In New Castle we were very happy to see Megan. First, because she's Melissa's good friend whom we hadn't seen for a while. But secondly, because we did not want to figure out how to walk to her apartment in the cold, rainy, windy night. Megan took us to the apartment in Durham where she and her husband Josh graciously hosted us. 
The next day we saw Durham. We visited their very old, sturdy cathedral.
The Durham cathedral was more impressive than I expected. It was probably the oldest cathedral we saw. It was historically both a religious and political building where Prince-Bishops could effectively govern northern England. 
In the evening we visited a Pub. It was kind of like sitting in some body's living room (except there was a bar). It was quieter and more mature than American bars.
The following morning was Easter Sunday. We went to the cathedral and heard the choir sing, and preaching from arch-Bishop N.T. Wright.
We then packed Megan and our luggage into our little rental car and took the left side up to Scotland.
On the way we took a walk around Bamburgh Castle.
After a few hours on the road, we reached our destination for the evening at Edinburgh. We saw the sights of Edinburgh by night. The castle...the Royal Mile... 
We settled into a Pub to relax, when our attention was drawn by a couple of crazy streaking Scots. Edinburgh tired us out, so we settled down into our cute little bed and breakfast to sleep.
The morning greeted us with a Scottish breakfast and a beautiful, sunny, day. We took to the road again, and headed north west. In Stirling we stopped to see the castle, but took some time to stretch our legs because for the first time during our stay in the U.K., the sun was out and shining.
We saw the Glen Nevis region through our car windows where we were hit with a very improbable snow storm. Normally Scotland doesn't see snow in January, and we were hit in mid-March. What could have been purple, heather covered highlands were white, snow covered peaks. They were majestic none-the-less.
We made our way north along Loch Ness where Megan was the only one to spot Nessie.
Then we stopped at the dairy farm in Drumnadrochit where we spent the night. The farm was our favorite place to stay. The accommodations were fantastic, the house viewed the loch, and there were sheep and hairy coo outside.
To top it all off, we were served another full Scottish breakfast.
The next day was entirely spent on the road driving back to Durham. We took a route down the center of the country and saw miles upon miles of sheep fields with cute little lambs. Many of the sheep had just given birth in the last week which had the local farmers worried about the cold temperatures. But the Scots and their livestock are a very hardy bunch indeed.
After a good night sleep back at the apartment in Durham, we said our good-byes, and caught a plane to London Heathrow for a long flight back home. Melissa's parents graciously provided transportation to and from O'Hare, and a place to spend the night. The following morning I was back at work.
The next day we saw Durham. We visited their very old, sturdy cathedral.
The Durham cathedral was more impressive than I expected. It was probably the oldest cathedral we saw. It was historically both a religious and political building where Prince-Bishops could effectively govern northern England. In the evening we visited a Pub. It was kind of like sitting in some body's living room (except there was a bar). It was quieter and more mature than American bars.
The following morning was Easter Sunday. We went to the cathedral and heard the choir sing, and preaching from arch-Bishop N.T. Wright.
We then packed Megan and our luggage into our little rental car and took the left side up to Scotland.
On the way we took a walk around Bamburgh Castle.
After a few hours on the road, we reached our destination for the evening at Edinburgh. We saw the sights of Edinburgh by night. The castle...the Royal Mile... We settled into a Pub to relax, when our attention was drawn by a couple of crazy streaking Scots. Edinburgh tired us out, so we settled down into our cute little bed and breakfast to sleep.The morning greeted us with a Scottish breakfast and a beautiful, sunny, day. We took to the road again, and headed north west. In Stirling we stopped to see the castle, but took some time to stretch our legs because for the first time during our stay in the U.K., the sun was out and shining.
We saw the Glen Nevis region through our car windows where we were hit with a very improbable snow storm. Normally Scotland doesn't see snow in January, and we were hit in mid-March. What could have been purple, heather covered highlands were white, snow covered peaks. They were majestic none-the-less.
We made our way north along Loch Ness where Megan was the only one to spot Nessie.
Then we stopped at the dairy farm in Drumnadrochit where we spent the night. The farm was our favorite place to stay. The accommodations were fantastic, the house viewed the loch, and there were sheep and hairy coo outside.To top it all off, we were served another full Scottish breakfast.The next day was entirely spent on the road driving back to Durham. We took a route down the center of the country and saw miles upon miles of sheep fields with cute little lambs. Many of the sheep had just given birth in the last week which had the local farmers worried about the cold temperatures. But the Scots and their livestock are a very hardy bunch indeed.
After a good night sleep back at the apartment in Durham, we said our good-byes, and caught a plane to London Heathrow for a long flight back home. Melissa's parents graciously provided transportation to and from O'Hare, and a place to spend the night. The following morning I was back at work.
The trip happened very quickly, with much of our time spent in airports and on trains. We really didn't have enough time to see everything we wanted to see, but we are thankful that we went and feel blessed to have been able to see some of the world's famous places.
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