seekingmygreaterperhaps

When Megan has been preparing me for my visit (before I arrived on Sunday) she has been trying to help me not set too high of expectations for Sunderland. But I wasn’t really going to see Sunderland, per se, but rather to see my best friend. This morning I actually saw some of Sunderland, and it was lovely, despite what Megan says.

This morning, after I took an extra minute to get out of bed, Megan, me, and Megan’s mom took their dog Millie for a walk on the beach. In England during the winter time you can take your dog to the beach and let them off the leash- which is completely foreign to me. Millie is really well behaved dog, and loves to run and play. It’s nice to let her do that.

We walked about 4 miles, climbing over rocks but mostly in the sand. We made it to the pier with the lighthouse. At first glance it’s like- that’s so close! Then you get there, and you’re like, holy crap- I am so tired, now I have to walk all the way back. It’s a really beautiful pier, and I ventured to my very first lighthouse. The whole time it was so windy, we felt like Piglet.

As a reward for all of our physical efforts we had some chips- which as you probably know are fries. Megan lives on them. I’ve eaten them at least once a day… haha. Meg has introduced me to some tasty British junk food, including bacon flavored Frazzles, and dandelion & burddock soda. Both of which are very weird taste sensations.

After the beach we took a bus to Durham, which is a really old city home to a cathedral and a Castle-turned-university. The streets are cobblestone, and everything is cutesy. We stopped for a snack (wow, I seem to be talking about food a lot…) and I got a Victoria Cream Puff. Quite delectable.

I promised Amyra I would include pics of food…

OK- here’s the best part of the day. We went to Durham cathedral and took a tour of the castle (which is now the oldest castle that is still inhabited… in the world.)

The cathedral was the site of some of the scenes in the first and second Harry Potter movies. I walked where they performed transfiguration lessons and goofed around in the courtyard. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed… so you can imagine with me here.

Also in the cathedral, they are building a LEGO version of said cathedral. It’s really marvelous, and for a quid you could add a brick to it. Pretty swell.

That’s the outside of the cathedral.

We took a guided tour of the castle, and learned all about bishops who rebuilt parts of the castle piece by piece. We were taken into the great hall, where I learned that people actually do get to go to university and live in a castle, like Hogwarts. They have formal dinners where everyone dresses in their robes. All they need is some carrier owls and they would be set.

Later on we were taken into the oldest room of the castle. It was a chapel built by the… Normans? But there are some “mysterious archetectural bits” that only the Saxons used- like a herringbone flooring and certain carvings in the pillars. The guide went on to say that the very first carving of a mermaid is on the pillar there. Also, there were the first carvings of a blatant “little green man” which previously were only hidden. Megan and I decided that this could only mean one thing- aliens.

Holding my invisible wand… Had to.

Today was a beautiful day at the beach, aliens have totally touched down on earth before, and I walked the same halls as Ron, Hermoine, and Harry. Sunderland and Durham have not disappointed me. Cheers.