My “Day” in Durham, England

As the weather in France today has taken a turn for the worse (I had several days of 70 degree weather and lots of sun, and now I am back to cold, rain, and clouds…), I thought it would be the perfect day to write about my trip to Durham, England. My last post discussed my trip to Edinburgh, but I neglected to say why I was there in the first place – I had to go there so I could get to my conference in Durham. The prices and routes for getting anywhere in Europe are still a mystery to me, and since I could easily rant about this for several blog posts, I will save my thoughts for such an occasion. The important thing to know is that Durham was my final destination for another academic conference.

This conference was a bit different than the one I attended in Luxembourg because the subject was “Material Religion” (the material side of religion, including objects used in rituals, representations of religious subjects, the body’s role in rituals, etc.), and my audience included sociologists, anthropologists, art historians, theologians, geographers…I am sure some other disciplines too! To my knowledge, I was the only archaeologist attending, but since I used many modern theories and approaches to understand my own material better, I actually felt quite at home here. I also was fortunate enough to present on the first day, and therefore, had little time to get nervous! I had positive feedback on my presentation, and one colleague told me later it was one of the most creative papers he’s ever seen and that I seemed right at home speaking in front of others (thank you, high school theatre and other various forms of public speaking I endured throughout my pre-college education)! Overall, it was an interesting conference, and I enjoyed listening to papers on different or new topics, and getting to know people from other disciplines.

Thanks S. Schaefer for the photo!

Backtracking a bit, I arrived in Durham Monday afternoon via the train from Edinburgh. The conference lasted from Tuesday to Thursday and went nearly from sun-up to sun-down. Needless to say, I did not have much time to see anything in the city during the conference. I anticipated this and planned Friday as my extra day for sightseeing. I did see one awesome sight during the conference – this room looked quite similar to the Great Hall from the Harry Potter movies! We dined in it and even made sure I was on the Gryffindor side, just to be safe! Apparently other scenes from the films were shot throughout the castle.

The weather was beautiful during the conference, but rained/misted on Friday of course. I spent the day just sort of strolling about; walking was particularly nice after sitting in a conference for three days. 

This is a view of the River Wear from one of the many bridges in Durham. The river actually loops around the highest hill in the area almost creating a peninsula.

It actually looked a bit more like Fall, but the green is slowly coming back. Below is another one of the bridges in Durham, though much lower than the one from the photo above. The pyramid-looking thing in front of it had a niche on the other side; maybe it was for light/a small fire? 

I did manage to visit the Durham Cathedral, which has been voted Britain’s favorite building. The giant, awesome door-knocker is on one of the doors to the Cathedral. If someone sought sanctuary for a crime or any reason, they could knock on this door and were allowed to stay in the protection of the church for about a month. It’s really large and it has interesting columns inside which are all carved with unique geometric designs (no photos inside, sorry!). In the monk’s living area, there was also an impressive library with books in beautiful bookcases that lined the wall and a lovely collection of Anglo-Saxon carved stone art and crosses. It is possible to visit the tower of the cathedral, but I thought paying 5£ to walk up five flights of stairs was a bit much considering the exchange rate.

I was a bit disappointed that the Durham Castle was closed for a private event the day I wanted to see the rest of it. At least I had enough sense to snoop around a bit the night of the HP dinner! I took a few photos near the entrance anyway.

But the best thing I saw in Durham, were signs of life! Flowers! Yes, flowers. I skipped most of this year’s crappy Midwest winter, but it does not stop me from being excited to see these gems! Spring is just around the corner, friends! I promise you! 

Another view of the cathedral. 

The other side of the River Wear which surrounds the hill.

Edinburgh, Even Better the Second Time

I first traveled to Edinburgh in 2006 with my mother and step-father who met up with me after I finished an excavation. We spent several days in and around the city seeing the highlights, such as the gardens, the castle, and a trip to nearby Loch Lomond. With all of the major sights under my belt, I had some freedom to experience Edinburgh in a different way the second time around. Unfortunately, this trip was limited to a single day. I arrived from Paris at 8:30 AM, took the thirty minute bus ride into the city, and could not check into my hotel until 2:00 PM. I had time to kill and had no definitive plans. My train for Durham was leaving the next day at 3:30 PM. I had about 30 hours to spend in Edinburgh – how to make the most of it?

