, a girl named francis, was headed to Durham, since I had been planning on going (I already had my ticket) I asked if we could go together, and she agreed. We caught the train and got to Durham around 9:00 it is a lovely little town built around a Norman catherdral. I took lots of pictures of the outside but they ask you not to take pictures inside. Frankly the inside is not all that impressive. I like the stained glass but it only dates back to the mid 1800s because all the original was distroyed by the reformers (the same group that tore down the globe theater in London). The mass of the church of England lacks some of the heritage of the catholic mass (especially when done in latin) and lacks the spirit making it basically just large and old. It has a 350 foot tall bell tower but because it was raining ( oh, did I forget to mention it was raining cats today) I couldn't go up. Despite my criticism of the interior, the out side of the cathedral is nothing short of magnificent. It sits on a hill above a curve in the river Wear. Its towers can be seen from miles away and the lush green hilll topped by this ancient and magestic structure is breathtaking. Like I said I took a bunch of pictures, it is unlikely that any can do it justice. I then wandered through the very pleasant town of Durham and went into little artisan shops and admired local products, finally hoping the train back to Newcastle about noon.
I needed to then take the rented bike back and I enjoyed one last ride down the narrow winding and steep old roads of this town. After taking care of that item of business, I discovered that even though some of the outside is being worked on, the inside of the castle this town is named for is still open to the public. It is cold and dark and impressive. The Newcastle society of Antiquities, who maintain it, have some great displays showing artifacts that have been uncovered beneath and around the site, including an impressive display of swords.
After the castle I decided to go back to the roman site I went past yesterday, but after it had closed. It is the site of the garrison at the east end of Hadrian's wall. Many of the orginal foundations can be seen as well as a section of the walls foundation leading off to the west. The site has a replica of a roman bath house and models of what the site may have looked like but for the most part is just rock outlines on the ground, I found it very impressive. The thought that "when these stones were lade some of the apostles were still alive" struck me as well as some thoughts on what empire means and the relitive nature of history. The museum at the site is mainly oriented towards school children but it had some cool artifacts and a tower from which you can view the whole site. In the evening I picked up some supplies I will need for hiking, cooked my dinner and got dessert from a little cafe next door. Now I am finishing some laudry and I am hoping to be in bed soon since I want to get an early start tomorrow.