Day 4 - Durham Cathedral

Durham - Harry had us dropped off next to a huge wall and told us to "go up those stairs and through that opening". It was only day two of the tour, but we figured we could trust him. Sure enough, through the opening in the wall was a courtyard and narrow and winding roads heading into town and up to the cathedral.

Before heading up the hill to the cathedral, we grabbed a pasty for the walk up. Not as good as the ones we had in London but they did the trick. (Thanks for the tip, Christina!)

We were able to see part of the service at Durham Cathedral. Another amazing piece of architecture. No pictures were allowed inside, but we bought the souvenier book. We were told pictures weren't allowed because of "Health and Safety"....we are beginning to think that means "you can't take pictures because we want you to buy hour nice booklet."







It was really windy here too. Thank goodness John from Canada was there with us so we could send him up the hill to see if there was anything interesting to look at. Apparently compared to the cathedral the views were not that spectacular, so we headed back to the bus.

Day 4 - Hadrian's Wall

As would become a trend on this trip, Karen had to wake Deb up from her bus riding nap for this stop. She didn't even get off the bus! It was a little strange to stop for what you imagine to be the Great Wall of Britain, and it is some crumbling rocks next to what looked to the Seattle-ites like a stretch of Aurora Avenue (see the bottom). Still amazing to think it has been around for hundreds of years.
Citizens would steal rock from the wall when it was no longer in use. There is a house across the street that was built with stone from the wall. Now, we are off to Scotland and our first night in Edinburgh. Just a little more driving and we'll be there!

Day 5 - Edinburgh Castle

We are back in Edinburgh!! We will not relive our last experience here, since that involved ale and BBQ pizza, but how fun to be back!! We had the best local tour guide for the morning. He wore his kilt even though it was freezing out (and a little breezy we must say!) His lips were getting a little blue at times, but his voice never faltered. You could probably have heard him in Glasgow!
After a short bus ride, our guide took us to Edinburgh Castle. What a difference it makes to have a guide and not get there when they are about to close! We spent time walking through the buildings and enjoying the scenery.

Apparently the gate in the bottom picture was hit by a delivery truck. Our guide was joking that the accident broke one of the supports and that we should run under. We found out later that it was true and was only supported on one side! Well, we made it. It was like extreme sightseeing.

Day 5 - Rosslyn Chapel

Rosslyn Chapel was on the itinerary for the afternoon. Just a short drive from Edinburgh, it seems like you are stepping back to another time. (A very cold time.) The stonework was absolutely amazing. You couldn't take pictures inside, so we encourage you to look up some info on this chapel. Any interior shots will be worth the effort.
In the 1950s some repair work had actually sealed moisture inside the stone and the interior of the chapel became covered in green algae. They decided it would be best to let the stone dry naturally so they constructed a huge canopy over the entire building to keep the rain off. (When we were there, the wind was blowing the rain sideways, but they assured us that it kept most of the rain off.)
The upside of the scaffolding was that we could climb it and see the roof and buttresses on the upper levels. For architecture nerds like Karen, this was fantastic!

Day 5 - Edinburgh

After Rosslyn Chapel, we had some time to walk around in Edinburgh. It was sunny, so we thought it would be a lovely afternoon just to browse around. It wasn't until we got a few blocks from the bus that we realized why everyone looked so disheveled. The wind was blowing so hard it practically knocked you down! Anytime there was a break in the buildings, you had to brace yourself to get up the street. Enough was enough! We found the Hard Rock Cafe we saw from the bus earlier and sat down to have lunch. (We wouldn't discover the Hard Rock Bruschetta until London, but our lunch was still good.)

It was only the end of October but Christmas decorating was in full swing. Harry was appalled that it was even Halloween yet. We had been seeing signs everywhere about reserving space for Christmas Parties, so we weren't really surprised to see decorations.
The second picture is of a monument to Sir Walter Scott . Hard to imagine a monument like that for an author anywhere else!

Day 5 - Scottish Night

To top off the day, we had a traditional Scottish Night. Arranged for us by Harry, who came dressed in his best kilt, we had a bag piper, a Scottish Dancer and a Robert Burns expert who recited some poetry. We also had the opportunity to try haggis. It was apparently quite the big deal, as we started with the ceremony of the haggis. The haggis was brought in on a platter in a big procession.

We were serenaded with bagpipes throughout dinner and had several Scottish dances performed for us. Having Burns recited made it much easier to understand. Or it could have been the wee dram of whisky we had beforehand. They did use our water glasses to serve it...
Our haggis looked more appealing than we had expected. It might have helped that it was drenched in whisky gravy. or, again, it could have been that dram of whisky! We took pictures of each other eating it so we'd have proof. (and before you mock Karen's hair, refer to the earlier posting about the wind!!)

Day 6 - St. Andrews

A very early start today brought us to St. Andrews as the sun came up. We made a brief stop at the cathedral ruins. Hardly anyone was around this early, so it was nice and peaceful.
We got a chance to see the famous St. Andrews Golf Course. How these guys could be golfing, we have no idea. It was freezing and really windy. The guys were blowing on their hands between swings to keep warm. On top of that, the air force base across the bay was doing testing and jets were taking off every few minutes. Not really the game I'm sure they were looking forward to!

Harry said the wait for a game is currently a year and that sometimes the mist comes in off the ocean and you can't even see your feet. But you take your tee time or go back on the waiting list, so they have people playing in even the worst weather.
Inside this coat and hat is a very cold Deb. Karen decided a picture on the 18th hole wasn't worth it!
The last picture is the golf museum where Deb and Karen spent most of the morning. Amazing how interesting you can find golf when the space is heated!