Hello Friends! Life had been one thing after another since coming to the UK. As I mentioned at the end of my last post, I was on a six day trip around Northern UK. We went to Lake District, Durham, and Edinburgh (Scotland).
Lake District
We took a coach (bus) from Nottingham to Keswick, a small tourist town. I know it sounds silly, but I was completely expecting to see cows in the fields, so it was offsetting for a split second when I saw lots of sheep and lamb. That may totally be due to the fact that I have not really got into my mind that I am not home anymore.
Anyways, one of the first things we did in Keswick was visit the Castlerigg Stone Circle. This site has been dated back to the neolithic period (4000-5000 years ago). The interesting fact is that the purpose of this site is unknown. So possibly interesting unknown fact would be better way to phrase it. There are several theories for what the purpose was, such as trading post, ritual space, or just a place of gathering in general. Although, it was slightly eerie that three bodies have been discover.
Durham
On our way to Durham, we stopped to visit Hadrian’s Wall, which was built starting 122 AD and took 15 years to finish. The Romans built this wall to separate from Scotland, whom the considered barbarians. The entire length of the wall goes on for 77 miles! Don’t worry- we only hiked a little over 3 miles of it. The terrain was tough to hike due to the stone steps and steep hills, but completely worth it for the beautiful views. It funny because the natives would consider that a small walk. I beg to differ.
In Durham, we visited the cathedral, which I initially mistaken for a castle from the outside. It took 40 years to build the massive cathedral (1093-1133). As our group walked through the doors, it was an overwhelming experience. There was so much detail to take in all at once. The architects of this cathedral did an incredible job building what seems like an everlasting masterpiece. Every detail on the stone columns, stained-glass, paints tells a story of the history of this cathedral. My favorite part of the cathedral was the wood carving on the right hand side. It was carved to demonstrate Jesus’s pain and suffering when he died on the cross. If you look closely, the arm on the right hand side of carving on the floor is not attached, and the artist left it that way to demonstrate that Jesus’s work is never done. That is such a powerful wood carving.
Edinburgh, Scotland
We spent most of our time in the City of Edinburgh, which was originally enclosed by a stone wall up until the 18th century. Those who were wealthy enough had the privilege of leaning and returning, while the poor lived their entire life not knowing what’s outside the four walls. When the wall was ordered to be torn down, life started to spread quickly, leading to the ‘old’ and ‘new’ town. These two towns are split by Princes street. We did a lot of tours to learn as much about their history as we could in the three days we were there.
The Edinburgh Castle is sight to take in from the base of Castle Rock, which was formed when a volcano erupted a few hundred years ago. I found it hard to imagine people living in the castle, but as I continued through each part of the castle, my imagination took off. Often times when we think of castles, we think of the royal family, but there is so much more to a castle than just that. There is the story behind each room, from the dinning hall to the prisons within the castle walls. Just imagine the kind of life the royal family, workers, and prisoners had.
On the other days, we visited heritage centers and museums. Scotland had a long history filled with ups and downs. Today, you can still see the affects of trade with other countries and invasions. Anything from dances to a cabinet has influences from the Dutch and/or Norwegians.
Visiting the monuments on Calton Hill was one of my favorite activities. Up on the hill lies Scotland’s National Monument, also known as Scotland’s Disgrace. It was suppose to be a replica of the Parthenon, like the one in Greece, but Scotland ran out of money to fund it. It stands high up in the hill only 10% finished. Up there is also the Nelson’s Monument, along with a monument dedicated to the prisoners of Auschwitz in Germany. While up there, we had a beautiful view of the hill Arthur’s Seat was on, so we decided to make the hike up there. That was one of the toughest hikes I have ever done. It wasn’t a long distance (1 mile hike), but it was one mile of a steep hill filled with rough stone steps. My group members and I wanted to beat the time of our director (45 minutes up the hill), so we set a fast pace and made it in 26 minutes! We were out of breathe, but it was so worth it. The view up there took our breathe away. We could see miles and miles of the city sprawled out. It’s hard to think that this city was once enclosed in four stone walls.
That’s a wrap for my first trip! There is so much going on during these travel days that I couldn’t fit it all on here. This coming weekend, we will be going to London and Bath! Look out for another post on that!
Nottingham Adventures 