Today, we travel by train leaving from Haltwhistle to Carlisle.
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We got up and out of the hotel just about checkout time.  The walk to the train station was uneventful.  I keep wondering how long our wheels on the luggage will last.  They have been over lots of brick, cobblestone.

Our train arrives and we are off to the first change in Carlisle.  The next train is fast. The top speed was just over 180 mph.  It is so fast that the train “leans” into curves, but our ride is very smooth.   The displays and announcement are in Welsh first and then in English. Just as we get to Warrington-Bar, which is where we are to change trains to Chester, we discover that the train was canceled for mechanical problems.  The next train arrived in less than an hour so that does not cause us a problem.  Our train arrives and we are off for our last leg of the trip today.  Caer is the original Welsh name for Chester this is a bit confusing with displayed for the next stop.

Our hotel is directly across the road from the train station.  The Queen at Chester Hotel is supposed to be a high-end hotel but we were less than impressed. Our room was very expensive by UK standards, but the room needed painting and the bathroom light over the sink was not working at all. They didn’t get it fixed the 3 nights we were there.

​The hotel does have a restaurant and bar, but we decided to cross to the other corner to a pub/restaurant for dinner.   It was very nice, and we will be back here several times.

We relaxed and watched some TV.  By 10pm, we were getting close to going to sleep. Well, someone in the hall has no idea how to close a door.  They slammed and banged every door they opened and closed.

Today, we are visiting the Roman Army Museum, Hadrian's Wall, and the Walltown Quarry Country Park. 
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The weather looks great, so we go get a couple of pastries for breakfast.  After that, we wait for the bus that will take us up to the wall. 

We purchased a 1-day bus pass for each of us.  The bus we are looking for is AD 122 which is the year when Hadrian's wall construction began. It is a short bus ride, and we are dropped off at the Roman Army Museum and from there we can visit the quarry and wall.

History Warning:

The Romans had been trying to maintain dominance and "tame" the barbarians to the north known as Caledonians or Celts.  When Emperor Hadrian came to tour Britain and was told by his generals about the issues with the barbarians, he asked for solutions and the one he chose was to have a wall built across England from coast to coast.  Wow! The Romans had a very different idea of what was possible.

In 122 AD, the plan was completed, and construction started.  It would stretch over 70 miles from near Newcastle on the east and to the Irish Sea to the west. Originally it was to be a stone wall at least 10 feet wide and 12 feet high. Every 1/3 Roman mile (or over 1700 feet) there was a signal and defensive tower.  Every mile instead was a pair of towers with a fortified gate between along with a barrack.  Every 7 miles were forts.  Amazingly the wall was completed in 6 years though there were expansions.

Most of the wall was built by the soldiers along with experts like surveyors, engineers, masons, and carpenters.  Slaves were not used in the construction.

Eventually 14 forts were built and over 200 towers.

This must have been an imposing and impressive structure to the Celts. 

The wall was maintained until the fall of the Roman empire in 410 AD

​After over 1900 years, it is not surprising that the wall is not what it was when the Romans were maintaining the wall.  Almost all the damage to the wall after the fall of the Roman empire was from people taking stone from the wall to build their own structures such as homes, barns, and even churches.  I will discuss it later but the areas of the wall that are untouched look amazing.  The wall was constructed with concrete and the Romans were experts in mixing concrete and areas that were untouched are in incredibly good shape.

End History lesson...

The museum is very informative, and the movie gave us more understanding of the history of the area.  Lots of displays but the amazing thing is the actual Roman items that have been found.   Sandals, socks, parts of belts, lots of metal clasps, …   All that were found in archeological digs.  It was surprising that they had socks and sandals.  Things I would have thought would not have survived.

We are both feeling pretty good so we take a short hike up to the high point.  This takes us up to one of the last remaining parts of the wall that are almost intact. ​

It was amazing to stand with a hand on the wall knowing that this had been built so long ago.

Oh Shawna found some flowers.

We head back down to the small cafe at bottom of the hill.   Shawna found a local Ale.​

 Get on the bus and head back to the room. ​

Dinner in town was at the same cafe that we had Sunday lunch.

We get ready for tomorrow's long train ride.

Haltwhistle is concidered the "Center of England" geographicly.  They even have a marker.

The town is easy to walk and we decided to try a local cafe for some burgers.  Everyone there were locals.  I guess we stood out a bit but no one really cared.

Shawna found a few flowers too.

Today is a travel day.  After several days of meds and lots and lots of rest and sleep, I am feeling much better though I do get winded easily.

Originally, we were going to walk down the steps and then a bit less than a mile to the train station.  We packed up and got a cab to the train station.  A short while after getting to the train station we were off.  The trains are really nice in the UK.  This will be a long day.  Soon, we are out of Inverness and in the Scottish countryside.