Serendipity was on my side this day and it proved to be one of my most lovely and enjoyable trips in all of my European experiences. Feeling rather defeated about not getting into my hotel and having a shower, I decided to walk around the city. I was staying in Old Town and was already near many of the important sights. I headed along the Royal Mile towards the famous castle on a hill in the center of the city. It was already busy with tourists and I was thankful I was not entering again as I already saw it in 2006. I did walk to the top though to take in the city at dawn/early morning, and as it was a clear day I could see all of the beautiful snow-topped hills surrounding the city.

Being long overdue for a coffee, I found a charming little café near Saint Giles Church, adequately named Saint Giles Café Bar. The staff was nurturing and attentive as they seemed to sense my fatigue. A latte and bacon and maple syrup-topped waffle later, I was feeling a bit more prepared to face the day. I strolled up and down the Royal Mile, and then descended into the more modern areas of the city. I wandered through an old cemetery at the bottom of the central hill before moving on to the Prince’s Gardens, which are, obviously, much more beautiful in the summer when the lush plants are in bloom. It is a good place to have a rest and to people watch for a while as well as taking in the castle from below. 

While walking along the main road, I could see in the distance several structures on the top of a hill that looked like ancient ruins, though no Romans, and certainly no Greeks built cities that far north. Climbing the hill to investigate brought me to a new area of the city I had not explored before. The various signs around the hill and replicas of ancient ruins explained their history and presence in the city. This hill, known as Calton Hill, has a partial, and I think accurately sized, replica of the Pantheon from Athens. This structure, along with its intellectual fame of the 18th century, gave Edinburgh the nickname of “the Athens of the North.”

I was a bit too beat to do anything else after that, though I passed yet another larger, older, and more interesting cemetery on my way back, I did not have the energy to explore further. I crossed the beautifully painted Waverly Bridge, and returned to my hotel for a much needed nap and shower. Feeling refreshed and hungry, I set out for dinner. It was only 5:30, and I decided it was much too early to eat, so I descended the hill yet again, and basically walked all around the castle from below again. I really worked up an appetite at this point!

At the café this morning I inquired if they could recommend a place with great haggis, a traditional Scottish dish made up of sheep parts, onions, and spices cooked inside of a sheep or goat’s stomach. I tried this in 2006, much to my mother’s disgust, and loved it. It is peppery and fully of rich flavor. They recommended a place called The Arcade Haggis and Whiskey House, a charming little hole in the wall I walked past several times that day and failed to see until I actively sought it out. It was quite small and inviting with very wonderful décor. I did not even bother to look at the menu and requested the haggis with the whiskey sauce (as I was instructed this morning). It was phenomenal! It was served stacked in a circular form with mashed potatoes as the base, mashed turnips in the middle, and the haggis on top with the whiskey sauce served all around it. I ate the entire thing. I wandered back to my hotel and flopped in bed to enjoy my incredible food coma.

The next morning I had a meeting planned with a professor in the early part of the day. After our meeting, I still had a few hours to kill before my train. I decided to find a vintage and antique clothing store I read about called W. Armstrong & Son. They had an incredible selection of old clothing from Victorian nightgowns, to 1970s maxi dresses, and a range of furs and various uniforms. There really were some fantastic pieces, though nothing I liked fit me unfortunately even after an hour of browsing their collections.

Just up the hill from Armstrong’s was a sort of screen-printing artist collective called TheRed Door Gallery. They had some really unique pieces and fun subjects that were definitely worth the look. Normally I am not much of a shopper, but after leaving this store I walked past another one that I just could not resist. The store, Ness, has all sorts of cute plaids in various happy color combinations. It was all so cheerful! Shockingly, I splurged and bought myself a bag, though it was probably the only thing in the store that had no plaid on it. Oh well.

So, if you just have a short time in Edinburgh, I highly recommend getting to a few of these major sights I have described (and also The Real Mary King’s Close – a sort of famous ghost tour that takes you to underground parts of the city. I did this in 2006 also and it was one of the most interesting and unusual tours I have ever been on!). I definitely recommend getting to The Arcade for some haggis. If haggis is not your thing, they have many other traditional Scottish dishes that are also worth trying, as well as at least six shelves of different whiskeys!