July 3, 2018

July 3, 2018

From Edinburgh we followed the eastern shore back into England. Our first stop was at Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Although right now it really is Holy Peninsula, as the tide is out exposing the causeway, letting us drive onto the island. We have a couple hours to visit before we are trapped here. After St Columba setup his monastery in Isle of Iona, he sent monks to Christianize Scotland. A monk named Aidan was sent here to Lindisfarne to work on the Anglo-Saxons. Cuthbert continued Aidan's successful work earning Lindisfarne the nickname "Cradle of English Christianity". Beside proselytizing, they also copied books producing the famed Illuminated Lindisfarne Gospel. Like Iona, Viking Raids caused the monks to flee to the safety of Durham taking the Gospel and the reliquary bones of St Cuthbert with them.

On Lindisfarne, we toured the small museum and then walked the ruins of a later priory built atop the original monastery. We left Holy Island with the rising tide lapping at our heels!

Following the relics of St Cuthbert, we drove south to Durham. Just north of town we stopped at a modern iron sculpture named the 'Angel of the North'. Aimee and I both think it looks like a man with airplane wings.

Durham is a small hilltop town situated, for protection, on a tight bend of the Wear River. We are staying in the castle tonight. Our room is on the top floor of the central Keep. This is student dorm housing of the University. Our room has a view of the castle courtyard and the Cathedral. Unfortunately castles don’t have elevators. 126 stairs to our room up a spiral staircase!

After checking in we toured the nearby World Heritage Cathedral. It is simply magnificent. Built in just forty years, a millennium ago, it has a harmonious Norman Romanesque style. Since it predates Gothic, the arches are round, and the pillars are massive but decorated with geometric designs.

We then walked the town below the Castle. It is like one giant Pedestrian Mall, albeit very vertical as the narrow roads spiral down to the river below. Two of the original bridges remain.

We had dinner at a pub, choosing a traditional English meal of Mince and Dumplings. It is similar to the Shepherd's Pie that Aimee makes. We ate early because most pubs will be crowded with fans watching Soccer. The Brits are playing Colombia tonight in the World Cup in Russia.