25 May 2004 (Feast of St. Bede)

Having defended it several times now, henceforth I will record all times in the military/twenty-four hour format. As usual, morning, starting at 07:00 today, came way too early. Had a continental breakfast, so I didn't feel too bad about wasting the egg, "sausage," and beans. Finished packing, then crammed everything in a couple of taxis (I didn't have to ride this time) and set off for the train station. Yay for leg room.

Durham seemed like an interesting town; I really wish we had more time to wander around. I also wish the castle had been open, though the cathedral was not half bad. MUch less touristy than York Minster: they didn't actually charge to get in, though there was a suggest £4 donation. It was also much less crowded than the minster, which was very nice. Barb actually managed to talk the people at the desk, as well as the tour guide and an entire tour group, into letting us join them. It started out nice enough; we were learning about the cathedral, there just happened to be some people we didn't know there. But then it got weird.

The group we got in with turned out to be a bunch of pilgrims, there to see the shrines of the saints Bede and Cuthbert. They drew us into their chanting/praying/hymn singing at Bede's tomb, and Corliss kinda gave up on the whole guided tour thing. Can't really say I blame her. Our next stop, which kind of ignored everything in the middle of the cathedral, was the shrine of St. Cuthbert. I was thinking "Ooh neat, another famous dead guy." But then they started their chanting again, and I gave up. While they were doing their thing, I decided to admire some of the stonework and stained glass windows. When they finished, Emily and I told Barb that we were done with the tour, and set off on our own. We found our way to the nearly automatic restrooms (with--in my case, at least--urinals that flushed in unison) and steeled ourselves for the 325 step climb that is the Durham Cathedral crossing tower. Since we were students, the guy at the base let us up for the children's rate, which was nice.

The climb started out with nice wide steps, but about a third of the way up, they got nice and narrow, just like the minster. A few stops and several switchbacks later, we made the top. As usual from high places, the view was incredible. The stone "rails" were fairly high, but they weren't as paranoid as York Minster... the top remained wire-free. The countryside around Durham was amazing, and I was able to get a few good shots of the castle keep. We also did a sort of "picture exchange" with a couple up there; we swapped cameras, and the we took their picture & they took ours. The walk down was much easier, but still slow. Emily's knee was still gimpy, and she wanted to make sure she didn't fall. 325 steps is a long ways.

Wandered a bit more, had a burger for lunch. Still looking for camera batteries, and still without luck. Back on the train for two sleepy hours, and now we're in Edinburgh. Looks like a pretty cool place so far. At some point we're visiting the castle, which I will love.

Mead tonight: pretty good stuff. A little strong at first, and still a bit wine-y for my tastes, but it had a very good honey taste to it as well. Hopefully a Cuban cigar as well, but judging by the time (22:15), I'd say that'll probably be happening tomorrow evening. That is all for now. This is Sir Daniel Bareither (having been knighted by Saints Alyssa and Jeanna [Geanna]) signing off.