​We start with Northern Eastern Rail to Newcastle and then change trains to Northern Rail to Haltwhistle.  About 7 1/2 hours on trains with an hour layover. A total trip of just over 300 miles.

The trip down to New Castle had several stops so our speed was rarely above 100 mph.  For British rail lines that is practically poking along.  Flying is a far less common way to travel in the UK.  With an express getting from one end of the country to the other in hours.  No security to deal with, nice toilets, food and drink that can be ordered and delivered to your seat, and you only have to be at the station 15 minutes before departure.  It is also inexpensive.  Our trip today ½ way across the country was 80 pounds (about $120) for the two of us.  We did buy those in advance.  People do fly and a flight from one end to the other of the country is under 2 hours but add to that 2 hours for security and the extra time and cost to get to and from the airports which are well outside the city.  On the other hand, the train stop us usually city center and very quick.

We change trains in New Castle and what a difference.  The east/west train is diesel not electric like all our other trains.  Yes, they have overhead electric wires the trains use for power all the way on all the other lines. The train looks like something that would be in an old subway.  The operator is in a small room in the front of our car and the engine is with us underneath.   This train never gets above 65mph. It will be a much noisier ride.  Lots of stops but they are very quick.  We travel about 10 minutes and stop. Repeat over and over. Oh, and they blow the horn.  I have not heard a train blow since we arrived. Almost all train tracks in the UK go over roads or roads go over so there are almost no track crossings that need a horn blown.  They also have fencing to keep people and animals off the tracks. This last train is mostly a commuter for people going to and from school or work in the bigger cities along the coasts. 

We do have some nice views of the countryside.

Ok, this is a very old pub and was founded in 1659 and that is not the age of the building it is much older.  The building was built by monks in 1396 to live in while the church next door was being constructed.  It is mind boggling how old things are here and they just keep using them with some renovations. 

​After her beer, we say, "Thank you" and look for a place for dinner.  Greeting the staff at a business is being polite and expected here both when entering and leaving. Not doing so is considered rude. 

​Near by is the Manor House restaurant which opened in 1624.  We have an English Sunday Roast dinner.  A tradition here every Sunday for families to gather and eat this meal.  We order what would be for one and share.  It is still far to much for us to eat it all.​

Shawna called our insurance for advice and to make sure we were going to a place that would be covered.  They were fantastic.  Not only did they tell us to go to the emergency room immediately, but they called the hospitals finance department to have them receive any bills directly instead of us paying.

As soon as we could, we headed to the hospital by cab.  When we described the shortness of breath, coughing, and a fever, they took me back to a room and started tests. First was an EKG to make sure my heart was good.  Soon after that we were moved to a private room in the ER.  For the next 7 hours, I had blood, urine, spit, nasal, … tested.   They did an x-ray of my lungs, and a sonogram of my heart and lungs.  I also had oxygen to keep my blood oxygen level up.  It was down enough to set off the alarms. As soon as they got me on oxygen, I fell asleep.

They tested for everything, and I do mean everything, even Legionnaires disease.  All were negative except for Pneumonia.  

End result.  I was sent away with antibiotics and no bill.  Emergency rooms in Scotland are no charge no matter the tests or even drugs given.   This was the best Emergency room visit I have ever had even at home.

Back by cab to the flat to try to rest.  As we got back to the Flat, the cabbie told us call and he will be there as quick as he can.  A very nice guy.

The flat is on the top floor up a winding staircase. It had a slanted roof, so had to be careful not to bump head when getting out of bed. Next time, we need to book downstairs flats if you can.

Shawna walked down to the local grocery for some things.  She was able to buy Krispy Kreme donuts.  Yes, there is a store here though the donuts are about $3 each.  Krispy Kreme for breakfast.  Tasted just like home.

​Following the doctors orders, I rested and slept most of the day. We nibbled all day to try to get my appetite back.​
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We had plans for two tours from Inverness to the Moors and Highlands.  One was Rabbies Tours:Remote & Rugged: Scottish Highland Adventure, Day Tour and Glen Affric, Culloden, & Clava Cairns, Day Tour.  We had to cancel both of those.  Good thing we also have trip insurance, and we were reimbursed.

Shawna came up with a way to make coffee better than the instant that was in the flat.

After 4 days at the apartment, I was feeling much better. It was time for us to head to Haltwhistle to see Hadrian's Wall in northern England.

We made it to our flat and I was so short of breath that Shawna had to take our luggage up. The flat is much smaller than the huge place we were in for the last few days but nice. Kind of a one room and a bathroom off the side.

