We departed Bury Saint Edmunds a day early due to a pending railroad worker strike, the first Britsh railroad strike in 30 years. Our destination was Darlington, England. We had chosen Darlington due to its proximity, via rail, to three cities that we wanted to visit. With the railroad worker strike occurring during our week in Darlington, we were unsure how or if we would be able to stick with our original travel plan. In the end, everything turned out ok from a logistics viewpoint.
The first city we visited was Durham. Home to several universities, the Durham Cathedral, and a bustling marketplace, we toured Durham on a beautiful summer day. The cathedral was founded by remnants and relics from other area churches that the Vikings had raided in the 9th Century. On 11 August 1093, the foundation stone was laid for the current cathedral. As most know, Sarah Jane is a big Harry Potter nerd, so she was excited to learn that some scenes from the first two movies were filmed in the Durham Cathedral's courtyard!
The next city we explored was York, as in "old" York! Founded in 87 AD by the Roman Empire, York is the most Northern city the Romans built. The Romans built the city in two sections; a vast walled compound for centurions and an adjacent walled village for civilians. Most of the walls are still intact and structurally sound, even after 2,000 years of use.
We had such a fantastic day in York! After stopping by the York Cathedral, we ventured further into the walled city. We stopped, grabbed some coffee, and listened to a local busker sing song after Disney song. Sarah Jane knew the words to all these songs, so we stayed while the busker continued to ask her for more requests and never failed to deliver on her suggestions of Disney songs and Broadway show tunes. Afterward, we ventured on to The Shambles, a historic street from the 13th Century that claims to be the inspiration for Harry Potter's Diagon Alley. The Shambles hosts an eclectic mix of stores, including a fudgery, a Christmas store, and most excitingly, a small shop called "The Shop That Must Not Be Named," which was filled with all things Harry Potter. It even boasts "broom parking" in front of the entrance. We spent a significant amount of time in said store while Sarah perused every single item trying to decide if anything caught her fancy enough for her to attempt to make room in her already packed suitcase (we'll talk about her inability to let go of any book she buys to read in the next blog post).
Newcastle upon Tyne was the last city we visited in Northern England. Originally a Roman fort that marked the Eastern edge of Hadrian's Wall (Rome built a 73-mile wall across Britania to keep the Scottish hordes at bay). We explored some of the local architecture, indulged in some good food and cocktails, and did a little shopping as Sarah needed a new pair of sneakers due to wearing out the pair she brought from home. We ended up finding a Sketchers store inside a large mall, where she purchased a new pair and opted to wear them back to the train station, leaving her old ones in the trash receptacle.
We enjoyed our time in Northern England. While there was not much to explore in Darlington, we did find an excellent local pub that we frequented, and Sarah Jane was able to get a cut/color at a local hair salon. After eight days, it was time to head to Scotland to start the next chapter of our adventure.
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