the north

Fountains Abbey

We took a longer trip up north this last week with multiple stops.  Our ultimate destination was Scotland, Edinburgh to be exact, but before we got there, we stopped first at Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.  The grounds contain the ruins of the abbey as well as multiple other buildings including a mill and a former home that is now apartments.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We encountered much foggy and wet weather which made our explorations of the castles and ruins that much more memorable.  After the Abbey we went to York and saw the cathedral there before heading on to Edinburgh where we spent two nights.

the castle

Our first day there, we saw the Castle and the National Gallery and then I had lunch at the Elephant House Cafe which was pretty good.  I then proceeded to spend three hours shopping for various gifts.  It was so tiring but I did finally find everything that I needed to! After I rested for a bit I went back out to explore the University of Edinburgh campus a little and then went to Waverley Bridge.  The next day a group of us hiked to Arthur's Seat which was quite tiring but totally worth the views of the city.  It was beautiful and a fun experience.

view from the hike

ruins on Lindisfarne

From Edinburgh we headed to the island of Lindisfarne which houses more ruins and a church.  The ruins were closed (we don't know why) but we found a way around the gate so we still got to explore a little bit.  It was really cool going to the island because we had to wait for the tide to go out so that the path would be usable.   It reminded me of "The Woman in Black" and the house that he goes to except this was not creepy at all.  We spent that night in Newcastle but didn't do any sightseeing there.  Instead we got up early and went to see part of Hadrian's Wall.  This was really great and I had lots of fun the first five minutes we were there.  Then I fell backwards and proceed to slide down the hill a bit.  Luckily (or unluckily) I landed on an area covered in snow so I didn't get dirty, only freezingly cold and wet.  My pants weren't completely dry until late afternoon.  It was a miserable morning.  From the Wall we went to Durham to see the Cathedral there and get some lunch.  It was a beautiful building but we weren't allowed to take pictures.

my very wet backside and makeshift hood
(my real hood wouldn't stay up)

Our last stop was home! It was a fun few days and in spite of the rainy weather, I loved it.