After a few minutes, I started coughing a lot and was still short of breath. Early morning, the next day, I cough up pink liquid. We decided to head to the hospital. Obviously, I had blood in my lungs.

At least the view from our apartment is really nice.

I take a picture of the vehicle we will use as transportation just in case there is a problem, like we need to find it in a parking lot.

The Yorkshire Dales are known worldwide for their landscapes: green rolling hills stitched together with dry stone walls, limestone crags, thousands of grazing sheep, and historic ruins found in charming towns and villages. The TV series "All Creatures Great and Small" was filmed throughout the Dales.  Sadly, Shawna and I have never watched the show.  That puts us at a bit of a disadvantage when filming locations are pointed out.

Soon after we leave York, we are in the countryside.

We frequently pass huge fields of Canola or the going by the old name rapeseed. Daffodils are a wild flower here and we pass patches all along the highways.

It is amazing how many medieval buildings we pass.  Some are castles but most are churches.

We do pass some churches that may be newer but even those are old.

We passed through several small villages and one had what was claimed to be the oldest sweet shop in England.  It was first opened in 1661.

Sheep are everywhere.  Lots of lambs.  ​

Our final stop is Castle Bolton, a 14th-century fortress where Mary Queen of Scots was held here for 6 months.  A tower was destroyed in a siege.  This is also where Herriot from All things Great and Small proposed to his wife.

They also had a nice garden and birds of pray demonstration.

Yes, there we have pictures of flowers.

Today, we got moving and it was rainy.  At first just a sprinkle but we knew better than leave our raincoats.  It is England after all.

We walked down a couple of blocks but skipped the Shambles today because of the crowds. 

Being about lunch time, we stopped into a cafe and had a very nice lunch.

​We continued down streets and passed several street performers and shops we came to the Jorvik Centre.  The problem was that we were over an hour early.  So more window shopping and people watching before time for us to queue up for the tour.

We start by having a woman in Viking era clothing explain the rules.  Don’t touch the Vikings was the main one.  It turns out that they are archaeologists and work at the center as jobs when not on a dig. They also take a lot of pride in making their own clothes exactly the way they were made by the Vikings.  She said that her clothing took over a year to make.

Once inside, we walked down to the basement of the building to a large glass floor where we could look down on the dig and see what remains of the homes the Vikings built.  The tour guide for this portion of the tour spoke about the different portions of the home including the privy which he said when dug up still smelled very bad. ​

We moved on from that room and there was a surprise.  A large portion of the exhibit is a ride which hangs from the ceiling and floats around and over recreations of the village.  There were even animatronics of the town folk working.  By the time we got to the end, we had a very good idea of life in the town and what the Vikings did there.

As we stepped out of the ride, there was also a person dressed as a Viking who spoke to us and answered questions. 

She explained that the cleanliness of Vikings stood out.  They were mandated to wash themselves and their clothes each week.  Essentially, they had a cleaning day.  They bathed thoroughly and even checked the hair for lice or other problems.  Used tweezers to remove hair that was not wanted.  Ear scoops to remove wax. Washed clothes were dried and a different clean set put on. 
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The Anglo-Saxons in the area were filthy by comparison.  They would bathe no more than once a year unless for a special occasion such as getting married.  Under the mistaken belief that cleanliness was somehow prideful and sin along with the thinking the smell drove away unseen evil sprits.  Stupid and also a reason that many Anglo-Saxon women wanted to spend some time with the Vikings.  Well dressed, clean and well groomed must have a very strong attraction instead of the stinky men of the villages.

Next were cases and displays of the items found at the dig.  Swords, Axes, Knifes, combs, and a few skeletons …

We were told of the cost of items of war.  Every Viking had an ax because they used them to also cut trees for firewood and make the homes but to have a sword was special.  The equivalent to several times the cost of a home.  Because of this, if you wanted to have a sword, chain mail, or nice shield, a choice had to be made.  

You could join a Viking Kings army and he would give you those items.  

You could become a mercenary body guard for a king in a foreign land.  Just standing near by was usually enough to discourage attacks.  Vikings had a reputation of killing anyone that crossed them.

You could Go a Viking. Yes, Viking is a profession of sorts.  Really, they became pirates and thieves.  It was a quick way to make money especially if you went after the wealth in a church.  The Vikings did not believe in the Christian God so what they saw were people who pretended to help the poor but kept most of the money for themselves.  When the priest's were supposed to be collecting from the flock and distribute to the poor, they actually were living very nice lives behind the abbey walls.  Silver bowls and utensils, gold and silver ornaments, jewel incrusted Bibles…..  They lived very well and this only made taking what was already stolen even less of a problem for the Vikings.

