Yay Durham!

Thursday, 17 September

Left at 8am today for Durham. Paul was, once again, our wonderful bus driver!

The northern countryside is increadibly beautiful. It's very hilly with lots of trees and animal pastures. It kindof reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. A lot of people commented on how it looks a lot like Iowa, but I disagree. I have yet to see fields of corn as far as the eye can see!

We got to Durham about 2:30 and checked into our hotel. It was a lot nicer than I think any of us were expecting, and so much bigger. Shelby and I thought we had a big room, but others were even bigger! We had time to explore before meeting for Durham's Evensong so Megan, Maddi, Shelby, and I walked around to look at some shops, got ice cream, and walked along the river. It was nice to be able to see the bottom of one for once--the Thames is so mucky!

We got back up to the Cathedral to meet the group and I went into the church. It was the perfect time, too, because some dusty light was coming through a west window and shining on the baptismal font, creating an awesome atmosphere. The effect was somewhat spoiled, however, since there was electrical and band equipment everywhere: Sting was set to perform that night. And while I was back admiring Cuthbert's tomb like a good little student, the rest of the group saw Sting back by Bede's tomb! Shoot! And just what Gammon wanted, too--all of us standing at the Venerable Bede's tomb after having discussed his Ecclesiastical History of the English People and nobody being able to take their eyes off Sting! Haha!

Evensong was at 5 and was okay. I think I like Latin better for the atmosphere and this was in English. After, I went to a pub with Gammon, Brandon, Maddi, Josh, and Steph to hang out before dinner. Fun times!

The hotel provided dinner at 8 and it was an even bigger surprise than our huge rooms: 3 fancy courses! I had soup, lamb, and cheesecake. AND I got to try blood pudding! I got Gammon to promise that if I ate it all he would buy me a drink later, and I did. It wasn't bad either--like salty catfood.

Then we went to a different pub and Gammon made good on his promise. I tried my first lagger--not bad!