York and Leeds – Day 9

Flower

Flower

Flower

Flower

Flower

Flower

Today we left Edinburgh and were on our way to York and Leeds.  But after breakfast, we had yet another “coffee” stop.  Out tour director decided to make 45-60 minute stops about an hour after breakfast so people could get coffee.  I don’t know anyone who needs 45 minutes for coffee an hour after breakfast.  And these stops were generally at gas stations that also had a Woolen Mill (a chain store).  By this day, I was positively livid about this.  I’d rather spend more time sight seeing and not shopping at a gas station!  So, I decided to go for a walk, even though it was a little drizzly out.  I noticed a lovely garden and spent most of my time taking photos of its flowers.

Ruins of a church

Church Ruins

Church Ruins

After the Woolen Mill shopping stop, we were once again on our way.  We stopped at a ruins of a church, and this stop was only about 10 minutes.  I much would have preferred to spend more time here, exploring this particular ruin.  Nothing particularly special (to me) about this building, but the colors and the shapes and the lighting, it all was great.

Scotland Border Rock

England Border Rock

Then we stopped at this rock, which shows the border between Scotland and England.  Literally.  One side of the rock says “England” and another says “Scotland” to indicate which side of the border you’re on.  As you can see, this was another gloomy, rainy day.  As a matter of fact, at the time this picture was being taken, it was something of a downpour.  I was soaked.  But luckily, the bus was warm and the clothes dried relatively quickly and I didn’t get sick on this trip (unlike the trip to Israel).

Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrian's Wall, England

Hadrian's Wall, England

Then, the thing I’ve been waiting for the whole trip, Hadrian’s Wall.  How many people remember anything about Hadrian’s Wall from their high school history or other classes?  I can think of maybe two or three people, but I haven’t asked them.  For me, every chance I get to use my knowledge of four years of Latin, I’m happy.  Yes, I took Latin in high school.  Yes, I went to a public high school.  (I took another language too, by the way.)  But the idea of seeing something from antiquity, something I’ve studied about, something that perplexed me and somewhat amused me…  I was really excited to see it.

This is all I saw.  This particular remnant of the wall and turret (Denton Hall Turret) is about three or four bus lengths (our bus is the first one pictured).  It’s in a little strip of a lawn, between a city road and a row of houses.  Quite anticlimactic, but still amusing – there were a few people walking their dogs right there, but just out of the photo shot.