Day Trip to Durham
Blake wanted to take me out for the day, and going while the kids were in school seemed like a perfect time to do it - at least then we wouldn't have to worry about finding someone to look after them!
Originally, he wanted to take me to Penshaw... but it would have meant nearly 10 miles of walking. Normally, that wouldn't be SUCH a big deal. Sure, I would have been tired at the end, but so would he. However, it was The First Day of That Time of the Month. After nearly 9 years of marriage, he knows what That Time of the Month is like... and The First Day is usually the worst. So instead of cancelling the whole idea, he decided to take me to Durham instead.
Unfortunately the bus ride there is ridiculous. It goes around in circles and seems to stop every 10 feet, so just getting to the next town (which Durham is) takes more than an hour. By the time I had dropped the kids off at school, met him at the bus depot, and we got to Durham it was already nearing 11 a.m.
The first thing on his agenda? Food. I was too busy getting everybody ready and out the door on time to be able to have anything to eat, and he barely got up with enough time to get HIMSELF ready, period, so we were both hungry. We had brunch at a lovely little Italian place right on the Wear River. We were surrounded by windows, so we were able to watch people boating up and down the river, ducks flying in for a landing, and all kinds of neat stuff while we ate our meal.
Afterwards, we walked up to Durham Cathedral. We had to go up one INSANE hill to get there, though. I joked with him that he'd chosen it to kill me - easier than divorce, right? ;)
The grounds of the cathedral are just beautiful. Everything was green - an intense green that didn't even seem natural. One thing that confused me was that we weren't allowed to take photographs inside the building. When we went to York last year, we visited York Minster, and we were allowed to take pictures... so why not here?
After having a nose around inside, we decided we'd walk up to the top of one of the towers and enjoy the view from up there. We did the same thing at York Minster, but it was worse. There were 50+ people trying to get up behind us, so we didn't have the option of taking our time. And the stairs at York Minster were so narrow you couldn't even fit two people - even two anorexic people - at the same time. At Durham, half the stairs were much wider, so people could go around us if they wanted to. But it wasn't much of an issue anyway, as there wasn't anybody trying to get up behind us. I think we might have seen 15 people total on our way up AND down to and from the tower.
The view was breathtaking, though. You could see for miles. Miles and miles and miles of green, with tiny little perfect-looking houses dotting the landscape.
After spending about 20 minutes or so up there, we decided we'd go back down, walk along the river and across, and back the other side. Because it was such a nice day, there were tons of people in rented rowboats, and a few chartered sightseeing cruises.
Blake was able to take tons of practice photos. He aspires to become a professional photographer, and what he really needs is practice. So he practiced... a LOT. :)
Unfortunately, by the time we'd finished our walk around, it was time to go home. We had hoped to be able to do more, but if we'd missed our bus, we wouldn't have made it home in time to pick the kids up from school.
By 4 p.m., I was ready to fall asleep on my feet. But I'd had a lovely day. It was nice being able to go out and spend the day with my husband, and see such lovely things. He asked if I wanted to go back on Monday, but it doesn't look like that's going to be a good idea - it's supposed to rain non-stop until Wednesday at least.
Oh well. We had a nice day yesterday. That's the important part. :D
Originally, he wanted to take me to Penshaw... but it would have meant nearly 10 miles of walking. Normally, that wouldn't be SUCH a big deal. Sure, I would have been tired at the end, but so would he. However, it was The First Day of That Time of the Month. After nearly 9 years of marriage, he knows what That Time of the Month is like... and The First Day is usually the worst. So instead of cancelling the whole idea, he decided to take me to Durham instead.
Unfortunately the bus ride there is ridiculous. It goes around in circles and seems to stop every 10 feet, so just getting to the next town (which Durham is) takes more than an hour. By the time I had dropped the kids off at school, met him at the bus depot, and we got to Durham it was already nearing 11 a.m.
The first thing on his agenda? Food. I was too busy getting everybody ready and out the door on time to be able to have anything to eat, and he barely got up with enough time to get HIMSELF ready, period, so we were both hungry. We had brunch at a lovely little Italian place right on the Wear River. We were surrounded by windows, so we were able to watch people boating up and down the river, ducks flying in for a landing, and all kinds of neat stuff while we ate our meal.
Afterwards, we walked up to Durham Cathedral. We had to go up one INSANE hill to get there, though. I joked with him that he'd chosen it to kill me - easier than divorce, right? ;)
The grounds of the cathedral are just beautiful. Everything was green - an intense green that didn't even seem natural. One thing that confused me was that we weren't allowed to take photographs inside the building. When we went to York last year, we visited York Minster, and we were allowed to take pictures... so why not here?
After having a nose around inside, we decided we'd walk up to the top of one of the towers and enjoy the view from up there. We did the same thing at York Minster, but it was worse. There were 50+ people trying to get up behind us, so we didn't have the option of taking our time. And the stairs at York Minster were so narrow you couldn't even fit two people - even two anorexic people - at the same time. At Durham, half the stairs were much wider, so people could go around us if they wanted to. But it wasn't much of an issue anyway, as there wasn't anybody trying to get up behind us. I think we might have seen 15 people total on our way up AND down to and from the tower.
The view was breathtaking, though. You could see for miles. Miles and miles and miles of green, with tiny little perfect-looking houses dotting the landscape.
After spending about 20 minutes or so up there, we decided we'd go back down, walk along the river and across, and back the other side. Because it was such a nice day, there were tons of people in rented rowboats, and a few chartered sightseeing cruises.
Blake was able to take tons of practice photos. He aspires to become a professional photographer, and what he really needs is practice. So he practiced... a LOT. :)
Unfortunately, by the time we'd finished our walk around, it was time to go home. We had hoped to be able to do more, but if we'd missed our bus, we wouldn't have made it home in time to pick the kids up from school.
By 4 p.m., I was ready to fall asleep on my feet. But I'd had a lovely day. It was nice being able to go out and spend the day with my husband, and see such lovely things. He asked if I wanted to go back on Monday, but it doesn't look like that's going to be a good idea - it's supposed to rain non-stop until Wednesday at least.
Oh well. We had a nice day yesterday. That's the important part. :D
Labels: blake, durham, travelling
posted by nukkingphutz at 2:27 pm
1 Comments:
food is always first on the list for fat people :)
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