The last demonstration was on how money was made. A young man took a small silver disk, put it into a die, and struck it with a hammer.  He was selling the result and many took him up on the offer.  It seems that the Vikings had several levels of currency.  Full coin. Half coin. Quarter coin.  As it sounds a full coin was cut down to make the smaller denominations.  They would also have silver and even possibly gold bracelets that could in a pinch be sold.  One necklace was ornate and large worth many swords.

We left through the gift shop. Obviously.  But I had little interest in what they had for sale.  I did see a game that was interesting.

From there, we did a bit more shopping and found a few things we needed then headed back to the apartment.  Tonight, we had pizza. 

All the food here is good.  Better for you than can be bought in the US.  It seems that it IS possible to make food WITHOUT all the junk that companies put in our food.

Well, this isn’t good.

I started to feel pretty awful last night with coughing, and it continued into the morning.  It is spring so could be allergies, also cooler wetter weather. I am using my inhaler, and it seems to help some. I was around some people that had a cough. I am really hoping this passes soon.  Shawna is feeling fine.

Feeling off and coughing occasionally is putting a crimp in our plans to attend church. If I have caught some kind of virus, I don't want to pass this on to others in a church.

After a nap, I felt a little better, so we decided to take a walk.  

We walked down to the Shambles a street of medieval buildings.  Many from the 1300's.  Lots of interesting shops, one was “The Shop That Will Not Be Named”, there are a lot of Harry Potter based stores around here.

​There was a flee/farmers market with lots of tents.  Shawna found some earrings and there was a Rum distiller giving out tastes of the rums.  The one we liked was Dick Turbin dark rum.  The company was named Villains Rum and they have named the rums after different English villains like Guy Fawkes, Erik Bloodax, Yorkshire Witch, Queen Gunnhilr, ... These were some really unpleasant people.

Back to the wall.

This is a travel day for us.  We will take a train from Dover to London.  In London, we will change trains and head to York.  A cab took use to the train station. He was only going to charge 10 pounds but I gave him 15 pounds.  We did have several large bags. Our scheduled train was after 10am but because it was Saturday we were allowed to take the 8:45am train which gave us more time at the London St Pancras train station.  This will allow us to grab lunch before our next train.

This is our first experience of the train system in the UK.  Amazing!  It would be fantastic to have a system like this in the US.  Imagine a train that is clean, fast (usually over 100 MPH and sometimes up to 200 MPH), with a very smooth ride.  An express trip of under 200 miles would be under $80 and take under 2 hours. A longer trip would be half as much. Security is simple and it is only recommended to arrive 15 minutes before the train is scheduled to leave.  Imagine a trip from Pensacola to Houston for about $200 and take less time than a plane trip because there is no long TSA line or waiting around at the gate.

After a short wait at the station in Dover, we boarded our train.  Wow, they are quick to close the doors.  Shawna almost got caught when they started to close on her.  The train pulled away and we were up to 138 mph at one point.  It was noted to be a fast train.  The countryside and several long tunnels later were arriving in London at St Pancras international train station.  As we walked off there was the EuroStar fresh from Europe and its trip through the tunnel under the English Channel.  Later in this trip, we will be riding it from Rotterdam to London.

​We walked out, across a road and into Kings Cross Station.  

Nice seats.  Plenty of room. A quiet, fast and smooth ride. Quickly on and off unlike the long waits for a plane trip.  Nice bathrooms. A cafe that serves what you want when you want it.  So much better than flying.

A lot more country side passed by and we had a nice talk with some people who know a lot about York.  They even knew someone who lives in Pensacola. 

We arrived in York with a bit of confusion.  The exits are marked "Way Out" but we needed to take an elevator because it was a long flights of stairs.  Soon we got ourselves on the street and just down the road was York Minster a huge church.

This apartment is really big.  It has two big bathrooms.  A bedroom with a king size bed.  The living room is enormous and at least 25 by 50 feet.   A full kitchen with dining and sitting room included a washing machine was complete and very big.  Our only complaint was that the bed was like plywood, so hard, it was more comfortable to sleep in the recliners.

It turns out that this will be the nicest place we will stay while on the trip.  The inside looks modern, but the building is several hundred years old.  The living room by itself is bigger than our 5th wheel.

After unpacking, we decided to ​head down to the street to find some food.

​We stopped in a bakery for something for breakfast tomorrow. Bakeries are a bit different in Europe.  In the morning, they make what they are going to sell that day.  When they run out, they close.  At the end of the day, they donate anything left to charity or discard it.

The York Roast Sandwich shop was at the end of the block. They made great sandwiches.

We headed back to the apartment to drop those off then to a small grocery store to get some coffee for breakfast and a few other things.

​That was it for the day.  We were tired, full, and ready to relax.